What the critics say: Zucca, Kota…

20th September 2010, 9:21am

A round-up of the latest reviews

The Waterdine, Shropshire
Zoe Williams, The Telegraph, 20 September

"From the outside the Waterdine is all charm, a dinky, squat little country pub with leaded windows and low ceilings, facing verdant forest on both sides. Oh, OK, verdant forest on one side, a car park on the other. But it's an incredibly pretty Shropshire car park. Inside, there's a cute little bar and two petite drinking rooms. It feels a bit as if you're stepping round your granny's furniture – it's all very chintzy and weirdly small – but it's still recognisably a pub."

"The menu seemed to underline the impression that we were back in the 1970s, and yet the food itself dealt us a blow of confusion. Surely things didn't taste this good in the olden days? J had the ham hock, hyssop and parsley terrine (£32.50 for three courses), with home-made picklelly (I think that's a local spelling. Or spicklelling, as they say in Shropshire). This tasted so right it was as if the pig had been born in terrine form, and all you had to do was wait till it stood still near a bush of parsley then slice off its hock. The jelly, the ham, the herbs, they all tasted so integrated, so rich, but not oppressive. It was marvellous."

Giant Robot, Clerkenwell
Lisa Markwell, The Independent, 19 September

"We add some vine plum tomato and basil, and wild mushroom and truffle crostini (82p and 99p each, respectively) and a portion of arancini (risotto balls with spinach and parmesan, £3.50 for three). So far, so Italian. The crostini are a bit flabby but the tomatoes are obviously not freighted unripe muck, and the mushrooms are meaty with a hit of garlic. The risotto balls are piping hot and accompanied by a herb aioli, there to counteract the rather chalky texture of the rice. Any self-respecting Milanese pavement café would produce something with more flavour, sadly."

"Getting away from the novelty miniature dishes with novelty prices, we are encouraged to try the giant prawns with garlic, chilli, oregano and an aioli dip. Three seems a bit mimsy, so we order five and only afterwards realise that they're costing us £23.60. And for that price I'd expect to be given more than one tiny finger bowl to share. Luckily, I'm with close friends, otherwise I'd feel rather uncomfortable sticking my digits in their dirty water. The prawns are certainly giant, and the oily, pungent flavours are good, but as so often with supersized crustacea, the texture is a bit woolly."

Shaka Zulu, London
Tracey MacLleod, The Independent, 18 September

"From the braai grill, fillet of Red Poll beef, from the Sandringham estate, was tender but tasteless, showing no sign of having been cooked over charcoal, and cost a mighty £32 (though the menu listed it at £28). My friend described the accompanying monkey gland sauce as 'Branston with balls' (though it's apparently gland-free). 

"For the echt bushtucker trial experience, we applied ourselves to shaved biltong, jaw-achingly chewy strips of dried meat evoking the contents of a chiropodist's Hoover bag. Truly a dish only an expat could love. As was a dessert called Koeksisters, plaited doughnuts, shellacked in sugar syrup, which should have been served with their own power tool."

Kota, Cornwall
Jay Rayner, The Observer, 19 September

"Kota does have its rustic edge. It occupies an old building, down by the water's edge, full of rough brick and old wood and the imagined echo of sea shanties. Plus the menu does make a virtue of seafood. But after that, you can throw the (fake) rule book aside. There is an awful lot happening on the plates here. Ingredients from a lot more than 810 miles away are chucked at the dishes, culinary traditions co-opted with enthusiasm. There is a kitchen here which has yet to meet an ingredient it doesn't like, and for the most part it works."

"Sure, some dishes missed the mark. The tian of white crabmeat and the scoop of tomato sorbet in a bowl of gazpacho were beyond reproach; the gazpacho was just too well-mannered, its fingernails too clean. A good one should be so spiky with garlic that you abandon all hope of snogging anyone for at least a few days. Then again, the broth in a bowl of local mussels flavoured with chorizo, orange, chilli and coriander more than made up for it. And you just know that I wouldn't kick a plate of seared scallops and pork belly out of bed. Even the added flourishes – cider apple purée, soy and ginger – didn't irritate."

Zucca, London
John Lanchester, The Guardian, 18 September

"Zucca is a shiny new restaurant, all glass to the street and open-plan to the kitchen, in a part of London where I hadn't been for 20 years, Bermondsey. Back then, you'd mainly go to Bermondsey if you felt like getting stabbed. Now you go there for trendy boutiques, design consultancies and just-so new gastropubs. At least, that's what you do until the recession gets worse."

"The food at Zucca is seasonal, Italian-influenced, and concentrates on delivering the maximum amount of flavour with the minimum of fuss. I'm not claiming that's how I cook, but it is how I try to cook. Looking at the menu, I reckon I have at one time or other cooked just about everything on it. So there is no thrill of strangeness at tucking in here – but that's about my only complaint. One of the best things about Zucca is that it delivers River Cafe-influenced cooking at noticeably reasonable prices. Two three-course meals with wine, water and coffee came in at less than £80. That helps a restaurant's atmosphere, because it means that a higher proportion of customers are spending their own money."

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