Tipped

ahhh the French...

October 18, 2009

What a fantastic wine list! Diverse and delicious featuring bio-dynamic and organic wines from all over France and Italy. I could spend every day in this place but I think my heart and liver would dis-own me.

Not expensive by London standards, a great place to have a glass of wine without feeling you need to have an entire meal. The place is becoming more and more popular hence crowded and harder to book. Avoid the busy times, aim early from midday or come during the break like between 3&5 where you can still get a smaller menu from the bar and glug a few glasses without the masses of suits. Staff are well informed and passionate about wine and food which is a rarity in this town!

I suggest taking the afternoon off, lose yourself in the wonderfully entertainingly written wine list, drink, eat, drink and be merry and forget the fact that you may have to work tomorrow... MC

Keywords: wine, terroir, organic

Terroirs rocks!

June 27, 2009

Terroirs is a intimate wine bar serving terrific tapas-sized food. The menu is divided into bar snacks such as the lyonnais classic "cervelle de canut" or bagna cauda. The charcuterie is hearty: don't miss the dense pistachio-studded pork terrine or homemade rillettes. The highlights of our meal were the small plates to share: a big slab of smoked eel on horseradishy celeriac remoulade looked - and tasted - awesome - juicy snails were swimming in parsley and garlic heaven and a steak tartare was nice and spicy. On the lighter side there were a deliciously refreshing gazpacho and a healthy baby broad bean, pea shoot and pecorino salad. The wine list is a joy with tons by the glass and some taste thrills. They serve a chilled biodynamic red Vinho Verde from Portugal that is crazy but incredibly moreish. Service is very friendly and a lot of the customers appear to be regulars. A must go venue in central London although word is evidently getting around - the place is packed!

Keywords: fine wines, tapas,

Buzzy Bistro

May 12, 2009

Popped in here for dinner with friends last Friday following rave reviews in the Observer and Guardian magazines. We weren't disappointed. Terroirs is situated just at the edge of where Covent Garden meets the Strand - a buzzy little room with a mix of small tables, banquettes and a small bar area. The food is billed as “artisan produce” and the menu consists of bar snacks (duck scratchings anyone?!), a mix of small plates (around £6 each) and a short selection of mains (£10+) - since we were a group we decided to go for a big selection of little plates so we could sample more of the menu. We opted for the charcuterie selection which came with delicious ham, salami, duck rillettes and a lovely terrine studded with pistachios. Accompanied by some crisp baguette and lovely salted butter that the French do so well, we wolfed down the lot.Yum! Meat and carbs - bring it on!! Other delights included grilled scallops, a dish of snails and bacon, some bone marrow (served on toast), beetroot and goats curd salad, some juicy stalks of asparagus with a pot of creamy hollandaise for dunking, and some cheese. Drinks-wise we had a selection of fizz and beers to start followed by two bottles of lovely fruity pinot noir from the rather bible sized wine list - don't be daunted, the Sommelier is very helpful and friendly. We were completely stuffed by the end and the bill came to £30 a head - not bad at all. Service was friendly and swift - my only gripe was when we arrived the host alerted us to the fact that they would need the table back in 2.5 hours - I had not been told they did table turnarounds when I made the booking. Other than that we had a fabulous night of food and wine - highly recommended, though perhaps not if you are vegetarian or on a diet!

Keywords: tapas, bar snacks, wine, sharing plates