Monday 13 February 2012

Fri 10 - Bistro Union, Opening Night

A terrible start to Friday - a bacon roll from Eat.  I rarely frequent the place, it's like a poor man's Pret, but was forced to do so today.  Not marched in at gunpoint forced, rather forced by circumstance.  The roll was dry and stale, the bacon also dry, and burnt (quite an achievement, as the roll had been pre-assembled then heated up in their toastie machine).  It was served to me by people who didn't seem to care.  At least the staff in Pret appear to be enthusiastic, and are unfailingly polite.


I missed lunch in anticipation of an evening feast at the newly opened Bistro Union, on Abbeville Road in Clapham.  It's run by the team behind Trinity and has taken over the site that was previously occupied by Cafe Rouge.  A welcome relief (see yesterday's post).  They've made the small space look bigger than it is, and effectively divided it into three sections - the back is for reservations, the front section for walk-ins, with a few seats at the bar for drinking and snacking.  Having a walk-in section is a great idea for a local restaurant, I hope they maintain this policy.  If you're walking-in as a couple don't expect an intimate evening however - the table we were on was pushed right next to another, soon to be occupied, table for two.  Onto the food then, and a good start with a couple of slices of sourdough bread with whipped jersey butter, and a choice between sparkling or still filtered water.  This makes the £1 per person cover charge justifiable.

We started by ordering from the bar menu; a hot-smoked sardine with aubergine puree.  Removing the flesh from the bones was a fiddle, but worth the trouble when paired with the dark, smoky aubergine puree and a squeeze of lemon.


Next, also from the bar menu . . . a "Trotterdog".  A soft mousse of chicken and trotter, shaped into a sausage, lightly poached, and served in a bun with an apple remoulade.  Fun, original, and most importantly of all, tasting delicious.  The best thing I've eaten for ages, a bargain at £3.  I can see myself popping in for a few of these!


Next up was our main course of Guinea Fowl Kiev with a swede mash, chosen from a menu that included cottage pie, whole roast chicken, steak and other comfort foods.  The Kiev was perfectly executed, the garlic and parsley butter completely retained within the golden, breadcrumb coated guinea fowl breast.  The mash had a pleasing chunky texture, and as per the previous courses formed a perfect marriage with the other flavours on the plate.


About 30 seconds after our main arrived, we received our final starter, mussels cooked in perry.  The mussels were plump, and it was served with bread and (I think) some sort of aoili.  Unfortunately I couldn't much taste it between mouthfuls of the strong, garlicky main course, which I felt compelled to eat at the same time in case it went cold.  I don't know whether this was an opening night glitch, or part of the current trend whereby the kitchen just sends food whenever they get round to cooking it, but  mussels and Kiev do not a happy marriage make.  They knocked it of the bill, but only when asked to.  I was too occupied with all the food at my table to get a decent picture of this dish.


We ordered two deserts - a fried cherry pie from the bar menu tasted a bit greasy to me, but V loved it.


Then a cereal milk pannacotta, served a a small slab of chocolate rice crispy cake.  This is another fun idea which didn't quite succeed due to small particles of cereal (which had given the milk it's flavour) rising to the the top, where they set with the rest of the dessert, giving the top half of this pleasant tasting pudding a grainy texture.  It just needs a bit more refinement to be fantastic.


Our final bill is below.  I thought it was a very good meal overall, especially for an opening night.  The place was packed but the professional, knowledgable staff coped well.  A note on the staff "uniform" -  braces form part of their dress code, making them look like they've stepped off the set of Oliver: The Musical.  How humiliating, and how unfair of the owners to hoist this look upon them!  Oh, and the napkins were tiny, barely covering a single knee.  I've no doubt that the minor teething problems will be sorted out quickly, and I look forward to returning soon.

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