What the critics say: The Walnut Tree, The Waterside Inn...

21st June 2010, 10:55am

A round-up of the latest reviews

The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny
Zoe Williams, The Telegraph, 21 June 

"The menu is confident. The starters in particular scurry wildly from one continent to another: a tuna tataki with wasabi panna cotta; a Keralan fish curry; veal sweetbreads with sauerkraut. From a less experienced chef I'd take this as inexperience; from Hill it's more like an effervescent 'I'm the man! I'll do what I like!' joie de vivre. My sweetbreads (£12) blew me away. M thought it was too large and rich for a starter, but I disagree; you can always get round that by the precaution of not finishing it. 

"It was a fair size, though – the entire gland, I'm sure – absolutely perfect in every respect, from its intensely edible browned outside, to its moussey middle. It is a rich cut, and the sharp, pickled cabbage balanced it. A warm caper sauce and a deep red-wine gravy… OK, now I look at it, it does sound rich. But try it, chum! It disappeared like a vol-au-vent! M's tataki (£10) didn't have so much oomph; the tuna was a bit tasteless (though it had a nice pepper crust), and the set mousse presentation made the wasabi a bit toothless (I think you should let wasabi be a bit of a hooligan, otherwise why use it? May as well use mustard)."

The Waterside Inn, Berkshire
Matthew Norman, The Telegraph, 18 June

"My set lunch starter, a salad of crayfish tails with seasonal veg and crème fraîche, was cutesily presented – such adorably wee broad beans – but bland, and the supermodel portion almost raised the hunting cry of 'Hubble Telescope to Table 11'. But the boss's flaked Devon crab with melon, prawns and "fresh" almonds (at £49 they couldn't surely be stale?) was 'totally delicious. The crab is glorious and the melon gives it a wonderfully sweet tang,'' she said. ''Looks beautiful too. Can't fault it."
"We could fault the main courses, but neither the room nor the service. With its fine floral prints nestling between mirrors, gorgeous flowers, gentle, elegant red carpet and doors opened on to the river and weeping willows beyond, this is a very handsome and gratifyingly unstuffy place in which to eat in summer."

Angels & Gypsies, Camberwell
Simon Usbourne, The Independent, 20 June

"The menu offers a varied bunch of regional dishes as well as examples of British produce (Scottish clams, Angus sirloin). We've barely sipped the house red – a vibrant, light Mirador de Navajas Rioja (£15), chosen from a long wine list with plenty of wallet-friendly bottles – when the first of a dozen small plates start to arrive.
"The dainty wedges of classic tortilla with aioli dip (£4) are fresh and clean if slightly underwhelming, but the jamó croquetas (£5), deep-fried capsules of ham and béchamel in breadcrumbs, are so delicately creamy we only wish there were more than one each. Next comes a board of sliced meats (£9) – chorizo, salchichon and delicious shavings of ibérico paletta."

Brasserie Joel Park Plaza, London
John Walsh, The Independent, 19 June 

"The lobby is cool, minimal and hushed in the Sanderson-esque style, suggesting a high-grade religious movement, staffed by seraphic high priests in Hugo Boss leisurewear. The restaurant is named after its star chef, Joel Antunes, who picked up aMichelin when he was chef-partner at Les Saveurs in Mayfair. 

"The menu has two surprises. One is the cover charge. I thought they'd disappeared years ago, because they imply a lack of generosity towards eaters. Here they charge you £2.50 per person for water (water!), bread, butter and amuse-bouche."

Tom's Terrace, London
Jay Rayner, The Observer, 20 June

"So to the main course options: a burger, a steak, a chicken salad, a salmon salad. It's a crap wedding buffet in Basildon. What it isn't is worth prices in the mid to high teens. The best that can be said is that those responsible have occasionally done some nice shopping. They use good caper berries. The salmon – the ubiquitous Loch Duart – isn't bad. Served with a soft-yolked, hardboiled egg that could be passable. 

"But not when said egg is, like the ham, stone cold, and the leaves underdressed. The chicken salad is an edible cure for insomnia. The one bright spot in an otherwise miserable meal was the lemon curd and blueberry pavlova, assembled from very good meringues. But even then the £8 price tag– roughly the same price as the desserts at Bar Boulud, a restaurant which has things that Tom's Terrace doesn't like walls, central heating and ambition – seems grasping."

Related Articles:

• 26 Apr 2011 - Tom's Terrace reopens at Somerset House next month
• 18 Aug 2010 - Gastro pub in London's Camberwell is under new management

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