at Great Queen Street...
We went to the theatre on Saturday afternoon ( you can read about that here if you want!) and walked to Covent Garden from Marylebone - a gorgeous thing to do in the sunshine. We arrived about 90 minutes before the performance...just enough time to find a little place for a bite to eat and a glass of something refreshing. We've been to Great Queen Street (which, handily, is in Great Queen Street....) a few times and always enjoyed it. The cooking is rustic and beautifully thought out....fresh, unusual ingredient combinations, shared slow-cooked dishes on Sundays, wines served in chic unfussy french tumblers, efficient but informal staff....all the things we love really. We never thought we'd get a table (all the chain restaurants were packed) but, happily (for us) there was no problem at all. We could hardly believe our luck!
As we had a tight schedule, we had a combination of small plates and asked for them all at once. I had a Ticklemore (a hard goat cheese) Peashoot, Mint,& Lemon Salad with fried crunchy breadcrumbs AND a plate of cheese & biscuits (well, I didn't have dessert & shared the cheeses with Paul!) which came with home made oatcakes and a wonderful pile of sharp/sweet chutney. I also treated myself to a Margarita - still served in a tumbler, beautifully rimmed in salt (several I've had lately have omitted that - to me-essential step!) All just gorgeous. I could have stayed there all afternoon had Jeff Goldblum not been calling me from the Vaudeville Theatre (and you just CAN'T ignore Jeff!)
I'd highly recommend Great Queen Street or it's sister restaurant The Anchor & Hope in Waterloo (if you can ever get a table!) Particularly wonderful when shared with good friends, they are London eating at it's best....and London eating, I'm pleased to say, is very, very good!
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It seems that our lives mirror each others. We went to the theatre recently (and more than once!), we also went to the Lake District and we might go for a restaurant meal this week. That one you blogged about seems lovely.
ReplyDeleteWill try when I come to town Rachel.....
ReplyDeleteI think I will be trying quite a few. Several Ottoleghi to get round as well.....
i go here about once a month - it's at 32 great queen's street and you can eat at the bar without booking if there is room (and the service is usually faster).
ReplyDeletethe shared dishes are amazing - they do 2 and 4 people on weekdays quite often but I turned up their once and spotted shepherd's pie with all the trimmings for ten people! now that's an office outing surely...
the service can sometimes be a bit crap but the quality of the food and the inventiveness not to mention very reasonable prices are worth it. the tables in the window are the best but they always seem to be occupied by two old buffers discussing their book deals or something - or else some masons out shopping for regalia - great queens street is their London hub HQ. (I mean the street, not this restaurant, no need for funny handshakes here).
Rachel thank you for the lovely and encouraging comments on my blog. I have filled it up a bit with various styles of writing and subject matter. A friend is now going to send to all in her email box.... Im on the road....to ...what?
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