St John’s – A Revisit for a Lunchtime Treat

We hadn’t been to St John’s since we returned from Latin America, but it was somewhere we were both itching to visit again.

St John’s is kinda like an old friend now. Reliable, trustworthy and always there to restore you to your former self.

As it was my birthday and the amount is going to remain a secret. Although my wife reckons I am in denial about it, much like she was in Argentina. We also had visiting us Lina’s cousin from Bogotá, who like us, is a lover of good food and wine.

Now we always go to our Birthday bashes in the evening, but as Arsenal were playing Barcelona that night, and I was hoping (well praying) that I was to receive a couple of tickets to watch Arsenal play. Alas no. So we booked in for a table for 3 for the lunchtime service. This would be a new experience.

Upon entering the near empty dining room, well it was a Wednesday afternoon, but none the less. Has the credit crunch hit that much that people are not eating lunch now.

However sitting towards the rear was the God like figure of Fergus Henderson. He was sitting with some friends, arms waving around, smiling a large smile. I think he was chatting about the wonders of nose to tail eating or how delightful his lunch was that day. It is very comforting to know that chefs do eat in their own restaurants.

Lina’s cousin had never eaten there before, so we kind of forced him to have the roasted marrow bones, although he didn’t need that much persuading. We opted to share some mackerel pâté on toast.

Mains were a harder choice, I really fancied an ox heart they had on the previous lunchtime menu, but sadly it was not to be on this days. Devil’d Kidneys on toast was up there, but it was kinda more bread and more bread. So they were off. So I opted for a guinea fowl with sautéed cabbage. Reason being, as I saw a couple devouring one in the Great Queen Street restaurant the previous evening, and it was still on my mind. Lina joined me and Alonso opted for some pot-roasted Gloucester Old Spot. Delicious choices.

Lunch was a delicious as we thought it to be. The skin on the birds was crispy, crispy, crispy. Full of flavour. The slices of old spot were cooked to perfection and were delish. This is what I love so much about St John’s is that everything we have ever eaten there has always been spot on. Everything has always been cooked to perfection. How can you not love eating here.

I have read a few blogs where people did not get St John’s. It’s not difficult to get. It’s great food, cooked perfectly. End of story.

Puddings in Colombia are normally a little affair. They have something sweet, maybe a small portion of ice cream or a couple of spoonfuls of arequipe (dulce de leche if you are from Argentina). It’s just something sweet at an end of a meal to round it off, not the British Sunday dinner pudding where you needed to lie down afterwards as you felt your sides splitting.

Now, we wanted something, and to show off something totally English to Alonso. The Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese was ordered. Just one to share. But before I could tuck in, it was grabbed from me and a candle was asked for and was not put down in front of me until I had blown it out, and heard happy birthday sung to me. I wished the world would have opened up. Well only a little.

Something so good about an Eccles cake and cheese that hits the spot. Can’t put my finger on it, but I love it.

I’m beginning to feel that it’s time we did more lunches. I know a few places that have great deals for set menus at lunch. Some of Gordon Ramsey’s places do, Theo Randall does, and until last week the River Café also.

Lunchtime treats are here to stay me feels. 

Has Anyone Ever had a Bad Meal at St. John’s?

Tradition goes in our house that when it is your birthday, you can choose a restaurant to eat at. In the past this has included the likes of the River Café, Locando Locatelli, Theo Randall (ex Head chef of the River Café). Lina this year choose Comptoir Gascon, as she was yearning for their Cassolet and some good Foie Gras. I thought she was going to choose St. John’s as it is one of her favourite places to eat. But she surprised me.

We have eaten there on several occasions, the last being exactly a year ago, where I kinda mixed my birthday and us leaving the UK for a 6 month trip through Asia. (See Below). We had a blast that night, about 12 friends eating and drinking our way through their menu.

As I am now working as a chef, and the pay is lowsy, I was looking at some bargain lunch deals. The River Café has 3 courses for £24, Odettes has 2 courses for £12. But unfortunately we couldn’t do lunch…

So when it came round to my birthday, there really was only one choice. St. John’s it was….. A 9pm slot was booked, which gave us time to hit Vinoteca opposite for some pre dinner wine. If you’ve never visited Vinoteca either for just drinks or food, then GO…..

It is the place that does the kind of food I love to it. Simple food, well cooked, no fanciness on the plate, and all washed down with some fantastic wine.

Now, I could go into detail about how great their food is. Well it is, but I’m not. What I really love about St. John’s is the simplicity of it all. The dining room is white. The waiters wear white jackets. There are no works of art on the walls. Just clothes pegs. You are there for one thing and one thing only. The food.

Now, Fergus Henderson, as we know have championed the whole concept of “Nose to Tail Eating.” And we are eternally grateful for him for this, but I am not here to go on about that, or I would still be writing this next week.

What I most love about St John’s is when you read the menu and you read Roasted Marrow Bone and Parsley Salad, that is what you get. It’s pure simplicity, and I love it.

So this my 39^th birthday. We shared a starter of the Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad, which comes with some toasted bread and salt for you to gorge on that yunkshus marrow. It fits well with the salt and parsley. A marriage made in food heaven.

I noticed through a visit, that Whole Foods are now selling bone marrow. Tempting.

For mains, Lina had some Chitterlings, which are pig intestines. These came with some fresh peas, onions and a great gravy.

I opted for one of their specials. Simply Old Spot Chop with Butter Beans. Guess what I got. Exactly that. This was a big throw back to the 70’s for me, as that was probably the last time I was offered butter beans. The pork chop was not served pink, as some restaurants in London like to do, but cooked through as I remember it so well.

For pudding we shared a strange mixture of poached rhubarb, ice cream and toasted brioche. Now I love rhubarb, I love ice cream, I adore brioche, but together it was a strange yet not unpleasing combination. It had been 2 years since my last rhubarb fix, as we missed the season last year. Rhubarb isn’t that big in South East Asia. Although it is indiginous to North East Asia. But somehow it worked but it didn’t. Odd.

I’m wondering, that before we leave London for pastures new, will we eat at St John’s ever again?