GOODMAN: BENNY & BEEF

Despite the availability of great Beef, London still suffers from a dearth of good places to eat it, particularly in the form known as the Steak House. Yes, I know it’s more of an American institution but there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to do it properly over here.

The concept, for want of a better word, is pretty straightforward: decent, well-hung meat, butchered into thick steaks and cooked at a fearsomely high temperature for a short time, seasoned generously then allowed to rest…and rest. Served with good chips and some greenery on the side together with some sauces, Béarnaise preferably. A list of classic cocktails – no molecular mixology, please – some beer and wine. Oh and maybe some desserts which will be unnecessary but you’ll have them anyway. Instead what do we get ? Sloppily-made cocktails, underhung , badly butchered beef, cooked with little care, nasty wines and a big bill at the end.

Anyway, the latest place to try and fill this yawning gap is Goodman in Mayfair. It’s part of a big chain of Moscow-based Steak Houses and presumably will make the large number of Russian expats feel right at home.

Before getting intimately involved with large lumps of protein, however, we found ourselves just down the road for a glass or two in Terroirs, a new Wine Bar near Trafalgar Square. Like Steak Houses there’s not nearly enough Wine Bars in Town: somewhere you can go and get a glass or two of decent wine and a bite of something.

Initially, things looked promising. On a Friday evening in a part of London’s West End where most hostelries were mobbed and somewhat rowdy, Terroirs stood out as an oasis of middle-class calm, selling wine and small plates to an older impeccably-behaved crowd. However, the execution, like (it pains me to say) a lot of things in this city, was a bit half-arsed. After spending an age (you really don’t want to know why) getting to a point where we had a carafe of warm white wine, £7.50 plus service seemed a lot of money to pay for some Duck Scratchings that were really Duck crumbs, a few Olives and some anchovies. Getting the bill was pretty tortuous too. Still, it may just have been an off-night and it’s probably the best of a bad bunch in tourist central.

Back to the main event. Before they were open, Goodman, from the outside appeared rather chain-like but once inside it actually grew on me. They’ve managed to get that clubby feel of the classic US Steak House off pat: all dark wood and leather banquettes although some nice crisp white napery would have added a touch of class.

It’s a pleasingly uncomplicated menu with a decent list of starters to distract you while your cow is cooked. HS’s Caesar Salad looked a bit desultory. The croutons weren’t great and I’m not sure what slices of bacon/pancetta were doing in there but he seemed to enjoy it and really liked the dressing. Likewise my Beef Carpaccio which looked like it had been pre-plated but they’d at least allowed it to come to room temperature so that you could actually taste the beef which was decent There was a bit too much lemon but it didn’t stop me cleaning my plate with the excellent bread.
If you’re not in the mood for a steak (and if not, what on earth are you doing here ?) there’s some fish dishes, Burgers, Lamb and the like. For normal people the range of Steaks is actually quite small but we’re told that the list will be er…beefed up later on. For now you get a choice of Aussie or USDA wet-aged beef in 350g or 400g sizes (250g for the fillet). You get to examine the raw material beforehand and it all looked nice and thick and well-marbled.

I was told my USDA Rib-Eye was best cooked medium-rare. As it turned out it was prepared more towards the rare side but was good nevertheless. They’ve got a Josper grill in the kitchen and the result is that the meat gets an almost smoky-tasting char on the outside. That and the extra fat that you get in a rib-eye adds to the great taste as well. Not up there with the best dry-aged grass fed varieties but a very honourable performance.

The Aussie Strip was a decent-looking piece of meat as well. Although requested rare it came more medium done. It too, had the same good char as the Rib-Eye but the flavour didn’t really match – it was comparatively uninteresting to eat. Chips were good and DS was more than happy with his Creamed Spinach topped with Gruyere.

From our choice of sauces the Béarnaise had a good tarragon tang and was suitably wobbly, the less said about the Goodman steak sauce the better (as HS says: a restaurant’s eponymous sauce is something best avoided).

In true Steak House stylee we finished off with some totally unnecessary Cheesecake and Ice Cream (homemade) and apart from some odd-tasting Pistachio it was all very enjoyable and made us feel ever-so-slightly queasy for having eaten so much which is usually the aim of our dinners out.

I don’t think Goodman will oust either of our current fave places for a good steak in the capital: Quo Vadis and Hawksmoor, but given that the staff actually seem to give a damn - as borne out by long discussions with waiter Crispin and manager David – I think they’re heading in the right direction and we look forward to when they get some grass-fed British beef that will be aged onsite in the restaurant’s meat locker.

L'ANIMA

Flash ahead to a yummy playback
Just you and me in a room

It seems like most of the recent major London restaurant openings have been delayed for one reason or another, usually planning problems. The opening of L’Anima, a new Italian eatery in a little snicket near Spitalfields, has been imminent for almost five months - all because of a dispute over an extension of not much more than a metre. Who’d open a restaurant eh ?

The area between, City Road and Spitafields, where L’Anima is located is a bit of a culinary wasteland and there’s not a great deal of choice if you want a relaxing beverage (there’s plenty of grim watering holes like All Bar One though, if you like to drink pissy lager) so I think L’Anima will be welcomed by all the City boys and girls in the hood.

I really like the interior of L’Anima which was designed by architect Claudio Silvestrin: all clean lines, plenty of light. I’m just wondering though how quickly those nice white chairs are going to last if they have slobs like me visiting. I hope they’re wipe clean.

The menu is not huge but I was told that they’ll gradually add to it as time goes by and various bit of kitchen kit like the Josper Grill eventually come online. It’s nice though that they at least make their own bread and some great fennel grissini which I kept eating and eating… There was plenty of good Tuscan Olive Oil to dip bread in and big fat juicy olives to go with my glass of Prosecco.

A good test of a kitchen is their deep-frying. The Fritto Misto I had showed that the kitchen has this mastered. Very fresh shellfish: Baby Squid, Soft-shell crab and Prawns had been fried so that they were light, crisp and greaseless. They were topped with some deep fried herbs and shreds of fried zucchini. After finishing the dish there was none of the oily aftertaste you sometimes get with inexpertly fried food.

Slow Roasted Pork Belly wasn’t quite as successful. The pork had a great flavour but the crackling wasn’t crisp enough – a major sin with belly pork. The deep-fried zucchini however were a winner - there was nary a grease stain on the paper they came on.

Chef and part-owner Francesco Mazzei was popping out now and again to check on things so when he found out my favourite sweet was ice cream he very kindly sent out a procession of sorbetti and gelati for me to try. Top of a trio of sorbetti was watermelon which, like that fruit, was very refreshing. There was also one of sharp lemon and one of fragrant peach.

Whilst I was waiting for the Chocolate ice cream to be made I had a tasty Pistachio and some Vanilla that came with splinters of Caramel aka Croccantino. The Chocolate variety was also excellent and was sprinkled with little caramelised hazelnuts.

I was obviously making the right sort of noises (most people usually tell me to be quiet) because another pud was sent out for me. This was possibly the best of the lot, a light moist amaretto tart encasing some rhubarb with a palette cleansing rhubarb sorbet on top, all sitting in a puddle of crème anglaise. A double espresso and grappa was never so well earned.

I had a good time here. The dishes are not cheap but the quality of the ingredients is excellent and the preparation sympathetic to those ingredients. And even without the extra desserts I would have felt nicely replete. Service was on the ball and everyone seemed very enthusiastic about the opening (as they should be) but best of all there was a sense of soul about the whole operation which funnily enough is just what L’Anima means.

La Petite Maison (Encore un foie)

Mexico City is like another world
Nice this year they say

The young whippersnapper that is Hermano Segundo is going off on his World Tour soon (how my heart soars) but as a little going away present I thought I’d stand him a blow-out meal at his latest fave La Petite Maison. It would also give me a chance to judge for myself whether the hirsute ones judgement was mere hyperbole. Well he was right on the money regarding this joint – I had a terrific time and I shall have to put it up there with Magdalen and Granville Arms as one of my meals of the year.

Only a couple of weeks into its stride and it’s already problematical getting a reservation. HS managed to secure one for a Tuesday night at nine and had the nous to pre-order their signature dish a whole Black-legged Chicken with Foie Gras. I suggest you do the same.

When we arrived there was a selection of serious cars lined up outside and a mixture of Hedgehogs, assorted Mayfairites and us inside. HS has already been through the food in a previous post but for me the standouts were the Pissaldière which fair zinged in the mouth and the fried courgette flowers which exhibited a tempura like lightness. But really, everything was good although I found it slightly odd to pair delicate little deep-fried baby squid rings with chilli. Still good, though. A bottle of Domaine Tempier Bandol provided suitable liquid nourishment.

As the restaurant had used up their allocation of chickens during the lunch service we were the only table to have it for dinner. If ever there was an example of food as theatre it was the arrival of The Chicken. Heads turned as a huge dish containing the quartered chicken , gobs of foie gras and hunks of bread enriched with the cooking juices. A fab dish and up there with the Chicken dish I had many years ago at La Tupina in Bordeaux. Dear readers, we ate it all. The little side of gratinated potatoes was probably unnecessary but delicious all the same.

After the gastronomic onslaught and when things had quietened down a little we had a mooch around the kitchen and a long chat with the personable Chef Raphael Duntoye. They have one of those Josper charcoal grills so I would expect their Steaks and Veal chop to be pretty special too.

We finished off the evening with some puddings which were good but as we were flagging I don’t think they were given due justice. They aced the mint tea test.

Anyway, hope you had a good time Bro and maybe we can do it again when you get back - if we can get a table that is.