Lantana- Again

04/09/09

I shan’t be back for another two months (hols, etc.)
Hope you guys win the café of the year.

You don't need sugar when the flattie is of nirvana proportions.

Brilliant Bacon and Egg Buttie.
Slice Break it in half and eat with your hands. Only Mummy's boys use cutlery.
Claire, your personality warmed up a rather nippy morning. Thank you.

27/08/09

9.05AM
Dead quiet morning in Fitzrovia, suppose it’s the Bank Holiday weekend looming.

I forgot to bring my book about Kazakhstan, had to resort to reading The Guardian :(

Toasted museli muesli with yoghurt, honey, shredded apple and milk.
I believe Shelagh was surprised that I plumped for this healthy option. Well, I was too. It was good but I can’t wait till it gets colder when porridge is the mainstay.

20/08/09

Lunch with KC.
He had chicken skewers and I had the steak sandwich (with beetroot nontheless, an Aussie thing!) The latter together with the one at J+A are the best big meat sarnies in London.

13/08/09

8.53AM
Had to wait for this shot, the place was totally packed out this morning; if you wanted a coffee you had to wait. Goodness comes to those who persevere.

The Flat White was made by Lantana's head flake, the unshakeable Shelagh.
I've never had a cuppa made by her so it was the first. It was the bee's knees.

Thou shall have a posh breakfast at least once a month.
Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. The dill crème fraiche and toasted brioche were prodigious.

06/08/09

9.12 AM

Jen's Class A**

Ham, spinach and cheddar cheese omelette with tomato chutney and gregariously buttered sourdough toast.
A noble place serving noble breakfasts fit for noble appetites like mine.
If I were to tell you that this breakfast was my only meal of today you probably wouldn’t believe me, well it was.
I’m working my way through the summer rainy menu, so far so magnanimously yummy!

30/07/09

Brought these Grado headphones in for Tim to drool, he has since been converted. An audiophile/barista, what luck!

By this evening I've had eight shots of caffeine hits! Two above, five at the new Espresso Room in Bloomsbury (review to come) and one at Bar Italia.
I was well zombiefied...

Baked eggs with chorizo, mushrooms, spinach and spicy tomato sauce served with grilled flat bread and crème fraiche.

Incredulous it may seem but I don't get to eat proper eggs that often (except in cakes), this new addition to Lan's breakfast menu was an absolute joy to savour and behold. I was actually a lot less condescending to my customers after this!

23/07/09

Newman Passage

New Menu
Even more of excuse to justify my weekly visits here.

Tim, your Flat Whites are de rigueur! Class A**

Mushrooms and spinach sautéed with garlic served on wholemeal sourdough toast

Just to confirm again, it was very good Shelagh.

17/07/09

A* FW

Warm Banana Cake with Pecan Butter

Brilliant

09/07/09

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall eat porridge"

The last time I had porridge was at school and that was decades ago. With bananas, raisins and honey. So delicious I felt blessed.

Reading Google's Chrome OS.

A* Flat White made by Brenda.

01/07/09

Unusually for yours truly, a meat free lunch of polenta and Portobello rooms salad. It's that sauce again, an absolute bloody triumph!

Indefatigable flattie made by Audiophile Tim.
In the background is Lan's signature Hummingbird cake. The cake is a joy to behold let alone eat. The icing sets new standards IMO.
Moi aussi, J'accuse- I too thought they were bought in from their namesake. Apologies. Read here for clarification.

25/06/09

Fitzrovia at 8.25 AM

Bacon Sandwich

Excellent flat white made by Leroy from Tina's (he's just temping here). I've said it once before and I'll say it again, he's a world barista champ in the making! Thanks Lee.

18/06/09

Flattie and Cindy Sherman

Lamb curry with couscous and yoghurt
Reminiscent of school curries but refined inordinately. Mild and sweetish would've preferred rice instead as I find couscous indifferent. Extremely generous amount of tender meat included. Thoroughly enjoyed it, will order again.

12/06/09

Coffee skive with Top Cat. Enjoyed a summat friend friand and slice of banana bread.

Top Cat's first Flat White. ''Shit that's strong!'', Top Cat since became Top Wuss.

04/06/09

Corn Fritters la dee dah

Chicken skewers la dee dah

Worth(y)while lunch with a legend.
Great to have met you Lizzie and as well as Charmaine , another A-Lister (with her lunch takeaway).

03/06/09

Weather permitting, outdoor habits that accompany an excellent cup of Flat White

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Two reasons prompted me to allocate a third post to Lantana Café. Last week I received an anonymous email (you know the one that includes all the 26 alphabets plus the requisite 10 digits) adumbrating Lantana Café and myself were joined at the hip, thereby leading to a conflict of interest to which I should refrain from writing about it altogether. Secondly Lantana Parts 1 & 2 are now heavily congested with pictures of food and flat whites; more space is now needed. I’ve been religiously going to Lans every week for the past six months* without fail, so ‘abcd…6789@wind-up.commie’ you’re right in a way; the caff and I are practically ‘joined at the hip’. As I’ve mentioned in the past I feel totally at ease here and the food and coffee have always been consistently good (despite some of my contemporaries’ findings). Besides my relations with the good people who work here are hardly intimate, it’s more often the case of hello and goodbye, period. Some places hold dear to me and Lantana is one of them.

For more rambling and whatnot on the place please read-

Lantana Part 1

Lantana Part 2

Fishcakes and warm Napoli sauce with an avocado, rocket and cucumber salad

Everything on the plate was scrumptious but the highlight was the tomato sauce. It was so delicious that I could just eat it with a bowl of penne. Yum.

This is the thing that got me here in the first place. Precious Flat White.

*I shall miss the place in September when I'm off to Tibet China for a long overdue holiday.

13 Charlotte Place
London W1T 1SN






www.lantanacafe.co.uk
www.scramblingeggs.blogspot.com

The Palm

It would be IMO extremely uncouth to judge a new restaurant that's barely 24 hours old. But today I ate the best piece of steak I’ve had this year or quite possibly the best ever. This Pomp Pont Street newbie is part of an American steakhouse chain that charges esoteric prices for your moo dinner. Prior to my visit I had to visit the website to ensure that the chain had some kind of credibility and pedigree. I was so very nearly put off by a page link to Celebrity Sightings in their restaurants that are dotted all over across the pond and the rather desperate postcard picture of London Tower Bridge announcing the opening of this branch didn’t help either. Well I made it here in the end.

I think we all know what steakhouses are supposed to look like now, plenty of wood and a pseudo clubby atmosphere. If you’re lucky enough (especially for a solo diner like me), securing a banquette is heaven sent; this kind of seating effectively becomes one’s oyster as all sorts of indiscreet things can be achieved like reading the Morning Star or taking macro snaps of a cheese stick (not offered here). Giles Coren in his review of the Canteen for The Times Magazine observed ‘…through the vast street vitrine watched the swarm of suited losers bustling,…’ well there were certainly a lot of suits here and they were anything but. The ladies, ah well, the last remnants of the 80s phenomenon, Sloanies come to mind. It’s too early to comment on the service, all I can say is that the white jacketed males were charming and the waitresses likewise.

Palm is also all about white tablecloths and celebrity caricatures adorning the walls
The day I see either Katie Price or Susan Boyle embellished here, I'm out.

The raison d’être. USDA Prime beef. The American Erica Wagner in her review of Goodman damns the meat from corn-fed cows to smithereens. Poppycock, Ms Wagner! I suggest you try this kind of beef out and draw your own conclusions.

It's also worth pointing out the existence of a £15 prix fixe lunch.

The full menu can be viewed here

10oz (280g) of Aged USDA Prime New York Sirloin Steak

Medium rare as requested

It was melting, buttery, rich and luxurious.
Hardly bland and cottony as suggested by Ms Wagner.

You know that when piece of meat is of reference quality like this one, it doesn’t need a sauce as an accompaniment. I was perfectly contented after this dish.

To the naked eye this could've been a piece of seared tuna.

This is the Half and Half – cottage fries (crisps) and fried onions
I gave the French Fries a miss as they normally prove too much for lunch.

I thought Hardens were unfair with their wry criticism on Palm for serving the most expensive portion of chips in the capital. On the menu Palm quite clearly states that their side portions are served family style, personally I felt there were enough on the plate for three. You can’t get better hand-cooked crisps than what’s shown. This is the sort of dish that’ll keep the kids quiet on the table as well as obes…

Key Lime Pie

I thought by e Key lime pies have a meringue topping. I wanted to argue with myself that it cannot be anything else but a cheesecake of some sort. Whatever it was, it was delicious, zesty and light. Lovely pud.

Half and Half doggy bag.

I came here because of the ever resourceful London Eating Blog. So thank you Kate. Today was only the second of the third soft openings Palm had to offer to coincide with the official launch on Friday. Even with the 50% discount and lack of booze, you can see from the bill that the place is expensive. I'm glad that my visit here was rewarded with a fine meal, I just hope that the steak I had wasn't a one-off. There's nothing worse than a review that conflicts with contrary findings thereafter. Fingers crossed. Highly recommended if budget isn't an issue.

1 Pont Street
Belgravia
London SW1X 9EJ



www.thepalm.com

Cheeky move with the 12.5% incurred on the pre-discounted total, sacrilege!