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Last Wednesday ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cookwitch and I went to Albert's Table in South Croydon, once described by Jay Rayner as being the only reason to go to Croydon. While I might be offended by that, he definitely has a point. I originally discovered the restaurant by accident while looking for a restaurant with valkyriekaren, and after that visit, decided I definitely had to return! While I'm not really a foodblogger, I felt that this one should probably be written up ...
The restaurant itself is restfully decorated - pale wooden floor, pale walls with occasional large photos of landscapes on the walls, with chairs that are even more comfortable than they appear and tables spaced sufficiently far apart that even with a party of eight at the next one, it wasn't a disturbance. And the staff are very unobtrusive, although attentive if needed. They let us sit and talk for at least an hour after we'd finished eating, without attempting to hurry us out (we didn't actually notice the time, it was so relaxing there).
However, you don't go to restaurants just to sit and talk - there's food involved too. The menu is described on the website as "modern British" (handily, as I had no idea how to describe it to colleagues earlier in the day). We had some trouble deciding what to have, admittedly, with Lisa opting for taking the "what don't I cook at home" approach. While musing, we were offered a choice of rolls - sourdough, spelt with poppy seeds or walnut and sultana. Hot and delicious, with that fresh-baked softness inside, served with rich yellow butter.
For our starters, Lisa opted for the twice-baked Keen's Cheddar soufflé, served with fine beans and hazelnut oil. Having sampled some of it myself, it was really delicious. Meanwhile, I opted for the deep fried new season sprats, served with water cress, tartare and lemon.
Light, crispy, crunchy sprats, accompanied by a rich capery tartare, topped with fresh, peppery, water cress and supplied with a lemon slice for drizzling purposes. Delicious, again.
And then, after a pause of just the right length, for the main course. Lisa had the roast loin of local Hereford beef and 'cottage pie' with cep mushrooms and buttered kale. The 'cottage pie' deserved the scare quotes, being in fact a small tower of luxurious rich and perfectly cooked beef mince, topped with a ring of crisp paper-thin potato circles. A side order of mashed potato was ordered, but probably wasn't necessary. It was more creamed than mashed - but smooth, buttery and probably contained a herd's worth of cream, too. For my main course, I'd ordered the Cornish grey mullet and brown shrimps, served on fresh pasta linguine with fennel, green herb salsa and what I'm almost certain was roast baby beetroot (in a performance uncredited on the menu).
I suspect that I will be over-using the word 'delicious' in this, and may well need to invest in a thesaurus for our next visit (oh yes, we will be going back, and next time I might even try to stealthily use one of the big cameras, as the compact was struggling). But the mullet was, indeed, delicious (sorry!), with the skin having crisped wonderfully, leaving the flesh beneath still moist. The linguine had been cooked until soft, which worked well with this dish, with the flavours of the sweet brown shrimp and the vegetables complementing the fish in a restrained fashion but not overpowering it.
For dessert Lisa opted for the plum and apricot tart with Cornish clotted cream. Which was d... very very good. Meanwhile, I went for the chocolate option - described on the menu as "warm chocolate fondant and tart". Which should win some kind of reward for understatement. Somehow, they'd managed to achieve a chocolate dessert plate which wasn't actually particularly sweet (allowing for the vanilla ice-cream - which was very simple), although it was very rich. A dark, bitter, chocolate orange chocolate tart on very thin pastry, accompanying a rich, unctuous fondant, spilling chocolate sauce in a slow, sticky flood when the casing was broken open. And yes, it was definitely delicious. (And also hard to photograph - light just got stuck!)
After all that, we finished off with a latte for Lisa and a glass of rather nice port for myself, before, as mentioned, failing to leave for some considerable time. The portions were just the right size - large enough to feel that you'd had a decent meal, but not so large that you felt bloated or that you'd lost your appetite partway through the meal, allowing you to concentrate on the flavour of the food.
There may be a more culinary review, with photos of both meals, going up on cookwitch.blogspot.com, at some point.
cookwitch and I went to Albert's Table in South Croydon, once described by Jay Rayner as being the only reason to go to Croydon. While I might be offended by that, he definitely has a point. I originally discovered the restaurant by accident while looking for a restaurant with valkyriekaren, and after that visit, decided I definitely had to return! While I'm not really a foodblogger, I felt that this one should probably be written up ...The restaurant itself is restfully decorated - pale wooden floor, pale walls with occasional large photos of landscapes on the walls, with chairs that are even more comfortable than they appear and tables spaced sufficiently far apart that even with a party of eight at the next one, it wasn't a disturbance. And the staff are very unobtrusive, although attentive if needed. They let us sit and talk for at least an hour after we'd finished eating, without attempting to hurry us out (we didn't actually notice the time, it was so relaxing there).
However, you don't go to restaurants just to sit and talk - there's food involved too. The menu is described on the website as "modern British" (handily, as I had no idea how to describe it to colleagues earlier in the day). We had some trouble deciding what to have, admittedly, with Lisa opting for taking the "what don't I cook at home" approach. While musing, we were offered a choice of rolls - sourdough, spelt with poppy seeds or walnut and sultana. Hot and delicious, with that fresh-baked softness inside, served with rich yellow butter.
For our starters, Lisa opted for the twice-baked Keen's Cheddar soufflé, served with fine beans and hazelnut oil. Having sampled some of it myself, it was really delicious. Meanwhile, I opted for the deep fried new season sprats, served with water cress, tartare and lemon.
Light, crispy, crunchy sprats, accompanied by a rich capery tartare, topped with fresh, peppery, water cress and supplied with a lemon slice for drizzling purposes. Delicious, again.
And then, after a pause of just the right length, for the main course. Lisa had the roast loin of local Hereford beef and 'cottage pie' with cep mushrooms and buttered kale. The 'cottage pie' deserved the scare quotes, being in fact a small tower of luxurious rich and perfectly cooked beef mince, topped with a ring of crisp paper-thin potato circles. A side order of mashed potato was ordered, but probably wasn't necessary. It was more creamed than mashed - but smooth, buttery and probably contained a herd's worth of cream, too. For my main course, I'd ordered the Cornish grey mullet and brown shrimps, served on fresh pasta linguine with fennel, green herb salsa and what I'm almost certain was roast baby beetroot (in a performance uncredited on the menu).
I suspect that I will be over-using the word 'delicious' in this, and may well need to invest in a thesaurus for our next visit (oh yes, we will be going back, and next time I might even try to stealthily use one of the big cameras, as the compact was struggling). But the mullet was, indeed, delicious (sorry!), with the skin having crisped wonderfully, leaving the flesh beneath still moist. The linguine had been cooked until soft, which worked well with this dish, with the flavours of the sweet brown shrimp and the vegetables complementing the fish in a restrained fashion but not overpowering it.
For dessert Lisa opted for the plum and apricot tart with Cornish clotted cream. Which was d... very very good. Meanwhile, I went for the chocolate option - described on the menu as "warm chocolate fondant and tart". Which should win some kind of reward for understatement. Somehow, they'd managed to achieve a chocolate dessert plate which wasn't actually particularly sweet (allowing for the vanilla ice-cream - which was very simple), although it was very rich. A dark, bitter, chocolate orange chocolate tart on very thin pastry, accompanying a rich, unctuous fondant, spilling chocolate sauce in a slow, sticky flood when the casing was broken open. And yes, it was definitely delicious. (And also hard to photograph - light just got stuck!)
After all that, we finished off with a latte for Lisa and a glass of rather nice port for myself, before, as mentioned, failing to leave for some considerable time. The portions were just the right size - large enough to feel that you'd had a decent meal, but not so large that you felt bloated or that you'd lost your appetite partway through the meal, allowing you to concentrate on the flavour of the food.
There may be a more culinary review, with photos of both meals, going up on cookwitch.blogspot.com, at some point.
Yay!
Next time, I'm having the chocolate. Oh yes.
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That really sounds (and looks) fantastic.
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One thing you could do, especially if you're going to be doing this for Ye Olde Blog, is to ring up the restaurant and say, "Allo, there. I write for [blog name] and we're interested in featuring your restaurant. Do you mind if I bring in The Big Camera when we visit?".
Only a fool would tell you no. Also, you could ask when would be the best time for you to visit to take pictures. That way, you could also get some snaps of the restaurant itself if you're so inclined.
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