London restaurant Zucca impresses The Guardian's food critic, who finds a neighbourhood Italian that pulls off that all-too-rare trick of serving wonderful food at reasonable prices.
And chef proprietor Sam Harris has his eye not just on the food but also front of house, writes John Lanchester.
"As for the service, well, at one point I was looking around for a waiter and couldn't catch anyone's eye. The chef in the open-plan kitchen saw me and hailed one on my behalf. That might sound unexceptional, but I've never had a chef do that before," he says.
Despite 1970s interiors that have the potential to put you off your food, The Sunday Telegraph's Zoe Williams finds excellent cooking at The Waterdine in Llanfair Waterdine, Shropshire.
Writing in The Independent, Tracey MacLeod finds hit and miss food and a crazy riot of carvings, marblings and colourful fabrics at Shaka Zulu, a giant outlet inspired by the legendary South African warrior.
Meanwhile in The Independent on Sunday Lisa Markwell is let down by the food at Giant Robot, the latest venture from Jonathan Downey where neither the name nor the concept makes any sense.
The Observer's Jay Rayner likes the dynamic menu at fusion restaurant Kota, which, despite its remote location at the tip of Cornwall's toe, has its finger very much on the pulse.
The Guardian, 18 September
John Lanchester reviews Zucca, London SE1, and finds a neighbourhood Italian that pulls off that all-too-rare trick of serving wonderful food at reasonable prices
It's hard to make exceptional pasta – it's by definition hard to make exceptional comfort food – but Zucca does, in this instance with a dish of rigatoni, courgettes and pecorino. The flavour-texture contrast of melted cheese, soft vegetable and pasta, firm but not tooth-bustingly al dente, showed real skill. It wasn't on my plate, unfortunately, and I came close to shouting, "Behind you!" and scoffing the contents of my co-diner's dish. Both main courses were excellent, too. Braised rabbit leg with polenta came with a nicely non-reduced, satisfying stock-based sauce. The temptation is to spike the sauce with a reduction and make it more like a posh French restaurant dish than a homely Italian one, yet Zucca passed that test. Plain grilled swordfish with rocket salad and panzanella, the Italian bread sort-of-salad, was the kind of dish that offers the cook nowhere to hide, and lots of ways to go wrong. It was perfect, and I say that as someone who likes panzanella in theory but often finds it soggy or sharp or tired-seeming. (Three course meal for two with drinks and service, around £80)
Zucca – review in full >>
The Independent, 18 September
Tracey MacLeod finds hit and miss food and a crazy riot of carvings, marblings and colourful fabrics at Shaka Zulu, London NW1, a giant outlet inspired by the legendary South African warrior
Ignoring our waitress's recommendation of the grilled ostrich rump, we chose a couple of Cape Malay-influenced dishes, the legacy of South Africa's Indonesian settlers. Cape Malay pickled sea bass tasted mainly of curry powder, as did a main course of bobotie – curried mince and sultanas baked with a creamy egg topping – which supplied the missing link between Coronation chicken and lasagne. From the braai grill, fillet of Red Poll beef, from the Sandringham estate, was tender but tasteless, showing no sign of having been cooked over charcoal, and cost a mighty £32 (though the menu listed it at £28). My friend described the accompanying monkey gland sauce as "Branston with balls" (though it's apparently gland-free). For the echt bushtucker trial experience, we applied ourselves to shaved biltong, jaw-achingly chewy strips of dried meat evoking the contents of a chiropodist's Hoover bag. Truly a dish only an expat could love. As was a dessert called Koeksisters, plaited doughnuts, shellacked in sugar syrup, which should have been served with their own power tool. (Rating: Food 2/5; Ambience 3/5; Service 3/5)
Shaka Zulu – review in full >>
The Sunday Telegraph, 19 September
Despite 1970s interiors that have the potential to put you off your food, Zoe Williams finds excellent cooking at The Waterdine in Llanfair Waterdine, Shropshire
Go round the back to the dining-room, and you've fallen through a wormhole. The view is incredible, and the interior is unbelievably bad. MDF furniture, decked out in fireproofed peach, frightening ceramic cats, tables that are wonky in a charmless way – it looks like that sad moment at a car-boot sale, in between everything decent being sold and the council turning up to take the rubbish away. I'm not being snotty and London about this – my friend J lives in Devon and leant in conspiratorially: "You'd never see this in the South West." The menu seemed to underline the impression that we were back in the 1970s, and yet the food itself dealt us a blow of confusion. Surely things didn't taste this good in the olden days? J had the ham hock, hyssop and parsley terrine (£32.50 for three courses), with home-made picklelly (I think that's a local spelling. Or spicklelling, as they say in Shropshire). This tasted so right it was as if the pig had been born in terrine form, and all you had to do was wait till it stood still near a bush of parsley then slice off its hock. The jelly, the ham, the herbs, they all tasted so integrated, so rich, but not oppressive. It was marvellous. (Rating 6/10)
The Waterdine – review in full >>
The Observer, 19 September
Jay Rayner likes the dynamic menu at fusion restaurant Kota, which, despite its remote location at the tip of Cornwall's toe, has its finger is very much on the pulse
There is a kitchen here which has yet to meet an ingredient it doesn't like, and for the most part it works. I say that as someone who starts to twitch at the term "fusion cooking"; who once declared that fusion cooking was fine, as long as it was done by Peter Gordon. Were I to come across some of Kota's dishes in a London restaurant, I might sneer on a point of principle, because I'm a horrible person – but I found them here, in a gnarly old building at the skinniest end of Cornwall, served by sweet, enthusiastic waiters. Sure, some dishes missed the mark. The tian of white crabmeat and the scoop of tomato sorbet in a bowl of gazpacho were beyond reproach; the gazpacho was just too well-mannered, its fingernails too clean. A good one should be so spiky with garlic that you abandon all hope of snogging anyone for at least a few days. Then again, the broth in a bowl of local mussels flavoured with chorizo, orange, chilli and coriander more than made up for it. And you just know that I wouldn't kick a plate of seared scallops and pork belly out of bed. Even the added flourishes – cider apple purée, soy and ginger – didn't irritate. (Meal for two, including wine and service, £90)
Kota – review in full >>
The Independent on Sunday, 19 September
Lisa Markwell is let down by the food at Giant Robot, London EC1, where neither the name nor the concept makes any sense
A wooden board of salumi finds favour with the lads, but if the cured meats are good quality, which they should be for £14.50, why blob sticky balsamic all over it? I prefer the ladylike "No. 1 Salad", chicory, gorgonzola and walnut – a perfectly acceptable dish of crisp leaves, creamy cheese and good nuts. We forgo the "Famous Baked Alaska"– £7 per person – and thus miss the opportunity to see it "flamed at the table". Perhaps another time, accompanied by flaming sambucas at an office party... Who am I kidding? There isn't going to be a next time. The food wasn't good enough to merit it, but then it's not aimed at me. While sharing plates are fashionable, it doesn't matter that they're more fodder than fine dining. And when the cognoscenti move on to the next cuisine, the Friday-night crowd will still be there to play a new drinking game: how to split a meatball five ways. (Rating 5/10)
Giant Robot – review in full >>