Fox and Anchor

Last year I was invited along to spend the evening at The Fox & Anchor with a number of other bloggers to celebrate the launch of their ‘Best of British’ menu. I am incredibly overdue in writing this post, and although some of the items on the menu have now changed in accordance with seasonality – the ethos remains the same and so I am keen to share my experience.

Firstly I must say Charterhouse Street located The Fox & Anchor is steeped in old-worldly charm - it is, what I would describe as a ‘boozer’, they have an impressive array of beverages and pride themselves on being a ‘great British pub’, which I think they pull off well. 

I arrived on a cold, wet and windy evening and the first thought on arrival was how lovely and warm it was and how this place reminded me of cosy country pubs far away from the hum of London, a great start.

I joined a group of bloggers, and was lucky enough to be seated beside May of Slow Food Kitchen and Tori from Eat Tori and as well as enjoying the food, it was great to catch up with like-minded women who made for fabulous company too and shared some of their top London eating spots – which is always good.

We were welcomed with some sparkling wine and whilst making our menu choices were invited to sample some classic pub snacks, Scotch eggs, pork pies, sausage rolls, piccalilli and, of course, pork scratchings. The sausage rolls were lovely, filled with a quality, herby sausage and surrounded by delicious flaky pastry. The pickle was also good, but the pork scratchings were my favourite. These had the brilliance of those served at Pitt Cue and proved to be like Pringles, once I’d popped I couldn’t stop.

I decided to go for the crab rarebit to start, which comprised brown crabmeat spread onto a slice of rye bread, topped with Cheddar and a little Worcester Sauce, then grilled. As is often the case, although this was simplicity itself – it was perfection. A few ingredients done well and seasoned beautifully for a deliciously light start. 

For the main I was torn between so many of the dishes, I am such a great lover of hearty British cookery and this menu screams of childhood favourites. I finally opted for one of the pies, a speciality of The Fox & Anchor, after careful consideration and confirming that I could try somebody else’s ham hock, which had also caught my attention.

My pie wasn’t traditional, its ‘crust’ was made up of brioche and the filling was slow cooked duck, in a sweet and almost sticky sauce or gravy. It was fantastic and different to anything I’ve tried before. Used to having duck pink, I was surprised at how tender and flavoursome the meat was, it had remained slightly sweet and the sweetness was enhanced by the brioche exterior.

We shared a selection of all of the sides and standout ones for me, were the creamy mash, champ and honey glazed carrots – again great British classics, but executed very well. 

I tried the ham hock, which was exceptional, it was literally falling off of the bone and full of the irresistibly salty flavours I remember from childhood family dinners – I would certainly opt for this if I went again.

I must mention though that both the duck pie and the ham hock were absolutely huge portions – I struggled to finish half, and I’m not shy when shovelling in food. I would suggest if you have a smaller appetite sharing a main course as it can be a little overwhelming to be presented with such a large dish. Perfect for bigger appetites – dare I say it, these are ‘man-sized’ portions, which is almost suitable for such a venue.

We were persuaded into trying a dessert, which I have to say I felt guilty about as I only managed a little spoonful of mine. I chose the traditional apple pie with vanilla custard, which was gorgeous and had that delicious caramel filling that makes each mouthful a joy – a winner, but disappointing that I couldn’t finish it. 

We had a number of different wines throughout the evening and really had a fantastic time. I couldn’t fault any of the dishes I tried on flavour at all, presentation was also good for this style of cooking and my only slight niggle would be the size of the mains, but better to be too big than too small I suppose. As we were guests of the restaurant, I didn’t pay on this occasion, however the menu is very reasonable with mains all under £16 and they have a number of mid-week deals such as ‘Pie and a Pint’ Tuesdays for £12.95 and the like so it is certainly an affordable venue.

If you are looking for traditional British food, served in comfortable old-English style surroundings without an extortionate price tag then The Fox & Anchor is the place for you.

 

The Opera Tavern

This venue has been on my ‘wish-list’ for a while and during August I finally got to see what all the fuss was all about. Tucked away just outside of Covent Garden, The Opera Tavern specialises in Italian and Spanish tapas and so my lovely dad was the obvious companion for this jaunt – Spanish tapas is his absolute favourite. We had tickets for the Women’s Football Final at London 2012 and enjoyed a lovely meal here prior to a fantastic and atmospheric evening at Wembley stadium.


The downstairs area where we were seated, close to the open charcoal grill, was small but perfectly formed, smartly attired with stalls at the bar. We were in a bit of a rush so ordered straight away following some enthusiastic and knowledgeable recommendations from our friendly Spanish waitress.

My dad couldn’t help ordering the Italian Scotch Egg, which he loved – with a soft, perfectly cooked egg, covered in citrus-infused Italian sausage meat and herby breadcrumbs. Eggs are one of the few things that I just don’t like, so I left my dad to enjoy this, which he did so immensely – in fact he said it was the best one he’d ever had and would have happily ordered another if we didn’t have a full flurry of dishes coming our way. It did look very appetising too, though I didn’t try this.

One of the signature dishes at The Opera Tavern is the Mini Ibérico Pork and Foie Gras Burger – I’ve read lots about this dish from reviewers and other bloggers and so was keen to try it. The Ibérico pork at The Opera Tavern is imported directly from Spain, and the actual patty with the foie gras running through was divine, nicely pink and juicy in the middle and with an incredible flavour, an outstanding quality of meat. A little melted cheese and some gloriously sweet red onion chutney were included in the soft burger bun, with a little aioli and this was served on a board with a mild green chilli. It’s the kind of dish I’d happily pop into the restaurant for on my own and order with a Cruz Campo – one of my favourite bottled beers and sit happily at the bar with – gorgeous.

We also tried the Roasted Scallops with Braised Peas and Prosciutto, Pea Purée and Truffle Butter, which was presented beautifully on a slate in the shells. The scallops were ever so slightly over-cooked which was a shame but the flavours together were good and I can see that this would be a good dish.

 

Another dish that looked exceptionally pretty was the Roasted Salt Hake with Saffron and Almond Sauce, Courgettes and Broad Beans. This was one of my favourite dishes – the fleshy white fish was cooked just right so it flaked away nicely and with the flavours of the saffron and almond evident in the customary yellow hued sauce which had clearly been made with some glorious fish-stock as there was a definite flavour of the sea on this plate. The seasonal courgette and broad beans added to this dish, and again this is something I’d order if I were to visit again.

One of the standout dishes of the evening was the Confit of Old Spot Pork Belly with Rosemary Scented Cannellini Beans. Now, my pictures really don’t do these dishes justice as the presentation was fantastic throughout, and I’d forgotten my camera so had to rely on my battered Blackberry, and for this dish in particular, the meat looks quite dry in the picture. It wasn’t at all – it had been slow cooked and the meat fell apart with a delicious overall flavour. Coupled with the rosemary-infused white beans this was really delicious, and something I’ll be trying to recreate at home. 

Our final dish was a salad of Buffalo Mozzarella and Heritage Tomato’s with Grilled Peaches, Thyme and crunchy breadcrumbs. I’d never have thought of combining peaches in such a salad but it was lovely, and the mozzarella had just the right amount of salt to contrast with the sweet flavours.


As we’re both greedy sorts, we couldn’t resist trying one each of the desserts – my dad had the Calasparra Rice Pudding with New Season’s Cherries, Marcona Almond Ice Cream and Fresh Thyme which he practically inhaled, despite complaining that he wasn’t keen on the thyme used in a dessert. I tried this and was delighted to find it was nothing like any other rice pudding I’ve endured, it was rich, creamy and flavoursome with a savoury edge. Our waitress once again gave me her recommendation for the best pudding and so I took her advice and opted for the Cold Chocolate Fondant with Salted PX Caramel and Milk Ice Cream. This was a chocolate-lovers choice and so suited me perfectly. The fondant was soft, mousse-like and pure, dark chocolate heaven and the ice cream was frankly to die for. It was a good note to end on. This was a great meal, thoroughly enjoyed and with great service to boot. I’d recommend The Opera Tavern to anybody who likes tapas and a laid-back atmosphere.

(Apologies for the dodgy photography - it was courtesy of my not-so-fabulous phone and for some reason I'm unable to rotate them so if anybody has any pointers on why this might be please do let me know!)