Nest
I find it interesting how people don’t necessarily want to help themselves.
While visiting a friend with a three year old, this was readily apparent. When a tantrum ensued because his dad was making the train “go the wrong way” around the tracks and he subsequently lost it, dad was obviously goading him.
Loss of control is forgivable for a kid but less so for adults.
Unfortunately, age is not a harbinger of intelligence, control or foresight. I can speak from personal experience that this is a particular problem with myself some (but not most) of the time. Although on occasion, I know very well how I am coming across but I continue on purpose. In any case, I digress. We are here to talk about the meal I had.
Placing. A rustic table which trends seem to note, usually foreshadows interest in the food over needless aesthetic pretense. That, or they just can’t be bothered to invest in the furniture.
House bread. Nutty and yet soft. A pleasant warm up.
It was at this stage that I must comment a bit about our waiter. We were sitting inside today (as there is no space to sit outside), so the Covid rule is that everyone, unless they are eating, should be wearing a mask.
When we arrived, the waiter was wearing a mask. So far so good.
Yet when he decided to speak to anyone (an occupational hazard), he pulled it down under his chin. Look mate, that defeats the purpose. I only hoped that such blatant disregard of the rules would not have a negative impact on the food. In any case, as it was so difficult to get a booking, we decided to continue on.
Cull Yaw ‘Kofte’. A mutton meat ball. Nothing particularly interesting here, it wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it was just ok. Reminded me of a carnivorous lollipop.
Preserved Isle of Wight Tomatoes. A sweet and sour combination of fresh tomatoes. These were alright although I have had the pleasure of eating stupendous Spanish tomatoes in an earlier life (pre Covid). Those tasted so sweet and juicy, they could almost be mistaken as fruit. These reminded me of the good old days.
Cod, Broad Beans & Fava Bean Miso. The tomatoes had perhaps been strategically placed as a course just before the cod. Where the tomatoes highlighted the perhaps bland nature of some UK produce, the cod was by contrast something rather special. Skillfully rolled into a log and lightly cooked, this was a thing of beauty with the moist slightly seasoned cod flesh gliding over my tongue. The beans and deeper miso flavour gave contrast as something with bite and heavier taste. A great dish.
Minced mutton.
Cull Yaw & Seaweed (Cull Yaw is mutton). The minced mutton on potato mash was particularly fulsome in taste. The minced cake was gone rather too soon. The two small pieces of the next, were somewhat disappointing. Although they were tasty, they were a little too little and did not live up to the hype of the mince.
Fried potato cake. Nicely presented, the sad little thing was far too small to sate my hunger. In case you think that I might have a big appetite and am needlessly complaining, I’m a smaller man than I used to be. At this point, I was feeling an insatiable longing for, well, anything really.
Doughnuts.
With cream. The doughnuts with cream didn’t really move me to tears with their taste. Instead, these fried dough balls made me annoyed. They made me feel like I was missing something rather important. Like a feeling of satiation. I’m a grumpy man when I’m somewhat starved.
Strawberry & Elderflower. A clean way to end the meal, perhaps fitting because that’s what my stomach felt like at the end. Clean (and empty). When I asked for a coffee to help trick my stomach into thinking that I had had something rather good to eat, I was informed that they weren’t serving that as their machine was out of order.
Jolly good.
In which case, we promptly left. On the way home, I thought that perhaps their head chef needs a few screws tightened too. Might help with the food. Well, at least the quantity.
A quiet eating 6.5/10.
Lunch was GBP48 excluding drinks and service.
177 Morning Lane,
London E9 6LH