After a long leisurely lunch at Mountain we took in the Cecily Brown show at Serpentine Gallery. It was excellent to see this after the Tracey Emin show. The gallery is bright and airy and provided an uplifting environment to see her newer more upbeat works.
We wanted something extremely casual, but still great food, for dinner so Joe suggested a Turkish spot (Yeni Umut Dalston) his partners recommended that he had already tried and was very impressed. All I had to hear was pressed chicken wings and corkage! The wings were great and as promised but the lamb skewers stole the show!
I was hoping to head to the music club OM after dinner and amazingly it was a 10 minute walk. And my long last friend Amit who is the owner just happened to be in the house and took us over to Brilliant Corners and allowed us to go down into the wine cellar and pick what we wanted. We had an absolutely riveting bottle of Julie Balagny (RIP) in OM. The finale to a perfect day / weekend!!!
It was somewhat comical. For some reason I thought it was going to be more difficult and I never stress about those type of things. We ended up going to Gymkhana. We got there at 11:50 and they actually let us in and seated us. I had pre studied the menu and wine list so I immediately ordered and they were super cool about it. We were done with our lunch by 12:50 and in the Virgin lounge before 2:00 for a 4:20 flight! Monday was a holiday so zero traffic and I had forgotten how easy it is to get through the Delta entrance.
The food was good but I don’t get the 2 stars and I can see why it is somewhat controversial.
Probably could have fit in a 2nd lunch! I did notice they closed the doors at 4:00 sharp.
Gymkhana is riding on old merits. It hasn’t been 2 star level for like 15 years.
In a way, and I don’t know if this resonates, it’s like Jean Georges used to be in NYC. 3 stars forever, but the 2 times I ate there, it was barely 1 star level (this was back in early 2010’s). Seemed like it was harder to take away a star than to award a star back then.
And you should have said you were flying Virgin UC! That’s the one exception in LHR where public transport actually takes quite a bit longer than other terminals, as it’s on the opposite end of T3 from the CTA stops.
It being a bank holiday obviously helps with traffic. I’ve had taxis that take 3 hours from Westminster to LHR.
food scene has really gone to another level, it is much more deep and diverse
old people, you know people in their 50s, 60s and even 70s go out to clubs to hear music - people of all ages go out to hear music.
they dance to Jazz in clubs!
at the right places it is easy to drink wine that is really hard to find in the U.S., prices are all over the map
front of the house staff in restaurants really love what they do and work really, really hard. most we talked to were from elsewhere, Ireland, South Africa etc. Our server at St Johns worked doubles for the entire week.
we typically go once a year we are going to change this
Had a fantastic meal at Impala. Good list, a bit hipster, a bit on the excessive side in markup but a lot of interesting choices (we drank a Ratte poulsard), great sharing menu like the sister establishments, lot of energy by the grill.
I do want to note the desert…one of the best I’ve had in ages. There’s only one on the menu so I’ll leave it as a bit of a surprise! Highly recommend it as an after covent garden /soho show treat!
JKS Restaurant Group is the financial partner of many good London restaurants, including my favorite, Kitchen Table. I prefer Gymkhana of their Indian restaurants, followed by Ambassador’s Clubhouse.
Had a casual dinner at The Sea, The Sea, a new spot on Pavillion Road in Chelsea. They are still dialing it in, and aren’t super ambitious in terms of gastronomic complexity, but the fish is very high quality, the menu economic, the prices are reasonable, and some of the dishes were really wonderful. Had a really deep consomme of crab and lobster, as well as a lovely John Dory in such a deep soy sauce and a delectable silver mullet with an absolutely delicious emmer base. They’re corkage friendly. Would love to bring a bottle of chablis, hang at the bar, and have a bistro-style dinner. During the day, they are fish mongers and convert the bar into a selection of fresh catches to take home. Count me a fan.
I am glad you liked The Sea, The Sea. When in London we stay nearby. It has been open for about 5 years, and we have used it exactly as you have described, bringing a bottle and enjoying their food.
Interesting to see they are still “dialing it in”. That and the lack of ambition were my impressions when I went there in 2020. At the time I wrote it off to shaking off the lockdown blues. Seems like they haven’t changed.
Had a casual dinner at The Sea, The Sea , a new spot on Pavillion Road in Chelsea
‘a new spot’ instead of ‘at a new spot’ has a very different meaning, or at least to me it does. I looked it up on my phone and didn’t immediately see that they’d moved.
I clearly missed it. I was clearly wrong. It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last.
For an unusual breakfast try the Duck and Waffle. Duck confit on a waffle. I don’t add the maple syrup. It is on the 40+ floor of the building- spectacular city views.
