Bonds stock is high
Saturday, January 20th , 2007
This was my first visit to Bonds, the appropriately named restaurant just yards from the Bank of England in, you guessed, an old bank premises. A detailed review is on the site, but overall this was 5/10 level, including a good beef bourguignon made with Charolais beef. Desserts were the best feature, with a classy soufflé and a silky warm chocolate ganache. The meal was only marred by a debate about the dessert wine glass, which despite being called a "glass" on the menu appeared as something seemingly measured out with a thimble. This tendency to stiff customers on dessert wine is an increasingly common issue in restaurants in London. If they tried this in France there would be riots.
El Vino in Twickenham is a new tapas bar opened by the people behind McClements bistro. Though not at the level of Salt Yard this was nonetheless well above average, with good kitchen technique on display, an appealing menu and fair prices.
Haandi in Knightsbridge yet again produced a fine meal. Their treatment of vegetable curries (aloo gobi and a channa tonight) is the best in London, while their tandoori cooking is hard to fault.
There will now be a short intermission in the blog as I am off to India for a couple of weeks. Normal service will be resumed in mid February.