From Marylebone to Fulham

Saturday, January 18th , 2020

1947 London, just off Charlotte Street, is a smart Indian restaurant that recently opened. It was not trivial to find, given that there is already an Indian restaurant of that name in Middlesex Street. Moreover, the restaurant insists that its address is “33 Charlotte Street”, presumably for markting reasons, despite being not even close to, say, 34 Charlotte Street. Instead it is in an entirely different street nearby. If you navigate this navigational minefield and find the entrance then you will encounter some excellent food, prepared by a former head chef of Tangawizi. The food is fairly priced but the wine list is daylight robbery – at least Dick Turpin had the decency to wear a mask. Stick to beer.

This was, by chance, my second visit to the Harwood Arms in a fortnight. This gave me the chance to try a pre-order dish of venison Wellington (pictured), which was absolutely superb. Venison has deeper flavour than beef fillet, and this Wellington had a pancake to separate the meat juices from the pastry and so avoid soggy pastry; this is as it should be but many kitchens skip this extra step. Other dishes were also very good, including the signature Scotch egg. The Harwood Arms is a fine restaurant serving high quality food at a fair price – a rare combination in London.