Noble Rot Soho

This branch of Noble Rot opened in the autumn of 2020. At the time of writing there are three branches, the original one and also a branch in Shepherds Market in Mayfair. The head chef here tonight was Aaron Stigman, formerly head chef of Noble Rot Mayfair. He took over from Alex Jackson. I am told that Stephen Harris of The Sportsman is still involved here as a consultant chef. The Soho restaurant dining area is split over two floors, and this time we sat in the small upstairs room. The room was nicely decorated with low lighting, but the tables are very small and quite closely packed. However, the acoustics were good and the noise levels were not too high.

On the a la carte menu, snacks were priced from £4 to £12, starters £15 to £18, main courses £31 to £42.50, sides £6 and desserts £10 to £14. There was a three-course set lunch menu at £28. A plate of cheese was available at £15. The huge wine list had 1,038 labels and ranged in price from £27 to £7,297, with a median price of £126 and an average markup to retail price of 2.2 times, a real relative bargain in central London. Sample references were Quinta do Ermizio Chin Chin Vinho Verde 2023 at £27 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £13, Semeli Mantinia Moschofilero 2023 at £48 compared to its retail price of £20, and Clos Canarelli Rosé Corsica 2023 at £70 for a wine that will set you back £27 in the high street. For those with the means there was Grange des Peres Rouge 1998 at £440 compared to its retail price of £471, and the lovely Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny Le Bourg 2012 at £441 for a wine whose current market value is £512 

Devilled egg with smoked eel was harmless enough, though for me a little more devilry would have improved things. The small piece of eel itself was fine but the dish lacked bite (13/20). A trio of breads included very good focaccia made in the kitchen, pleasant soda bread also made here, and sourdough from E5 bakery in Hackney. 

I had the slip sole with black truffle butter (£18), based on a dish originally served at The Sportsman. This fish is a baby Dover sole and has a similar texture, served here on the bone. This slip sole was nicely cooked though the black truffle in the butter was of homeopathic levels, so it really left little impression (13/20).

Whole roast chicken with vin Jaune sauce and morels with pilaf rice (£85 to share) was the dish of the night. The chicken, from butcher HG Walter, was cooked well and had fairly good flavour, with the dried morels tasting good and the vin Jaune (the yellow wine from the Jura made from the Savagnin grape with a slightly oxidised flavour) sauce being velvety and rich. A side dish of sprout tops provided some much-needed greenery balance to the richness of the sauce (easily 15/20). This dish is pretty clearly a version of the Nico Ladenis classic recipe from his My Gastronomy Cookbook (page 37). Although there is no copyright on recipes, it might have been nice for the menu to acknowledge the Nico link. The dish itself is not new, but is a regional dish from the Jura region (noted for its morels) which Mr Ladenis refined, using Bresse chicken at one point in his restaurant to make it more luxurious. 

We were heading off to the theatre so had no time for dessert tonight. Service was very good, our waitress being helpful and friendly. The cost per person was £120, sharing a bottle of the most basic Egon Muller Riesling. This is a pretty good reflection of a typical cost per person having three courses and sharing a modest bottle of wine; this perhaps might average about £110. Even on an early service on a Monday the restaurant was packed, a testament to the appeal of the formula. Noble Rot offers an appealing menu, capable cooking, a fairly priced and carefully thought-out wine list and charming service. No wonder it is busy.

Further reviews: 07th Oct 2020