Cheapskate . . . where to eat out for under £15
Telephone: 020-7928 1444
Address: Tas, 33 The Cut, London SE1
Winner of the Time Out vegetarian award this year, although it caters just as adequately for carnivores. A large, smart, light, bright place with open-plan grill and understandably busy. For Turkophiles, the cooking is Anatolian in origin, but ranges a bit further. The large, à la carte menu covers everything from kirmizi mercimek corbeasi, or red lentil soup to you, to dil baligi, grilled Dover sole (yes, really), by way of patlicanli, grilled aubergine with tomato and peppers, and bobrek izgara, grilled lamb kidney, oregano and cumin. Set menus from £6.45 to £17.95 (for two people) provides the easy way in. Flavours fresh, fearless and forthright. Cheerful service. Try one of the Turkish wines on the list for the complete experience.
Quick bites . . . where to eat out in under 15 minutes
Telephone: 020-7620 2700
Address: , Young Vic, 66 The Cut, London SE1.
Now all the galleries are getting smart eateries, it's as well to remember that the dramatic arts got there first. One theatre did, anyway. The dining room stretches all the way along the front of the Young Vic, which gives the place a bit of a long, thin feeling. But it's got light, it's got style, it's got pizzazz - wooden tables, artful chairs, Changing Room colours. And it's got food from K&C, the upscale deli and caterers to the discerning. Breakfast menu (8.30-11.30am) of the scrambled eggs and smoked salmon variety. After that it's mainline stuff all the way to 11pm - pukka soups, Caesar salads, sausages and mash, club sarnies, individual interpretation pastas and diet-busting puddings. Cheerful, chatty service.
Just out
Waitrose Lemon Drizzle Slices
Form: Six Victoria sponge fingers each topped with lemon drizzle, a dressing of sugar and lemon juice.
Flavour: Sponge as light as a cloud and buttery as a dairy. Lemon drizzle distinctively lemony and as thin as a sliver of frost.
Verdict: Open that other box right away.
Price: £1.19 per box of six.
Food on the net
www.thefoodstore.co.uk
The online arm of Battersea specialist shop, mise-en-place, and a fine range of the more unusual foods that might thus far have by-passed your dinner table. Put together with care by Savoy-trained Guy Wolley and his team.
Pros: Ever fancied tasting roasted and salted broad beans, or Xhosa African sauce? You'll find them here, along with such luxuries as goose fat and truffles. Staff are super helpful.
Cons: I had trouble ordering online and had to revert to the phone, although I'm assured that this was just a glitch.
Delivery: Dispatched within a day, in a choice of packaging.
Charges: £4.95 for all orders.
On the menu: pane carasau
Pronounced parnay caras-ow.
Oh, yes? And it's a bread, isn't it?
Clever old you. But not exactly like your average sliced white.
How so? Also known as carta di musica, or sheet-music bread, because it is very thin and rather stiff. In fact, it's just a large thin wafer of bread baked in a wood-burning oven of the kind found in Sardinia.
What do I do with it if I can find it?
Splash a little olive oil on it, sprinkle with sea salt and leaves of rosemary, and heat in a hottish oven for a few minutes; or soak it in water and serve with tomato and grated Pecorino. Or break it up and use it for nibbles.
Where can I find it? Smarty pants restaurants, serious delis and, occasionally, enlightened supermarkets.
