The Daily Telegraph, 26 June
Matthew Norman awards full marks to Cambio de Tercio, London SW5, for the best lunch he has ever eaten in the UK
Then there came a thing of genius. Glorious, garlicky gazpacho decanted into a bowl hosting a juicy disc of lobster and a scoop of cherry sorbet. “Ooh, ooh, ooooooohh,” moaned my friend. “Woo, wooo, woooooo,” I whimpered back. It was as if that “I’ll have what she’s having” scene from When Harry Met Sally had been reworked, with Meg Ryan joined in the diner booth not by Billy Crystal but Meg Ryan. I demanded something more descriptive. “Quite magnificent, the conjunction of tastes and textures,” he contrived, “even if the alliance of cherry and lobster at first seemed as unlikely as the union of Aragon and Castille.” All right, pipe down, I rebuked, better go back to the moaning. We did, first over a sous vide reworking of tortilla, served in homage to its creator Ferran Adria. This was a creamy, eggy, potatoey mush with caramelised onions at the bottom of a cocktail glass, followed by a sheet of foie gras terrine atop smoked eel and apple slices in which the sweet, the savoury and the salty balanced each other indecently well. (Lunch for two, £140.00. Rating: 10/10)
Cambio de Tercio – review in full >>
The Independent on Sunday, 27 June
Mike Higgins recommends Look Mum No Hands! in London EC1 as a stylish café stop for the capital’s cyclists
Chalked up on boards above us are the usual suspects at this end of the market: pies, salads, cheeses, platters of cured meats, smoothies, shakes, free wi-fi. We go pie: Kev the chicken, ham and leek; me the Mediterranean vegetable and feta, each of us opting for a hefty side-salad of coleslaw, potato salad, feta and some green leaves (£7.95). There's the suspicion that an avalanche of accompaniment disguises some god-awful bought-in stodge – but not in this case. Decent, light pastry, good fillings – and reheated without the tell-tale signs of a microwave mauling. The beer, too, is served thoughtfully, with iced glasses: for me, Bath's Dark Hare Ale (£3.60), for Kev, a Vedett lager (£3.60). There's also wine: I have a slurp of respectable Domaine Py Merlot (a bit steep at £4 for a small glass?). There are two or three other reds and several whites, and half-a-dozen international beers that reflect whatever big road race is taking place around the world. But the bar is only licensed until 10pm, and anyway, riding at night through central London is iffy enough without a skinful. (Two courses with beer, about £30 for two. Rating: 14/20)
Look Mum No Hands – review in full >>
The Observer, 27 June
Jay Rayner says that despite Roux at Parliament Square, London SW1, being assured and professional, it is also drab, dreary and dull
The food was always going to have to work very hard to take off, and it never quite manages it. It is all professional, well executed and – a foie gras starter aside – error free, though the latter was calamitous. The liver was rendered dry and featureless under a dusty pistachio crust, as though it was the interior design realised in food. Other starters were better: roast quail with hazelnuts, crunchy pickled radishes and a scatter of pomegranate was an evolved riff on textures. A tranche of confit salmon with crab in a jelly tube, cannelloni style, with samphire was fresh and inoffensive. Best of the mains were fillets of John Dory on a stew of caramelised chicory and spiced polenta, carefully flavoured with orange. Less impressive was a fillet of veal with a sweetbread as overcooked as the room was underdesigned (have I made my point yet?) and a "smoked pomme mousseline" which did not deliver on its name. Lamb with Jersey Royals, violet artichokes and a tongue salad read better than it ate and was declared fine. But is fine good enough at £55 a head for food? No, not really. (Meal for two, with wine and service, £180)
Roux at Parliament Square – review in full >>
The Sunday Times, 27 June
Camilla Long enjoys the food at The Swan at Southrop, Gloucestershire, but takes issue with the profligate use of the squirter
The cod, a crisp, golden shaft, is light and melting, the mushy peas quite nice and lumpy, the chips perfectly all right. Rocker’s steak comes on a huge chopping board with a Jenga of thick thrice-cooked chips…Generally, the food at the Swan is good, fresh, well made and quick. Some of it is a bit 2002 — not only is there pork belly, but also corn-fed chicken and pan-fried calf’s liver — but the ideas are sensible and serviceable. The waitress is attentive and kind and the “atmos”, as Rocker puts it, relaxed. Definitely worth the slouch from Ciren. There is one huge error, however, that makes us gasp and thank the Swan’s lucky stars that AA Gill is away, far away on a distant beach, reclining under a gauze canopy listening to the gentle tootling of panpipes. The squirter. In between the main course and pudding, a waitress arrives with a squirter and a J Cloth and wipes down the table. Actually does. And then it happens again. (Average price for two, £72 plus drinks. Rating: 3/5)
The Swan – review in full >>
By Janet Harmer
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