Flavour comes first.
Whilst I'm all for pretty looking plates of food, presentation is ultimately secondary.
Many of the best plates of food are simple in their appearance and St John's huge flavoured British cooking backs up this viewpoint. Their deceptively simple looking food is some of the best around and puts many overwrought multi-component dishes to shame.
When St John launched their nationwide delivery meal boxes via Dishpatch at the end of January they sold out of a month’s allocation in minutes. When they’re in stock again be prepared for a case of “fastest fingers first”.
Offering a three course meal for 2 for £75 delivered on a Friday, everything is vac packed and boxed to within an inch of its life and accompanied by slickly printed instructions.
To start was St John's most iconic dish, their bone marrow on toast. It's arguably the embodiment of their nose to tail ethos.
A trio of bones were laden with soft, beefy and fatty marrow. Slathered over crisp toasted sourdough they were balanced by a vibrant parsley salad with the punch of caper and sharpness of lemon.
Main course, was hearty with a capital H; it was just the ticket on one of the coldest nights of the year.
Fall apart tender braised duck leg was topped with soft leeks and accompanied by the meatiest of roast carrots bathed in sweet caramelised onions (and I think perhaps some trotter gear). Citrusy honking aioli provided punch whilst my own roast hispi cabbage added some lightness. A minor quibble, but we did find a few bits of grit in the leeks.
I have to admit that I raised both eyebrows when I saw our meal contained a solitary eccles cake. But, after that whopping main course, it was a more than ample serving.
The flaky, buttery pastry coated confection was loaded with a soft, sweet, spiced sticky sultana mix. It was counterpointed nicely by a huge tranche of crumbly, salty, creamy and slightly funky Lancashire cheese.
The flaky, buttery pastry coated confection was loaded with a soft, sweet, spiced sticky sultana mix. It was counterpointed nicely by a huge tranche of crumbly, salty, creamy and slightly funky Lancashire cheese.
We had an epic feast. The food from St John isn’t the prettiest that I've served up at home from a meal box. But, it's certainly some of the tastiest.
The Details:
Address - St John, 26 St John St, Barbican, London EC1M 4AY
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