Invisible extras - Hawksmoor chips to service tips!

When and why is it acceptable to add service charge to a restaurant bill?

The subject of countless debates... Why should service be charged as an extra? Why isn't it covered by the restaurant staff's wages? How much should it be? Do the staff receive it? Is it better in cash? Why is it so much?
So here is my starter for ten...
1) 'Why is service charge extra?' We are a nation of non-tippers (unlike our friends in the US) so we find tipping very uncomfortable.  The easiest answer is to say 'it just is'. Restaurant staff work very hard and are paid very little. When you look at the margins that most restaurants work to, you see very quickly that there's not much left for wages. Service charge is the staff's incentive to do a good job.
2) 'How much should it be?' If service charge wasn't automatically included on your bill, how much would you honestly leave? More or less than if it had been included at 10-12.5%? At least if it's already included, it's a simple decision
3) 'I don't think the service was that great - why should I leave a tip?'
If you have bad service, you are entitled to not pay the service charge based on having a good reason for doing. But if you have decent/acceptable service, don't be stingy.
4) 'Should I leave it as cash?' 'Who gets the service charge?' There's no easy answer as this can vary enormously - always ask your waiter/waitress who will be exceptionally grateful to you.

When is service charge WRONG?
1) When you sit at a bar and someone passes you a glass/bottle/cocktail from the other side - that's just wrong and should be stopped with immediate effect!!!
2) When the prices are extortionate to start off with
3) When the service is dreadful - and I mean, really bad

Food for thought...

Restaurant of the Week
I had the pleasure of visiting Hawksmoor Seven Dials this week. I'd heard the hype and called to book a table on a Monday night for 8.30pm. Not a chance so a reservation was made for 9.30pm. Fortunately, true to form, my Italian friend was very late so it didn't make much difference BUT it did allow me to check out the bar which is beautiful!

The Bar

I earwigged the bar staff's conversation about the bar manager who knows more about cocktails than the rest of them put together (praise indeed as these guys knew their staff) and is obsessed by great glassware with lots of weird and wonderfully shaped glasses to suit both customers and the drinks. After a while, the chat became a little nerd like as they obsessed over cocktail trivia so I focused on a mint julep that used gin instead of standard bourbon and came in its own shaker. Delicious! When the Italian eventually arrived, I was forced to try their 'fancy gin cocktail' which they had kindly warned me was a little strong. And yes it was so that's the last photo I took!

The Food
We ordered our food quickly and picked a 900g Porterhouse steak. The food here isn't cheap. At £6.50 per 100g, this came to £58.50 and whilst it sounds big, there's a big bone in the middle which reduces your portion size to adequate as opposed to generous. The steak was beautiful but what really grated was the fact that everything else costs extra...from sauces like bearnaise or stilton at £2 a pop, through to triple cooked chips and buttered greens at £4. OK to the buttered greens but sauces and chips should be thrown in at prices like that.

A saving grace is that on Mondays, corkage is reduced to just £5 a bottle (usually £25) so we splashed out on a great bottle of red to make the most of the deal and thoroughly enjoyed it.

For once, we also had a pudding - peanut butter shortbread with salted caramel ice cream. I don't normally have puddings but this was AMAZING! And even better with a dessert wine and an apple brandy!

In summary
I still think that the rib of beef at Great Queen Street/Anchor & Hope is exceptionally good value...and it comes with chips. BUT the experience of Hawksmoor Seven Dials is definitely worth a visit...on a Monday when the corkage deal is on!

Dishoom: tepid to luke warm!

There's a new bit between Leicester Square and Covent Garden called St Martin's Courtyard. Someone managed to excavate a space and has planted the new Bill's Produce Store, yet another Jamie's Italian (yawn), a couple of shops and a Bombay Cafe called Dishoom.

I was pondering over what Dishoom actually meant so I checked their website to find out...

DISHOOM /dishu:m/ n.
1. The old Bollywood sound effect produced when a hero lands a good punch, or when a bullet flies through the air
2. Similar to popular slang usage of the expression “Mojo”; e.g. “He’s got that Dishoom

Do I believe it? No.

The Venue
Anyway, semantics aside, this is a beautiful restaurant and it has a beautiful website and beautiful waiting staff (can you guess what's missing?!).

With ceiling fans, comfortable booths along one side, little lights hanging down with those bulbs where you can just see the filament glowing, and lots of 'old' Indian ads/pics/photos on the wall, it's a great mix of colonial meets fast modern.

It's open from 8am to 11pm and has a menu that is simple but covers every meal/snack opportunity through the day. I love the time bar on the website that you can move through the day to see the different menus come up.
The staff are young, beautiful and very helpful. Which is a good thing really as the food isn't that great.

The Food
We started with Keema Pau which is spiced minced lamb with hot buttered bread. Unfortunately the buttered bread tasted a bit like cold supermarket muffins and the spiced mince was tepid on arrival at the table. The spicy lamb chops were average (try Mirch Masala for the best ones) but the chicken berry biryani was good and the house black dhal was tasty. 

The Problem
Unfortunately everything was luke warm at best, which, combined with cold plates and a nearby aircon unit in overdrive, meant that within seconds everything felt like it had just emerged from a chiller unit. Disappointing. When I mentioned the temperature issue to the waiter, he said that things were still a little bit disorganised as they'd only opened five months ago. Hmmm, five weeks and I might have forgiven them but five MONTHS?!

The Verdict
The concept of a Bombay Cafe in Central London is brilliant and Dishoom has all the ingredients to make this place a huge success - but they need to get the food right so I'll return when they've sorted it. For the moment, I'll stick to Mirch Masala in Tooting which might not look so cool but the food is hot, tasty and great value for money

Eating in Attractive Surroundings

So after last week's view on eating with your fingers, I was asked to consider how attractive company impacted an eating out experience. Actually it was more about a particularly attractive barman who observed the crab crushing ritual in question and seeemed to become more attractive as the bottle of wine emptied...

I've pondered over this observation and come up with the following three scenarios:

1) Splashing out? Very attractive serving staff will be happy to help
It's very hard to say no to an Adonis like barman/waiter who is selling you the most expensive thing on the menu. Surely such a beautiful specimen would never fleece you...?

2) Perfect for crash diets - first dates seriously damage your appetite
Something about first dates generates a phantom stomach staple. All of a sudden, healthy appetites reduce to a sparrow like picking tendency and an 'oh no, I couldn't possibly eat another thing' when all you've had is a lettuce leaf. Thank goodness it's only temporary.

3) Dreadful for waistlines - beautiful thin people make you want an extra helping
How is it that fussy eaters or just people in micro skintight clothing that you know that you will never squeeze into without buying reinforced Spanx just make you eat more. It's some kind of reaction that says 'they're not eating enough so I'll do the right thing and help them out by eating their share too'  Similar behaviours occur when surrounded by teetotallers

So the moral of the story is to choose your occasion carefully, and your company to match!

Food of the week

Drop scones. I've been stunned at the number of people who don't know what drop scones are this week. Not exactly summer food but always very delicious so homework this week is to check them out

Bars of the week

PIX - Neal Street, Covent Garden (and Notting Hill too)

It's not always that easy to find decent bars in touristy zones of central London but PIX is an exception. Located at the far end of Neal Street (from Covent Garden tube), PIX is small, dark and cosy with lots of small tables and stools to perch on. Why 'PIX'? Pintxos is the Basque version of tapas which is clearly too complicated to write in full or to pronounce so they've made it much easier and just called it PIX

The pintxos/tapas are a nice touch with two prices for small and large, and easily charged back by counting up the sticks that hold them together. From calamari to chorizo to tortilla to bruschetta type offers, they're fresh and tasty and mix perfectly with the range of Spanish wines by the glass.

My only concern was that the wine glasses are orange tinted tumblers which made me slightly uneasy about whether I was drinking orange squash...



SKYLON, Royal Festival Hall, Waterloo
I love this bar. Someone reminded me about it again this week. It's so decadent and the drinks are great (albeit extortionately priced) and the view over the Thames from the floor to ceiling windows is stunning. To give you an idea of what it's like, think very exclusive, modern and beautifully designed top floor bar in a Dubai hotel. n.b. I've never eaten here but if you're in the area, make sure you pop in for a quick caipirinha.

Che - three letters that start a revolution

Week 3

The snow has melted - hurrah! But it's all gone very grey - boo!

Christmas seems like a long long time ago and we're struggling with those New Year's resolutions... so stuff that idea and start enjoying life again with something nice!

Food of the Week

Stichelton cheese



To the normal eye, this stuff looks like Stilton, smells like Stilton and tastes like an amazingly fantastic Stilton but those three extra letters 'che' make all the difference and are creating a revolution of their own!

It's not a Stilton. Stilton refers to the cheese that we know and love that only six dairies across Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire are licensed to produce using locally produced, pasteurised milk according to EU law.

Stichelton is different. It's still made in Nottinghamshire but the main difference is that it uses 'raw' unpasteurised organic milk (as many traditional English cheeses used to be made). Because of the 'raw' milk, it has to be called something different and so the name Stichelton was chosen - the ancient name of Stilton town as per the Domesday Book.

So what's the difference?

I bought some for Christmas and found it a much softer, creamier cheese than you would expect from a Stilton, still with a strong and distinctive tang from the blue mould and an exceptionally long aftertaste. Everyone loved it, remarked on it's 'delicious-ness' and it disappeared very quickly!
Try it and I'm sure you'll agree this is in a different league.



Best Way to Serve

So there's not much left from Christmas now, but there's definitely a few of us who are stockpiling the Christmas cake! Brighten up a January evening with a chunk of Stichelton, a hunk of Christmas cake and a large glass of port or red wine.

For a slightly healthier option and in tune with the seasons, try a salad of chopped chicory, sliced apple, crumbled Stichelton and some walnuts, topped with a simple vinaigrette.

A little known fact...

Britain now boasts around 700 varieties of cheese – 100 more varieties than France produces, and twice as many as Italy*.

Where can I buy it and what's it going to do to my bank balance?

Borough Market (in the new Jubilee Market section), open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
Neals Yard Dairy: Covent Garden and London Bridge, open Mondays to Saturdays
www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk

Price: £23.50 for 1kg so about a fiver for a substantial chunk



Restaurant of the Week

32 Great Queen Street

This week's choice is 32 Great Queen Street on...surprise suprise! 32 Great Queen Street between Covent Garden and Holborn tube stations
There is no website so you'll have to call them to book a table on 020 7242 0622



Why is it good?
1) It's a great location
2) It's all about great British food and seasonal produce
3) It's relaxed and it's not too expensive and you can get a good range of wines by the glass and by the carafe too

It's like the best gastro pub you've been to, up a level, in a comfortable, seated environment without the pub bit. Almost like a British version of a Paris brasserie without the old men drinking Pastis. Around £30-40 per head.

Try the rib of beef for two with twice cooked chips. They insist (understandably) on serving it rare so prepare yourself to be like a caveman for the time it takes to finish it off. They also have great fish and vegetarian dishes on offer.



*Source: Julia Harbutt, organiser of British Cheese Awards