Jan

Jan Caspian Flavours - Northcote Road, Clapham

Little-known to London until this time, the Caspian region is full of culinary adventures and delights that entice a curious traveller.

Besides the Caspian Sea, another geographically, culturally and gastronomically significant highlight of the region is its bridging of the areas of the Caucasus Mountains and the Central Asian steppes.

The present-day Caspian region can be defined as all areas immediately adjoining the coastline, as well as neighbouring countries that for centuries had been influenced by the rulers of the land: Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey.

http://myjan.co.uk

Review: Jan in Clapham - Essential Surrey & SW London

Sophie Farrah eats like a (Caspian) King in Clapham… Standing proudly on a corner of the buzzing Northcote Road with its azure blue mosaic tiles and glitzy gold signage, modern Middle Eastern restaurant Jan is immediately impressive.

Offering ‘Caspian flavours’ and taking influence from the likes of Iran and Turkey, the menu is promising and feels authentic but modern; fashionable foodie ingredients such as sumac, tahini and pomegranate molasses all float off the page and get my mouth watering and intrigue spiked.

The delicious intensity of the coffee combined with the sweetness of the vanilla vodka was good enough, but the added dimensions of spice and strong aniseed flavours gave it a divine taste of the exotic.

The miso dressing, although somewhat out of place on the Caspian menu, mixed with the smokiness of the charcoal grill was a truly delicious combination.

By this point I imagined that I would not have room for dessert; but the main courses were so fresh and deliciously light, and I had already heard good things about the lemon cake, so we plumped for the harissa ice cream served with apricot and saffron, which the waiter informed us was their ‘Marmite’ dish.

Jan: Review - Restaurant in Battersea, London | Just Opened

Jan plays with Middle Eastern flavours that are familiar to us restaurant-goers, but then uses them in unexpected, original ways to create a more novel – Caspian – menu.

The harissa ice cream will send your tastebuds into overdrive, which only made us crave the other desserts – sadly unavailable that night – 100 times more.

Cocktails – for the sweet tooth – are a fun mix of Caspian flavours and familiar tipples.

Jan is suitable for date night, a light working lunch, or a long weekend brunch.

The flavours are exciting and the menu original enough that, were it not on the other side of town, we’d quite happily be regulars.

Sorrel, Dorking, Surrey: 'A meal that's as highly polished as the ...

The waiters are quizzed on ingredients with such frequency and enthusiasm that I fear for our chances of catching the last train home Comfort seems to be a dirty word in restaurant design circles these days, but after a long, damp trek from the railway station (you try getting a taxi in Dorking on a wet Friday evening), it’s pure pleasure to collapse into Sorrel’s plump, velvety banquettes and be spoiled rotten for a couple of hours.

I suspect she’s right – not in those heels, anyway – but whether they came by bus or Bentley, everyone seems genuinely excited to be here, quizzing the waiters on ingredients and techniques with such frequency and enthusiasm that I begin to fear for our chances of catching the last train home.

Highlights of the nine-course tasting menu include a yolk-yellow warm pumpkin mousse studded with sweet, crunchy praline that packs a glorious parmesan punch; a yoghurty goat’s cheese and beetroot dish that’s so clean and fresh, we’re momentarily silenced (though I regret polishing off the accompanying polka dot of douglas fir mayo without stopping to consider if it tastes of trees); and, perhaps best of all, a plate of duck from nearby Leith Hill.

I certainly wouldn’t have chosen the “blackberry waldorf” had I known the main element was celeriac and walnut parfait, but it’s a triumph of autumnal flavours: pickled berries brighten the earthy sweetness of that poor, ugly root, and are helped in their task by an astonishingly good sorrel sorbet that ought to be a permanent fixture on Sorrel’s menu.

Sorrel isn’t cheap (thank God the cheery sommelier alerts us to the half-bottles hidden at the back of the wine menu) but, I reflect, huddled on the frosty platform at Dorking Deepdene waiting for the 00.38 to loom out of the darkness, it does make you feel very special.

restaurant review

Sanxia Renjia is part of a three-strong group – the others are on Goodge Street in central London and in Bromley, southeast of the capital – celebrating the food of Sichuan and Hubei.

Dinner in a Sichuan restaurant is usually food as action movie.

There is a list headed “Adventurous dishes” which, like the best menu writing, has the quality of exquisite found poetry: there are fried chicken gizzards with wild chilli or boiled pork blood curd Chongqing style; there is Dongpo stewed pig’s joint and hot pepper fried pork tripe.

He insisted that, from this list, I try the dry fried pig’s intestines, with dried chilli and Sichuan peppercorns.

■ Billy Wright, 2016 MasterChef finalist, is to run a 24-hour supper club at Plum + Spilt Milk in London’s Kings Cross, in aid of Cancer Research UK, after he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

'Let's hope it never changes': L'Escargot, London – review | Jay ...

L’Escargot, 48 Greek Street, London W1D 4EF (020 7439 7474).

Meal for two, including drinks and service, £100 to £140 L’Escargot is your stylish auntie, the one who knows how to grow old gracefully; who had that green velvet halterneck from Biba back in the day but knew when to stop wearing it.

The first version opened at the bottom of Soho’s Greek Street in 1896, as Le Bienvenue and, like Raymond Blanc, has declined to lose its French accent ever since.

L’Escargot is the kind of place Disney animators are imagining when they draw fancy French restaurants.

Can’t we have one place where you can stick your tongue in a snail shell, order tournedos Rossini and watch your credit card bleed?

Jan | Restaurants in Nappy Valley, London

The large sign reads ‘Jan’.

There’s lamb, aubergine and cauliflower.

At first glance, it’s just another nice neighbourhood bistro.

The two rooms are small and a tad bright.

If this is what Caspian heaven looks like, go ahead and give me two slices.