Tas Restaurant

Tas Restaurant
33 The Cut
Waterloo
London
SE1 8LF
www.tasrestaurant.com/tas_cut/index.htm
Date of visit: Thursday 10^th July 2010
Attendees: Myself and The Quiff
Price of meal: approximately £19 each including drinks

The Quiff was down for the day and normally we would book a more expensive restaurant on a deal but for various reasons it did not happen this time but Tas was chosen as it was a warm day and the restaurant has an openable frontage, was conveniently placed for where we were coming from, close to Waterloo station and I had eaten at a branch of Tas before (but not this one) and it was quite good.

The place was very busy as it was a nice day and as have a decently sized mezze selection. We were quickly seated and given menus. Olives and Turkish flat bread was brought over fairly quickly which was appreciated as it was later evening rather than early evening and we were both a bit hungry. We chose the Renk set menu that consisted of hot and cold mezzes. These were: Tabule, Humus Kavurma, Zeytin Yagli Bakla, Kirsir, Ispanakli Yogurt, Zeytin Yagli Patican, Midye Tava, Borek, Felafel and Kalamari (spelt as they are in the menu). Usefully it tells you which are vegetarian and which ones contain nuts. The difficult thing for us was the fact that we were not familiar with the Turkish/ Middle Eastern name of the dishes so we had to do a bit of flicking though the a la carte menu to find out what we were going to get but we prefer it that they do use the original names.

We signalled to a waiter who came over and ordered our food, tap water (which they refilled without needing to be asked) and orange juice. The cold mezzes arrived quickly being mostly just dips and salads and we tucked in hungrily with the hot mezzes following soon afterwards.

Our favourite out of the selection were (The Quiff) Humus Kavurma (humus with diced cooked lamb pieces) and (myself) Zeytin Yagli Bakla (broad bean salad) and we both agreed the bread was very nice. What was disappointing were the felafel I felt which were well over cooked (probably heated up) and hard as rocks and the Quiff didn’t like Zeytin Yagli Patlican (aubergine with garlic, tomato and olive oil) because he doesn’t like aubergine but as an aubergine liker I thought it was fine.

The selection of cold mezze

The calamari and mussel mezze

With our eyes bigger than our stomachs we nearly ordered more but decided to see how we went with the set menu and lucky we did as we couldn’t finish it all and were totally stuffed! We did end the meal with a espresso for the Quiff and a fresh mint tea for myself though and needing something sweet the Quiff got a Sutlac – a sort of rice pudding made with rose water and orange rind, which all came quickly. I tried the Sutlac and it was sweet and not at all heavy, very nice. I appreciated the fact that the waitress came over and brushed the crumbs off the table when the dishes were cleared. I didn’t expect it so it was a nice touch of detail.

The sutlac, espresso and mint tea

I did like this experience at Tas – service was quick, food was very good value for money and would certainly come again or go to another of the Tas branches and it does seem that many others would agree with me as it seems to be the busiest restaurant on The Cut that evening.

On a final note I did visit the toilet, which are down the stairs, and they were clean and in keeping with the theme of the restaurant. Whilst down the stairs I noticed that there was more seating in a room, probably available for private hire.

Corrigan’s Mayfair

Corrigan’s Mayfair
28 Upper Grosvenor Street
London
W1K 7EH
www.corrigansmayfair.com
Date visited: Wednesday 24^th March 2010
Attendees: Myself and Chan
Price: £27 set dinner offer of 3 courses and a 250ml carafe of wine each

So Chan found these deals where some of the top restaurants in London have deals on… he wanted to try Corrigan’s Mayfair so did I and so a table was booked over the internet for 6.45pm. When the confirmation email came Chan noticed the booking had miraculously changed to 6.30pm – not a significant change but it was noted…

We arrive at Corrigan’s, are greeted by two girls at the door  who take our coats. One girl nearly gives us a cloakroom ticket but it was noted by myself that the second girl very subtly made a signal, whilst her back was to us, telling first girl not to give us the ticket. I do wonder why this is? We were told the table had to be back by 8.30pm, fair enough, some popular restaurants have this policy on busy evenings but we wandered if Corrigan’s did this because we went on an offer? Isn’t an offer to bring you in to try them out and encourage you to return?

The table we were given was at the back of the restaurant in the corner and gave a good view of the entire restaurant. The restaurant starts with the bar at the front which you walk pass to get to the main seating area. The light and dark wood, silver and deep turquoise blue all went very well with the subtle hunting lodge theme. The comfort level of the seats is something I do not usually notice but I did on this occasion – thumbs up

Waiter 1 who gave us our menu was lovely, something also noticed by Chan. He gave us the set menu as well as the a la carte so we could see what they did normally. He returned in a little while and asked us if we had any questions which he explained very helpfully (apologies to Chan for telling you Gurnard was duck when it is actually a fish, Canard is French for duck so I am getting things missed up).

Waiter 2 brought over the appetisers and bread selection.

Appetisers:
Parmesan crisps and queen olives stuffed with cream cheese coated and fried and bread crumbs

Bread and appetisers of Parmesan crisps and breaded stuffed olives

Both were pleasant and cheesy. Waiter 2 didn’t bother telling us what the bread was (bad show) but the brown seeded slices were slightly sweet and very nice. The rolls which seemed as though they had some sort of cheese and herb to them were good too. All our appetisers were brought in sliver dishes – a nice touch and certainly suited the feel of the restaurant.

Before our starters came I went off in search of the toilets. These are hidden behind a screen at the end of which is the door to the kitchen.  Now I found it hard to tell which door was male and which female – one had an image outline of someone on a horse and the other an outline of someone who I took to just be standing, turned out to be an archer. Luckily I didn’t just burst through either door but waiter 2 signalled from afar the correct door for ladies which was a horse rider (he should have come over really). I appreciated the spaciousness of the toilet, it was well lit with incense in the cubicles. There was an arm chair in the toilet which I thought a little odd and it was noted that there was no hand cream – for a restaurant with this reputation there really should be.

As I don’t drink Chan got a 500ml carafe of white wine. I tasted this (after Chan protested I should get my – and I quote “snout” out of his wine glass and just taste it – cheek, technically 250ml was officially mine!) and thought it was the nicest white wine I have ever had. I’m guessing it was the 2008 Picpoul de Pinet, Château de la Mirande – Côteaux du Languedoc.

Starters:
Myself – Sardine with hummus and harissa
Chan – Bacon and radish salad

Sardine with hummus and harissa (apologies for blurry photo)

Bacon and radish salad

Waiter 3, who wore far too much lip gloss although his camp American voice made me smile and Chan cringe, served our starter.  I have to say the presentation of my Sardine was disappointing, a big round blob of hummus with harissa zigzagged across it and the sardine placed on top. It tasted quite nice but it would have been better if they had taken the fin off. Chan seemed to enjoy his salad although he wasn’t bowled over by it

The main followed swiftly afterwards.

Both – Gurnard with shellfish and passionfruit

Gurnard dish - can't really say there was shellfish or passionfruit

Side dish of roasted vegetables - very nice although Chan said he got a raw parsnip

Waiter 4 served this to us and made a special effort to tell me the dish was hot. I nodded in severe agreement! Now, we thought this dish would be interesting because of the passionfruit but I have to say although it tasted nice we were both rather disappointed again. Firstly there were two bits of fish on the plate, my first piece was well cooked and delicate but the second was over cooked and slightly rubbery. There was some sort of pickled shredded white cabbage or similar which gave a different texture and taste but the orange blobby stuff under the fish pieces which we took to be the passionfruit was actually tasteless and there was no sign of shellfish although there were green blobs which tasted quite nice. Then there were these bits of fish skin balanced delicately on the dish. Chan started off by trying one, it was hard and crunched loudly – he wasn’t impressed by it. Towards the end, generously he decided to give the other piece a go and it nearly broke his teeth! I tried biting mine and he was hilariously right that it was hard as rock. I attempted to defend said fish skins by saying it was just decoration but he came back with an excellent point  – you should be able to eat everything in your dish, I have seen the light and am now converted!

Dessert:
Both – Semolina cake with plum and honey
Myself – fresh mint tea

Semolina cake with plum and honey

Petits Fours on silver stag headed mini cake stand

This was probably the best dish we had. The cake was light, the plum slices kept their sweet fruity flavour excellently well, the honey subtly flora and the (we think) brandy cream that came with it was a very good compliment.  We also got a selection of petits fours served on a stag headed topped mini silver cake stand – coffee éclair, lemon tart, chocolate truffle and sugared apricot jelly square, these were delicious, I especially liked the lemon tart which was sharp and had a crisp top.  The mint tea came in an enormous silver tea pot with a grouse on the lid. It served about 4 cups of mint tea which was light and refreshing.

Large silver pot of fresh mint tea

It was getting on to 8.30pm so we go the bill as we couldn’t linger. Chan and I both paid a parting visit to the toilets, whilst Chan noticed the incense was from Zara Home (oh Corrigan’s you should do better than that!) I had waiter 3 enter the toilet without so much as a courtesy knock to drag the armchair out for some unknown reason – most bizarre?

I have a few other notes to make before I finish with my ending remarks – mainly that service was not up to standard for a restaurant of Corrigan’s reputation. The sly reception girl needs training, waiter 2 in the white jacket should not have nearly dropped a dish at another table and looked hacked off all evening and it was noted that they didn’t clear the crumbs of our table when they cleared away the main course. If all the waiting staff were as helpful and friendly as waiter 1 it would have been a much better experience, the saving grace was their pastry chef. I guess Corrigan’s has just lost it’s One Michelin star this year so they may be taking that badly but honestly with that level of cooking and service (noted also there was no amuse-bouche) I can see why – in fact I probably would take away the Laurent Perrier restaurant of the year 2010 award and one of its AA rosettes too!

Does Richard Corrigan know what is going on there and how they are damaging his name? One thinks he needs to come back and fix the problems rather than burn sausages on the Christian O’Connell radio show…