The Cadogan Arms
Fisher and I decided to go out for a meal to check that we still had something to talk about, so looked on toptable and found a deal for 20 percent off food. I'm very glad we did that, as the meal was a little overpriced anyway, and without the 20 percent off, I think we'd both have felt somewhat hard done by. However, before moving on to gripe about prices or imperfect cooking (and I know, once again the trials of the Western world, but hush - food is a serious issue, as demonstrated by all of those people who are pretty keen on getting hold of some), I'd like to mention the glorious bread. It arrived and we were starving so attacked at once and oh my god - it was the kind of bread that melts in your mouth a little. Cloudy, warm and herby. In spite of everything I've said below, maybe come here officially to 'eat', get them to bring the bread, then run away clutching it. Unfair, perhaps, but not everyone can blow £90ish on a meal for two. Apparently, it's baked there, so maybe an alternative is to make friends with one of the kitchen staff - I'd recommend the quite hot, appealingly new, incredibly polite and faintly clueless one.
Starters were baked Isle of Man king scallops in their shells with prawns, creamed cep sauce and chive mash for me (£9.50) and devilled duck hearts on toast with a fried duck egg for Fisher (£8)
The scallops were lovely - if not exactly numerous - big, juicy and sweet, but there was quite a lot more (lovely, smooth and buttery) mash than scallops and sauce - after thoroughly enjoying the first few mouthfuls, I essentially then had a large shell filled with potato to get through. Still - very yummy, if a bit steeply priced.
However, the duck hearts were just completely fabulous. Go here just to have them - they were outstandingly delicious. I've never had duck hearts before and they turn out to be juicy, faintly sweet and in this case perfectly balanced by a mysteriously spicy sauce (one of those perfectly judged sauces that hits you slowly with the spice at the end of the mouthful). The creamy duck egg added the final touch and I was just sad that I wasn't allowed to steal more without possibly ending my relationship.
For the mains, I had roast whole Yorkshire partridge, bread sauce, smoked English bacon, Hunter’s potato, braised red cabbage and juniper jus (£18.50), and he had rib-eye steak with Béarnaise sauce, hand cut chips and bone marrow jus (£22.50)
After the smug boyfriend's definite win with the duck hearts, I was hoping for something to crush him with and the partridge delivered, if not a crushing blow, definitely a superior wallop. It was beautifully cooked (though I do like it very rare, so might be too bloody for some). The good meat was lifted to excellent by the stunning juniper jus, which was a perfectly balanced concoction of 5 spice, star anise, wine and junipers and cut the meat with the culinary expertise of a sleek, Japanese butterfly sword. I remain certain that bread sauce, even at its best - and this was excellent - is essentially a slightly lumpy white thing tasting mostly of bay leaves. If I'm wrong, do tell me. Once again, only quibble was the price - this was very good, but at £18.50 I think I'd normally expect something more complex. Still, the victory was mine.
Now the steak was really, really yummy, but as Fisher says, 'a steak's a steak, and that was my misteak.' I'm slightly less sure on this one - I thought it was a fantastic piece of meat, and even though the bone marrow jus wasn't as lip-smackingly gumptious as it could have been, for steak that beautifully cooked then £22.50 is not overwhelmingly expensive. However, the problem with the Cadogan Arms is that it sells itself as a sort of Gourmet Tavern, so you don't come here expecting to pay central London fairly posh restaurant prices. I think that if we'd been in some extremely luxurious setting, with shining tablecloths and little dancing waiters and everything else that comes with a really lovely restaurant atmosphere, the prices really wouldn't have seemed like so much of an issue. However, when you're in a cosy, wooden walled cavern of a place with an outsized boar's head on the side and the hobbits wouldn't seem out of place, £22.50 for an extremely capable steak with lovely meat somehow feels less ok - essentially, they hadn't hypnotised us enough into believing the experience justified the cost.
Final note on the food - the deserts were definitely uninspiring (not even any photos were taken) - my treacle sponge was sharply sweet with no depth to the flavour. It was very odd - it smelled fantastically but left your mouth casting about with the faintest tinge of tin. Fish (as in all restaurants) had the sorbet. The mandarin and blood orange scoops were very nice, but the lemon sorbet had a distinctly chemical aftertaste that was very unpleasant. I'd suggest giving these a miss.
Wine: Can't remember what it was, but we paid about £25 and it was a good red, juicy and punchy with darker undertones. Not sure it was worth that much money, however. Tasted more like a £15/16 wine. However, it may be a product of a generally low budget that I expect any wine over £20 pounds to leave me speechless for at least a moment!
In conclusion, not bad - go there for the duck hearts and the pheasant if you're feeling flush, but get a deal and prepare to pay more than the surroundings seem to suggest. There's also an offer to eat, drink and play pool for only £10 - and the general level of cooking would suggest to me that this is an Amazing deal. Oh, and we decided that we do still have some things to talk about, even if they are mainly poor steak puns.
