I have to leave the office early this evening for a house viewing, so lunch was a bit of a rushed affair. Once outside the building, I made a beeline for a little Italian deli I'd been to before, that I know does good food. Sensi Deli is on Rose Street, a little back alley running between Long Acre and Garrick Street (map).
I was expecting to pick up a ciabatta roll filled with Parma ham (sliced straight from the joint), mozzerella, rocket and some juicy slices of tomato or perhaps a salad — these are delicious! They have a selection of intriguing pastas, roasted vegetables, and of course fresh rocket, tomatoes and mozzarella. To top it off, they have fresh anchovies; I love fresh anchovies, and the ones they have are really good.
Today though, lunch had a different plan for me as they had some stewed venison which caught my eye. It was just venison, stewed in a largely tomato-based sauce — "tomato", "carrot", "celery", "juniper for flavouring" the servers happily fired at me. I also got a few potatoes and green beans (great components for a salad too) and an olive-focaccia roll.
This came to £5.70, and made a great lunch. The sauce from the venison was a little too oily for my tastes, but the meat was perfectly tender. The potatoes and beans, as tasty as always, made a suitable companion to the stew. The focaccia wasn't too greasy (as some can be), and proved great for mopping up the spare sauce.
I would highly recommend this little deli, whether for salads, sandwiches, or hot food.
Showing posts with label italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label italian. Show all posts
Monday, November 13, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
Fire & Stone
Friday lunch is turning into something of a tradition in our office. Starting in October, one of my colleagues suggested we all go out to lunch together. Since then, we've been out each Friday (well, except one, but over half the office seemed to be off that day) to a different restaurant. I'm hoping it will continue for a long time to come, because it's a great opportunity for me to try out restaurants I wouldn't normally go to by myself.
Today, the destination was Fire & Stone. Fire & Stone is an Italian restaurant serving primarily pizza (there's a small selection of salads and starters too, if you're so inclined). It's just outside Covent Garden, halfway along Maiden Lane (map). Stepping inside, you're greeted by the chimney of a giant pizza oven sticking up from the kitchen below, into a very modern dining room with an industrial feel to it.
After a bit of faffing since they seemed to have lost our reservation (for 10 people, made 40 minutes earlier), we were taken to our table and presented with menus. They've taken an interesting approach with their pizza names, and named each pizza after major cities, with 4 pizzas from each of 5 continents — Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and the Americas. I had the Marrakech (from Africa, of course), a mouth watering combination of cumin-spiced ground lamb, mint yoghurt sauce, green olives and sliced red onion drizzled with chilli oil. I almost ordered a chocolate brownie shake to go with it, but balked at the £4.50 price tag!
Our pizzas arrived in good time, and mine was delicious. Of course, this didn't stop me enviously eyeing up the Capetown (pepperoni, spiced beef and chillis) or the Andalucia (chorizo, mozzarella and red onion) that my colleagues next to me has ordered.
Before arriving at the restaurant we'd sussed out the lunch time deal on offer — £4.50 for a pizza or a salad, albeit a limited range (usual price £8 or £9). Given that, we spent less than £90 for 11 of us, including the 12.5% "optional" tip they added to the bill. Everyone was happy with their food and keen to go back another week, so it seems I will get to try one of the pizzas I missed out on this time!
Fire & Stone is absolutely recommended, although booking would be wise for lunch times as it got very busy after 1.00pm.
Today, the destination was Fire & Stone. Fire & Stone is an Italian restaurant serving primarily pizza (there's a small selection of salads and starters too, if you're so inclined). It's just outside Covent Garden, halfway along Maiden Lane (map). Stepping inside, you're greeted by the chimney of a giant pizza oven sticking up from the kitchen below, into a very modern dining room with an industrial feel to it.
After a bit of faffing since they seemed to have lost our reservation (for 10 people, made 40 minutes earlier), we were taken to our table and presented with menus. They've taken an interesting approach with their pizza names, and named each pizza after major cities, with 4 pizzas from each of 5 continents — Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and the Americas. I had the Marrakech (from Africa, of course), a mouth watering combination of cumin-spiced ground lamb, mint yoghurt sauce, green olives and sliced red onion drizzled with chilli oil. I almost ordered a chocolate brownie shake to go with it, but balked at the £4.50 price tag!
Our pizzas arrived in good time, and mine was delicious. Of course, this didn't stop me enviously eyeing up the Capetown (pepperoni, spiced beef and chillis) or the Andalucia (chorizo, mozzarella and red onion) that my colleagues next to me has ordered.
Before arriving at the restaurant we'd sussed out the lunch time deal on offer — £4.50 for a pizza or a salad, albeit a limited range (usual price £8 or £9). Given that, we spent less than £90 for 11 of us, including the 12.5% "optional" tip they added to the bill. Everyone was happy with their food and keen to go back another week, so it seems I will get to try one of the pizzas I missed out on this time!
Fire & Stone is absolutely recommended, although booking would be wise for lunch times as it got very busy after 1.00pm.
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