Supper at Ottolenghi – Earlier this year I reviewed the delicious afternoon tea at Ottolenghi in Richmond. At the time I wondered why the deli wasn’t open in the evenings, just during the day. Well, I’m pleased to announce that it is now open on certain evenings in the week (Thursday to Saturday).
Needless to say, I was keen to check it out, so I went the other evening with my Turkish friend Burcu, who is a great cook and a staunch Ottolenghi fan.
I had a Negroni – it was good, but rather “thin”, lacking any of the bitter punch usually found in my favourite cocktail. It contained 58 and Co gin, Italian bitter, vault forest red vermouth and Persian lime – maybe the balance was wrong, or perhaps one of the ingredients was missing. Burcu opted for a glass of white wine. I was pleased to note that on the small, but very well composed drinks list, there are a number of non-alcoholic cocktails too (including a Botivo Spritz – one of my favourite non alco drinks). There is also a non alco Negroni with 58 and Co’s non-alcoholic gin – perhaps that was what was in mine? (but if so, it was probably better for me!
We started with a ‘snack’ of smoked labneh with za’atar pita chips. There was a subtle smokiness that added another dimension to the labneh and the pita chips were a revelation; I’m going to try making some soon.
It’s very much a case of sharing a few different dishes here. I was glad to have the company of Burcu, as my husband, who was away sailing, hates sharing his food. We shared a tomato salad with mango dressing – it had a selection of heritage tomatoes and the dressing, while absolutely fabulous, was rather scant and the salad would have benefited considerably from a more liberal dressing. The toasted almonds scattered on top added another savoury note, and texture, and there was a generous base layer of fresh basil leaves.
Roasted aubergine with feta cream, za’atar tomatoes and carob molasses were liberally piled with basil, dill and mint leaves. It was fabulous, and having recently been in Greece learning about feta, where I tried many different aubergine and feta dishes, this Ottolenghi version was ultra herby aubergine heaven.
For our mains, we shared lamb kofta with amba, tahini and pickled kohlrabi. It was really tasty with the lamb boasting true earthy ‘lambiness’. The pickled kohlrabi was unusual, and we’d have loved a bigger portion of that to have been served with the kofta. The kofta itself had been cut in half and was perfectly grilled, allowing some pinkness and cooked perfectly to make the most of the top-quality lamb.
The other main was a bit of a gamble for us. We chose the Al Pastor mushroom skewer with plum, annatto oil and tarragon. It sounded so unusual that we couldn’t pass it by. And we were so glad we didn’t…it was a triumph. Who’d have thought to put tarragon with plums and mushrooms? The kitchen of a culinary genius, of course. It’s actually quite hard to describe the dish, but if you are going to Ottolenghi for dinner, I urge you to try it. It was so good.
In the interests of this review, you understand, we chose both of the desserts to try. The lemon and blueberry kataifi mess was beautifully presented. It was really refreshing and kataifi was a new find for me. Burcu tells me that she often buys it ready-made from our local Mediterranean store and that it can be used in sweet or savoury dishes. (for the uninitiated, like me, it looks like a dark fine straw, but it’s a wheat pastry in really fine strands).
The other dessert, chocolate mousse orange caramel and sour cream, tasted really good and was very rich, but the kitchen might like to consider a different way of presenting it as it didn’t look at all appealing in the bowl. Trust me, it was very delicious indeed but the presentation didn’t really do it justice.
Wines are from £8 a glass and there is a small, but very good selection. They also have three beers, a Breton cider and two 0.5% beers plus a selection of interesting soft drinks.
The Ottolenghi menu is just right for a summer supper and I know I’ll be back soon as I’m still dreaming about that mushroom skewer.
The Seasoned Gastronome