The Dairy

On Tuesday evening for my birthday dinner, my mum took me to The Dairy in Clapham. The restaurant was buzzing with people, and the low-key décor made for a relaxing atmosphere. The staff were very friendly, and I'd heard that they have a kitchen garden on the roof, so I was expecting great things.

I really liked the menu: it's split up into Snacks, Garden, Sea, Land, and Sweet, reflecting seasonal ingredients highlighted under each category. The idea is to order several of the very reasonably-priced starter size portions, and so try lots of different flavour combinations.

Bread is a good judge of a great restaurant, and The Dairy certainly passed that test. A mini sourdough loaf arrived at our table in a little hemp bag, along with butter served on rocks. Having spent the past few months trying to master the time-consuming art of sourdough baking myself, I could appreciate a great boule. Combined with intensely-flavoured seaweed butter, it was very moreish - we had to ask for another loaf!

This 'rustic' approach to presentation was exercised with great effect - each dish came with a different plate which complimented it both visually and texturally. Potted salmon came with Guinness soda bread on a diamond-shaped stone. The fish was absolutely wonderful, fresh and delicate, supported well by the bread.

My favourite Garden dishes were asparagus & hen egg, and pea & sorrel. The asparagus had a good bite, and were delicious with the creamy smoked custard and oozing hen egg. Then, a fantastically rich pea purée was served with sorrel ice, crunchy crumbs and jellies for an interesting mix of texture and temperature.

From the 'Sea', monkfish was perfectly cooked and served with crunchy radishes and chutney. The octopus was also lovely, with soft fennel, broad beans and a flavoursome broth.

Pudding was equally exceptional: Gariguette strawberries came with vanilla whey and cheesecake ice cream for a sweet treat, and apricots were drizzled with home-made honey (they keep bees on the roof!) and sprinkled with honeycumb for a crunchy contrast to the soft flesh of the fruit.

With stunning presentation, the best seasonal ingredients, and the creative Robin Gill as chef in the kitchen, The Dairy must be one of the best local restaurants - even worth a trip if you're not in Clapham. I'll certainly be returning, especially to try the new dishes next season!

North Road - Noma in London?

Last night, I had a delicious meal at North Road in Farringdon. The chef, Christoffer Hruskova, from Denmark, cooked up some fantastic dishes, perhaps inspired by the success of René Redzepi's Nordic restaurant in Copenhagen, Noma.

We were greeted by very welcoming staff, and a minimal but tasteful interior, with intriguing lights that reminded me of astronaut helmets!

As hors d'oeuvre, we were presented with a highly Noma-esque smoked quails egg, in a large egg shell. I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed with my first taste of North Road, since the eggs were cold and vinegary like they'd been preserved, as opposed to the hot melting, served over the still warm hay equivalent at Noma. My disappointment quickly vanished however, when I tried the smoked cheese and radish appetizer, beautifully presented on crispy bread, and topped with my favourite herb, dill! It was wonderfully light, and subtly smoky, with a soft crunch from the thinly-sliced radishes - deeelish.

For my starter I chose pickled mackerel, with nettles and horseradish. The mackerel on its own was lovely and yielding and just vinegary enough for my liking! I adored the horseradish 'snow', which had a really intensely pungent taste. Although, I wasn't too keen on the burnt hay covered fish, as I think it was too charcoaly, and the texture was strangely oozy, which put me off somewhat.

My main course was absolutely fantastic! I had monkfish tail and cheek, with Kent broad beans, St George mushrooms, delicious sauce made from intense (I think chestnut) mushrooms, and different greens, including samphire. The dish looked like something you might find on a forest floor, with different shades of green and brown, and tasted wonderfully earthy as well. The fish had a great, giving texture, whilst being wonderfully crispy on the outside. I loved the flavoursome mushrooms, and accompanying sauce, and the greens had great sweet and citrus tastes.

Finally, for dessert, I opted for the interesting sounding birch ice-cream and nettle 'snow'. The ice-cream was gently woody, with subtle vanilla undertones, and the nettle 'snow', which looked bizarrely like moss was in fact lovely and refreshing.

Altogether, it's a great restaurant, with exciting and scrumptious food - almost on par with Noma, and certainly easier to get to for me!