We visited L’Enclume last weekend, thanks to some lovely colleagues of my spouse who thoughtfully chose it as our wedding gift. It was quite the experience, on many levels!
Engawa
I’ve been here a couple of times and it has never disappointed me. Very tasty food, great presentation and my favourite aspect: their bento and omasake selections are varied enough that you don’t have to think and also you don’t regret trusting their chefs to ‘order for you’.
Last Friday, we had the omasake dinner–the small version. There was a bigger version with two or three more dishes but we already were super full with this, so I don’t even want to imagine what it would have happened if we had gone for the ‘mega’ version!
This was the starter. It was really yummy. Here’s a close up so you can see the actually edible thing:
It was such a delicious combination of flavours – the fish, the subtle dressing, the radish, the crispy herbs…!
Then we had one of their (as always) beautiful bento boxes. Sauces on the bottom right, various things in the different compartments. It was all so yummy and fresh. And we were already starting to feel a touch full…
But we had yet to get to the main course!
It was a steak on a VERY hot, sizzling stone, plus salad, rice and miso soup. You could still turn the veggies and steak around to cook to your liking, if you wanted to.
We went for a classic companion drink: Asahi beers! Although the staff kept pouring them in a brutal way that built up a lot of foam and I was getting very annoyed by that 😠
This was fantastic and great value for money in Central London—albeit SO BUSY! Forget any idea of ‘quiet romantic date restaurant’… at least not on a Friday night! 😝
Engawa
2 Ham Yard,
London W1D 7DT
Polpetto
A bit of a belated post as I left this in the drafts but forgot to finish it before we went on holidays last month!
This is my inaugural post on the Places to eat category: sharing places where we (unsurprisingly) like to eat!
In need of comforting food in a cosy environment? Polpetto is a safe bet… specially during these cold spells we’re having lately.
Calamari and meatballs…
… Broccoli and pine nuts salad, potatoes with olives, gnocchi…
The syrup chunks on this crême were a touch too thick for my tastes, though!
This polenta cake was very nice.
Not pictured: their negronis, which beat their aperol spritz. Always go negroni here.
Polpetto
http://www.polpetto.co.uk/
11 Berwick Street, London W1F 0PL