Ever since coming across the
famed bone marrow starter dish from legendary St John in Clerkenwell, London,
it has been on my hitlist. One thing
that interested me was the nose to tail philosophy of the restaurant, which
holds 1 Michelin star and are ranked 71st on the San Pellegrino 2013
world restaurants listing. Being of Chinese heritage I am used to eating all
the innards and outer parts of various animals.
Many of my friends display utter disgust at simple shellfish and
absolute terror at pig intestines, tripe and chickens feet. I tend to try anything although there is
something about whole fish heads which makes me want to puke. Getting back on track, you are more likely to
find trotters, sweetbreads and game on the menu at St John.
The white coated uniform of the
servers reminded me of the evil doctor from The Human Centipede. As planned I started with the bone marrow
toast. This was served as four bone
segments with a parsley salad and a spoonful of rock salt on the side. I was told to top the toast with bone marrow
and parsley leaves before sprinkling with salt to taste. The bones were served extremely hot and
extracting the marrow with pick was a messy job with it spreading all over my
hands. However it was worth it and the
dish came to life with the parsley and salt added to the bone marrow topped
toast. A simple and comforting dish but
it just works and it is easy to see why this has remained on the menu since
opening. My dining partner chose cured
beef with green beans and pickled walnut, a cold starter but lacking the
excitement of the bone marrow.
It was the beginning of the grouse
season during my visit and a dish simply labelled ‘grouse’ was on the
menu. Naturally I chose this having
never tasted it before. The oven roasted grouse
was presented whole and served with bread sauce and offal pate toast. The meat of the bird was medium rare and
pink, the texture was like a cross between duck and chicken. The breast meat was wonderful but I felt the
meat of the legs and wings and towards the carcass to be somewhat bitter. The bread sauce added little in my opinion
and I wasn’t too keen on it. However I’m
glad to have tried grouse and would order it again if served with something
sweeter like a blackberry or other fruit sauce.
On the other side of the table was braised lamb, fennel and aioli, the
lamb was tender and the fatty bits were melt in the mouth goodness.
I had my eye on the salted
chocolate caramel tart for dessert and the appearance of it was indulgent in
itself, presented as a slab of dark rich chocolate wedge. Again as was the theme, this was simple but
satisfying, not too sweet and not overpoweringly rich. We also had the baked cheesecake and we split
each dessert into two, this was quite average and the chocolate tart was the
star here.
The bill with a glass of wine
each came to a shade under £89 service excluded. The service throughout the night was good and
not overly attentive in keeping with the relaxed environment, although some may
find it too noisy. For simple Michelin
food without all the wizardry St John provides reasonable value and the bone
marrow is a must try.
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