Nobel Rot was visited by Frankie and us about one year ago (click here). The restaurant where we had a reservation had electrical problems and so closed for the day and we decided to repeat since our visit last year was so wonderful. It was a different day though so it wasn’t nearly as magical. This visit we sat upstairs which was cozier and had nice murals painted on each of the walls – one of the street where the restaurant is located. Small marble tables were set closely opposite bench seating lining both walls. A small bar/service area was at one end. Curtained windows to the street added little to the lowered lighting of the room. No music was in the background and the menu was printed daily. Service was fine but the food did not measure up to last year’s. It’s still a fine place for a casual meal but it didn’t have the lick-the-plate quality I remembered.
Set-up
Food
Culatta di Montagna was a plate of thinly sliced Italian ham. It had good flavor.
Bread and butter was to go with the ham but they are ordered separately. It was 3 types of bread – a multigrain, dark and focaccia. All were soft with a fairly dense interior. The butter was fine.
Roquefort custard and crudités was my choice. It came with very fresh vegetables including celery, purple and yellow carrots, red and white chicory and some nicely ripe slices of pear. The custard was very smooth with a light Roquefort flavor. It was also good spread on the bread. The crudités were so fresh they were a pleasure to eat on their own too.
Hispi Cabbage is a sweeter, pointy-shaped cabbage. This plate was very fresh and lightly cooked to a perfect texture. It was very good.
Roast chicken, morels and vin Jaune came with Riz au pilaf. This was where they let me down. The scrumptious vin Jaune sauce last year was thinner and the morels had little flavor and were almost rubbery. The rice was mostly dry and good to cover with the sauce but it was too thin to stick to it well. The white part of the chicken was dry. I’m sure ingredients vary and this may have been the culprit that night. But it was disappointing enough I didn’t even want to consider dessert.
Ah that`s a shame your last meal in the UK wasn`t a triumph…
I have been to the original Noble Rot on Lambs Conduit St a few times and enjoyed the food. The spot where you went was for 65 years(one of the longest running kitchens in London) a Hungarian restaurant called “The Gay Hussar”. It sadly closed in 2018.
It was legendary for its old school traditional food and clientele which included many famous politicians who all had caricatures drawn of themselves and they were displayed on the walls.
After 35 years of dining there I haven`t been able to bring myself to try the restaurant that has taken over.
Andy Hayler (the guru of British restaurant critics) wrote of the chicken dish you had….
“The Turkish morels were, unsurprisingly given they were out of season, dried and, in truth, pretty ordinary, and distinctly lacking in flavour. This was a pity as the sauce was very good and the chicken was carefully cooked and had decent flavour, with reasonably crisp skin. I wonder whether using a mushroom that was in season right now, such as a Scottish girolle, would have improved the dish” so they really ought to listen to their reviews.
In cabbage gossip, Hispi cabbage was traditionally called Sweetheart cabbage over here.It`s also known as pointed cabbage….. Unbe-leaf-able 😉
Thanks! Mostly the disappointment was that it was so incredible last time. That may have been due to sitting next to two delightful ladies who engaged us in fun conversation, too. I am thrilled that Andy Hayler agreed with me about using out of season morels – it’s too unpredictable how good they will be. At any rate, our London trip was a success in that we were able to connect! I wish you wonderful dining and scotch tastings in your future!
That’s a shame. I suspect they may have spread themselves too thin with multiple locations.
Maybe that’s it. Part of the problem is relying on freeze dried mushrooms- the quality really varies and you can’t tell what you’ve got.