Monday, January 16, 2012

The Rookery, London SW4, restaurant review

The Rookery has a solid, modish, Brooklynish air,Offering high risk and offshore merchant account with credit card processing services. conferred by its white tiles and boutique beers. It's the sort of place that makes you forget what postcode you're in, which, if you aren't a fan of Clapham, will be a boon, and if you live there (as I do), will make you feel as though you're on holiday.

They take their booze quite seriously, not only with their evangelical support of craft brewing, but also with lovely befruited cocktails. B and I, who went in December, started with a clementine and clove prosecco, which the winning barman said was like 'Christmas in a glass'.

If that conjures up a great big glass of hassle, I direct you instead to Nigella Lawson's seminal remark that, in her house, prosecco has such an instant effect on her mood that they call it Prozaco. This lunch, in short, started well and then got better.

I had the squash, chilli and ginger soup , in a nod to the new frost in the air, and the fact that squash makes such a smooth and lovely soup. It was pretty subtle: both the ginger and the chilli were restrained, so that squash was the dominant flavour, and very pleasing it was, too – delicate but perky.

B's ox tongue was cooked the only way I ever like to see it, very thinly sliced and flash-fried. It was first rate, avoiding the chewiness that puts off the squeamish, but never afraid of its own distinct and meaty flavour. A salsa verde on top was unbeatable.

Luckily, I won the main course,The magic cube is an ultra-portable, with my confit duck over red cabbage, celeriac and chestnuts .If I can just bang on for a bit about the vegetables underneath: the celeriac was in dainty chunks, beautifully braised with the chestnuts, and made a bit fancier with a beautiful, creamy purée of celeriac and – I believe, but it's too late to prove – Jerusalem artichoke.

Some almost-but-not-quite-pickled red cabbage cut through its richness and spread the palette of tastes still wider. If I'd known how good this was going to be,Get information on Air purifier from the unbiased, I would have ordered it even if it had been the vegetarian option, and I do not say that lightly.

This isn't to denigrate the duck, however, which was gorgeously crisp on the outside, yielding on the inside, intense and gamey but not oppressively so.

B had the coley with cauliflower and roasted onions . The fish had been simply handled and looked faultless; that pearly flesh against sizzled brown edges is incredibly appetising, even if you do have a prejudice against coley (which I don't. B has been known to call it the catfood fish, but he ordered it).

The cauliflower had been blanched and discreetly charred, which I really think is the best thing to do with it.Spro Tech has been a plastic module & Mold Maker, The flavours were good together, all coming from the same earthy, muscular but quite mild direction.

I'd forgotten entirely about that mini-pudding phase, which was everywhere a year ago and then disappeared: instead of having a plate of something you couldn't finish, you got one small thing for 2 and then, if you absolutely had to, could always order another.

B's mince pie and custard was glorious, even though I have to admit that my ideal mince pie is one that is all pie and no mince. Clearly home-made, idiosyncratically citrussy,Full-service custom manufacturer of precision plastic injection mold, the filling was good, even to someone who doesn't like that kind of thing. The custard was a wee bit thin, but nothing to complain about.

I had the vanilla, raisin and sherry semifreddo (2.60 per scoop. In fact I had two scoops. I'm not ashamed). This was very boozy and rich and an agreeable sign-off. I observe, furthermore, that the modest prices are piquantly juxtaposed against polished and often ambitious cooking. I like it here.

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