Chilli Rice Crackers
The White Swan

The White Swan

108 Fetter Lane London, EC4A 1ES, EC4A 1BN, United Kingdom

Pubs • Fish • Meat • British


"meanwhile through a busy week, I decided to be a little bit cheeky by jumping off the work for a few hours. a quick text to my friend and a finished customer meet later, I was on the way to a lazy lunch. we heard the buzz over the recently reworked white swan at chancery lane. herr flavour and I were once regular and could not wait to see the new version. Unfortunately for him he was gone on the business and let the ladies explore in his absentness. this former irrigation hole was historically a popular hot spot of the fleet street pressebrigade before it turned into a posh pub and dining room. now again opened as pub and cophouse, the natives are already in the waiting line to come. at the entrance were the delicious aromen from the dining room to sue us up. rule number one of the lazy lunches dictates, however, that a frecher g t has to be consumed before eating in a sleepy manner. gin is something that the white **** has in full! our sophisticated bartender led us to a Hendrick ginn, served long and chilled with a gurkenband. this is the point! the new chophouse theme was certainly well received. past are the white tablecloths and wallpapers, replaced by trendy exposed bricks and deep wooden tables. this beautiful room is available for private rental and would be a great place to impress your friends or colleagues. the menu consists of pub favorites, cuts from British finest meat and fresh fish from south coast day boats and British fishing ports. if mr. flavor had been here, he would have made a beeenstock for the 45-day white park sirloin with béarnaise and large chips. we believed a little easier. the salt baked celeriac, blue monday cheese and kale salat with chestnuts was divine and flavored with a beautiful earthy seasonality. my friend ordered iron age ‘Pick and Brunch’, pickles and English senf, which came in the form of a terrine. I could not resist helping me to a greedy unhappiness. the albarinho was certainly a suitable partner for following the fishing nets. fluffy fishcake with fertile tomatenrelish were mouth-watery crunchy and bursting with terribleness. I had never ordered gurnard before and his fleshy texture was beautifully complemented with braided fennel. the big chips were absolutely crushed and let us dessert without room. as much as I enjoy a girly lunch, it is time like this when I miss my pretty man and his inexorable appetit. a quick espresso later I was moved back to the office with an earlyling in my step and a very satisfied little bit. I cannot expect to introduce my customers into this wonderful new venue, which is available for 7 days in the week."

The Spread Eagle Hotel & Spa - The Restaurant

The Spread Eagle Hotel & Spa - The Restaurant

Spread Eagle Hotel South Street Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9NH, GU29 9PD, Chichester, United Kingdom

Steak • Hotels • British • English


"Our first choice restaurant was booked up so we decided to eat here because the menu looked really nice and it was convenient as we were staying at the hotel. It was full and so I was encouraged that it would be good. Some nice warmed bread was brough to the table with some olive oil/balsamic mix. The ration wasn't quite right as each time you dipped the bread you got olive oil and no balsamic. We ordered the wood pigeon breast (special) and baked sardines as starters. The breast was overcooked and the red wine sauced lacked any depth of flavour. The baked sardines allegedly came with a basil and garlic crust, Borlotti beans and a herb salad with lemon oil. I struggled to find any basil, garlic or lemon oil. I don't know what they braised the borlotti beans in because they had little or no taste. The sardines were lovely but rest of it was just apallingly executed. Steak is a great dish for judging the competence of a kitchen. It's difficult to get wrong and if you can't get it right then perhaps you're in the wrong section or profession. With that in mind and the disappointment of the first course we both ordered the Chateaubriand rare and rare to blue with extra sides of green beans and tenderstem brocolli. We did ask if it was possible to get a bernaise sauce but were advised that it wasn't. I know restaurants like to avoid going off menu but a bernaise takes me about 10 15 minutes to make so I'd expect a professional chef to do it in half that time. It's possible they didn't have tarragon or more likely the lack of demand would have meant them wasting most of it. Not a huge issue and it made no difference to our rating. The Chateaubriand was tough, chewy and lacked any seasoning it hadn't seen a flake of salt before it reached our table. Normally a great cut like this is tender to cut through, melts in the mouth, has great carmelisation on the outside giving that wonderful flavour. This was just like beef jerky....a real shame. The highlight was the cherries which were wonderfully sweet and bursting with flavour and the green beans. The tenderstem brocolli was underdone but I prefer that to overdone. The chips lacked any crisp bite, like they'd been sitting out for a while. The peppecorn sauce had a nice peppery hint to it but I do prefer a little more pepperyness. The red wine sauce was the same as the one used for the wood pigeon so again it lacked depth of flavour and could probably have benefited from reduction. My partner decided to forgo dessert as the previous courses were so disappointing and the few dishes we saw come out were not particularly appealing. I went for the cheese board. The cheeses were nice and mild. The figs went well. There weren't enough crackers and the slices of cheese were quite small. The front of house staff and serving staff were great, sadly the restaurant is let down by the kitchen. I expect much better food at £53/head. On the strength of the breakfast and dinner we had this place just can't deliver good food."