EATING OUT

New York Eats

14 Leopold Road, Wimbledon, SW19 7BD

Telephone: 020 3674 1783

When you think of Wimbledon, your first thought would certainly be tennis, and your second probably leafy tree lined streets and beautiful houses. One thing I am sure you wouldn’t think of is Hip Hop and an Urban vibe, and neither would I, until the other day when I came across New York Eats.

This restaurant has risen, like a phoenix, from the previous restaurant occupying the space, namely NYEAT, which had already built a strong following over the four years it was in business, and has taken all that was good with NYEAT and taken it to a higher level.

I have lived close to, and eaten and drunk in Wimbledon for many years, and this NY hip hop vibe, more akin to a fashionable New York restaurant, is definitely unique in this part of town. The décor is chic and the walls are covered with tasteful graffiti inspired by artwork found across America. There is a Tupac room (a famous rapper best known for his hit ‘California Love’, for the uninitiated), and the lighting is subtle, which sets the scene for a perfect place to visit on a weekday or at the weekend (where there is a live DJ on a Saturday). If all this sounds a little bit too ‘gangster’ for you, please don’t worry, and don’t be fooled, as this is a serious restaurant that serves seriously good food, and the décor is just there to create that authentic Urban New York atmosphere, something that is unique in this part of London.

The menu is a delight for me, as it is packed with tasty offerings, so it was extremely difficult for me to just choose only a few dishes.

For our starters, I selected the Nachos topped with Pulled Beef (£12), and my wife selected the Californian Tacos with grilled chicken (£12). Portions here are very generous and the nachos are almost a meal on their own. The large bowl of crunchy nachos were covered with fresh guacamole, sour cream, slightly spicy salsa, crunchy jalapenos and a blend of three cheeses, and the term ‘loaded’ was designed just for this dish. It is hard to imagine anything that would make this dish better, but the addition of the delicate pulled beef did just that. The Californian tacos were equally large and the soft hand-made tacos were packed full of succulent chicken, crispy lettuce and sweetcorn salsa, and gave my nachos a real run for their money for the best starter ordered.

After such a large treat we needed a small pause before our mains, which gave us some time to enjoy our French Rosé that was crisp and extremely drinkable. The owner, Kristian, is a wine connoisseur, and has amassed an amazing selection of wines at very reasonable prices, so whatever your taste there will be a wine for you, so do ask for help as you won’t be disappointed with the recommendations - we weren’t.

As with the starters the choice of mains includes a who’s who of American dishes, with Burgers and Steaks taking centre stage. The steaks (ranging from £26 - £42) are sourced from the same supplier as many well-known London steak houses and come from British grass-fed Hereford cows. They are also aged for 40 days to ensure they burst with flavour, but as much as I love a good steak, and these are good, I really wanted to sample a selection of dishes, and so chose one of the combination dishes on offer. These combination dishes allow you to combine steaks, lobster, prawns, burgers, in fact all of the dishes available, but I opted for Half a Rack of Ribs and Wings (£28). The slow cooked beef ribs must have come from the largest cow ever, as the half rack was enormous and the beef just fell off the bones. In addition to being tender, the beef was topped with a sticky, but not too sickly, BBQ sauce, and was accompanied by four chicken wings (again a chicken with wings clearly on the large side!), covered in Voodoo sauce which was beguiling with a lovely heat and finished off with a portion of fries. My wife chose the New York Burger (£21), and to many a burger is just a burger, but when the patty is made up of prime beef like this one was, wonderfully seasoned and cooked to perfection you realise that is just not true. This is a melt in the mouth experience and is worth a journey to New York Eats in its own right. To accompany this, my wife selected one of our favourites, namely Mac ‘n’ Cheese (£6), and we weren’t disappointed with its gooey centre and its slightly crunchy cheesy top.

Desserts are equally indulgent, and we chose the San Sebastian Cheesecake (£8), which was a creamy crustless, caramalised topped cheesecake, accompanied by a metal pot of luxury milk chocolate, perfect for those of you with a sweet tooth.

If that was not enough, New York Eats also holds a number of live music events, and recently welcomed the amazing vocal group: ‘Sing Harlem!’, for a number of shows at the restaurant, so the diners not only enjoyed the wonderful food, they were treated to wonderful music straight from the streets of Harlem as well.

New York Eats offers all diners a unique experience with exceptional food, innovative cocktails, an extensive wine list, music events and an authentic NY vibe, and once visited, will certainly keep tempting you back. We have already been twice! www.newyorkeats.co.uk

Gouqi

25-34 Cockspur Street, St James’s, London, SW1Y 5BN

Telephone: 020 3771 8886

You might think that after receiving a number of Michelin stars during your career you might happily go into retirement and take it easy, but Chef Chee Hwee Tong clearly isn’t one to go quietly, as after his 18 years at a who’s who of Chinese restaurants, including being the Executive Chef at Hakkasan and Yauatcha, he has returned, but this time with his own restaurant, Gouqi. Gouqi draws its name from an island in the East China Sea, famed for its picturesque fishing villages and the shrubs carrying the eponymously named Goji berries, that are a symbol of health and vitality.

The restaurant clearly prides itself on ensuring that everything is ‘just so’, and that is immediately obvious when you leave the hustle and bustle of Trafalgar Square and enter the restaurant. Everything oozes class and understated elegance, from the well-stocked bar by the door surrounded by plush and substantial stools where diners can enjoy a drink before going to their table, to the décor where the ceiling and walls are finished with artwork from six award winning artists. The lighting is even slightly dimmed to enhance the feeling of sophistication and calm.

The main restaurant has Chinese lanterns and banqueted seating, some that have a clear view of the kitchen, and if you want a more private meal there are 2 private dining rooms, and for a romantic meal there are three tables in a semi-private area shaped like a clover leaf and segregated by a red velvet curtain at the back of the restaurant.

The food offers the diner an authentic, but modern dining experience, using the freshest ingredients sourced from around the globe and lovingly cooked the ‘old fashioned’ way, and in keeping with the attention to detail vibe, each dish is served on its own custom-made chinaware in keeping with the dish itself.

There are a number of options for dinner, including an 8-course Tasting Menu (£168), Gouqi Signature Menu (£98) or if you let them know 24 hours in advance, a 5-course Duck Menu for those who love everything anatine! (£75). Personally I like selecting my own dishes so went for the À la carte menu.

Our first choice was the wonderfully named Supreme Royal Dim Sum Platter (£41.50), as it sounded so grandiose and it didn’t disappoint. Eight wonderfully crafted morsels, including the classic Shanghai Xiao Long Bao with its rich pork flavour and the Prawn Siu Mai topped with abalone. The colours are vibrant, but there are no artificial flavourings used here, and these colours are all natural, coming from the reds from beetroot, the blues from the butterfly pea flower and the greens from spinach. Accompanying these we selected the Prawn Toasts (£22.50) and the Deep-Fried Softshell Crab (£21.50). Just as when Chef Tong was at Hakkasan, the prawn toasts are special, and the lightly oiled crispy bread is covered with domes of moreish prawns and sesame seeds and the deep fried crunchy softshell crab was ably supported by a rich and smooth Thai green curry which warmed your throat whilst providing a lovely kick.

Our second course was one of Gouqi’s signature dishes, namely Duck (£38 for a half duck). The duck here is presented in 2 ways. Firstly, you are served thin crispy skin from both the breast and the underside which you dip into sugar. If eating pure fat doesn’t sound appetising, don’t be fooled, it is in fact absolutely delicious, and a perfect entree to the second way which is the more conventional and involves light home-made pancakes. The duck is initially slow cooked over charcoal and cherry wood which gives the duck flesh a distinctive smoky taste, and no extra oil is added to crisp up the duck skin. The slow cooking not only gives the duck its wonderful flavour, it also makes it extremely succulent, and this was accompanied by a rich and fruity hoisin sauce with crispy spring onions and fresh cucumber to complete the ensemble.

The delights continued for our mains with Angus Tenderloin Beef with Black Pepper Sauce (£42), Sauteed Crystal Jumbo Prawns with Yellow Chive in XO Sauce (£42) and Dried and Fresh Scallop Fried Rice with XO Sauce (£30). The beef was ‘melt in the mouth’ and was bathed in a light peppery sauce, and the prawns meaty and accompanied by crunchy Pak Choi in a delicate sauce, but the star was the Scallop Rice. The rice was packed with scallops and bursting with flavour along with its wonderful mixture of textures, as the fried rice added to the ordinary rice provided a satisfying crunch.

I love miniature selections of desserts in restaurants as you can experience all that is on offer, and so I was delighted that Gouqi offers 2 such selections, where you can have either 3 or 5 choices. We chose the Gouqi Symphony No 5 (£45), that gave us all 5 of the desserts. Our server, who was wonderful, recommended eating the desserts starting with the lightest first so as to not dominate the delicate flavours with the stronger ones, a welcome piece of advice that enabled us to enjoy every mouthful. All of the desserts were delicious, but the stand outs were the Midnight Sun and the Gouqi Valley. The Midnight Sun was a black sesame biscuit packed with a creamy passion fruit mousse (think a 5 star passion fruit Oreo!) with mini mango chunks perched on top, and the Gouqi Valley, a sort of chocolate cheese cake topped with Matcha and a sharp and fruity Goji berry sorbet, that was an explosion of tastes as well as colours.

A meal at Gouqi ticks all of the boxes for a culinary treat as it provides special dishes, cooked in a traditional way, complemented by impeccable service in a stylish space. What else could you want? www.gouqi-restaurants.co.uk

Studio Frantzén

87-135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge Fifth Floor, Harrods, London SW1X 7XL

Telephone: 020 7225 6800 www.harrods.com/en-ec/restaurants/ studio-frantzen

When you think of eating out in London of an evening, I am sure you would not initially think of Harrods, the department store, as a destination, and neither would I! Maybe a visit to their dining halls on the ground floor at lunchtime, or a cream tea later in the day, but not for an evening meal, so I was intrigued when I heard about Studio Frantzén located on the 5th floor, if only to understand how you can get in and out of it when the store is closed!

Studio Frantzén is part of the Frantzén Group, which was set up by Chefs Bjorn Frantzén and Pastry Chef, Daniel Lindeberg, and as with another well-known Chef, Bjorn used to be a former footballer! Restaurants in the group include Frantzén and Zen, both of which hold 3 Michelin stars, so the group’s newcomer, based in Harrods, has much to live up to, and from what I have seen it is living up to that standard admirably.

The restaurant nestles at the back of Harrods, and is best reached through Entrance 5, but if you fancy making your way through a who’s who of expensive brands to find it you can make your way through any entrance, but leave enough time either for that ‘must have’ purchase, or to get lost a few times, as those who have visited Harrods will know what a rabbit warren it is.

On entering the restaurant, you immediately forget you are in a store, as the décor is plush with an eclectic mix of Harrods meets Sweden, where a state-ofthe-art open kitchen goes hand in hand with warm woods, Nordic runes, intimate booths and subtle lighting. The open kitchen is flanked by seating, so diners can witness at close hand the chefs serenely going about their business - truly the ultimate chef’s table.

The restaurant space is split into an upper outside space where you can have a drink overlooking the London skyline, or even eat, and I am sure that it is an amazing place to enjoy the stunning selection of cocktails whilst enjoying the view and trendy music in the summer, but when we visited it was March, so we were happy to just have a drink here (with a blanket covering us!), and chose to eat inside as it was rather damp and cold!

The mixture of Scandinavia, Asia and London runs throughout the menu, and provides the diner was a number of problems, as it is packed with a multitude of wonderful options. As our pre-starter I chose a ‘Rockefeller’ Oyster (£5.50 per piece) and my wife a Grilled Oyster (£6 per piece). There is a clever Asian twist on this American favourite, with the addition of seaweed and sake to the sauce, and the addition of rich cheese to compliment the warm slippery oyster. The grilled oyster was equally moreish, bathing in a smoky butter sauce along with seaweed oil and some herring caviar, a mouthful of creamy deliciousness!

For my starter, I chose Tartar of Tuna and Red Deer with vendace roe, wasabi cream and fermented plum and warm ginger butter (£29). There are a lot of strong flavours combined here, and in the wrong hands could be just a mish mash of a dish, but the dark and gamey roe deer flavour came through, as did the delicate almost buttery tuna with the wasabi, adding some body without overpowering everything - masterful. My wife selected a Crispy Tofu and Beetroot Salad which was packed with crispy coloured leaves all wellseasoned, accompanied by sweet beetroot and small cubes of crunchy tofu.

Mains are cutely described as ‘From the Fireplace’, and it was here that we really experienced the skill of the chefs. My wife loves the sweet, clean and light taste of lobster, and so chose the Lobster with coriander, curry and brown-butter hollandaise (£85), and I chose the dish Sweden vs Japan (£70), (which could come straight from the annuls of the World Cup).

My wife’s lobster was cooked to perfection, and the spongy flesh just bursting with flavour melted in the mouth. The lobster was accompanied by a lightly curried hollandaise which added a slight zing without taking away from what all lobster lovers love about lobster, namely its sweet fishiness. Although good, the lobster had to take second place to my Sweden vs Japan dish which was simply the best dish I have tasted for many a year. Here the most flavoursome of Japanese Wagyu, cooked to perfection with a delicately crispy outer layer surrounding a slightly pink inner, sits on a rich and hearty Swedish braised brisket with a lemon grass jus and Japanese mustard. Continuing the football analogy, analysing the dish on the two different meats the match was a 1-1 draw, as both were magical in their own way, but for me the addition of the Japanese mustard was not necessary as it overpowered the wonderful tastes of the meats and that tipped the match to 2-1 in Sweden’s favour! A Swedish win was cemented by the incredible Hasselback Potatoes (£8) we chose to accompany our mains, as these Swedish roast potatoes were so crisp on the outside and light and fluffy inside that they were memorable in their own right.

The desserts were equally special, and my Lime Tart (£12) with whipped coconut cream was a lovely mix of sharp, citrussy, smooth mousse accompanied by the sweet coconut cream. Our other choice was the Rum-Raisin Ice Cream (£14), that was taken to another level by the addition of frozen foie gras. Indulgence on a spoon!

Harrods has a number of well-known restaurants, and for me the best of these is now Studio Frantzén, as it does everything well. The décor is understated but classy, the service is impeccable, and the food sublime, so try it for yourself, you will not be disappointed.