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Anglo, in Farringdon, the restaurant owned by the chef Mark Jarvis, has enthused the food critics as well as food lovers as soon as it opened in April this year. Mark has gathered his experiences at some of the greatest restaurants in the UK and doing consultancy work in Asia to save enough money for buying the first restaurant of his own. It was one of the hottest new openings this year and in the first months it was impossible to get any booking – even lunchtime slots were booked far in advance. Dinner bookings are still hard to get, but at lunchtime it’s a bit easier (booking is still recommended anyway!). During my visit (at lunchtime in the middle of the week) I was surprised seeing all guests going for the whole tasting menu. Yes, it was a working day and most restaurants need to offer quick lunches of max. 3 courses. At Anglo, even if there is an a la carte option too, everybody decides for the long tasting because they don’t come there just to have a meal but to really enjoy the whole experience which is hard to book in the evening (unless you plan your dinner months in advance).

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How was my experience? Did it fulfil the high expectations based on everything critics have wowed about? Yes, it did: the in-house made sourdough bread with roasted yeast butter was sublime, the autumn squash with burrata, shaved chestnuts and autumn truffle has seduced me already with the perfume – the flavour and textures – creaminess of burrata with crunchiness of the pumpkin and sweet seducing flavours of chestnuts and truffles … (can I get this again, please?) only added to the fantastic experience – probably one of my favourite dishes that day. The salted line-caught cod with oyster emulsion, pickled cucumber and torched kohlrabi was beautifully playful – the sea flavours were nicely communicating with the very very lightly pickled cucumber which really lifted the dish – more through freshness than acidity – and that right measure was what made it that great. Yorkshire partridge roasted on the crown with fermented red cabbage and shaved cep mushrooms was a very flavoursome tribute to autumn. And then arrived melted Isle of Mull cheddar with caramelised onion jam on the top of the malt loaf bread – one of those simple but really significant dishes. It was intense and warming and it was the first concrete step from salty to sweet – and at the same time a reminder of the beautiful interplay of the two flavours (sweet and salty), with some sour accents, through the whole menu. This was followed by the mousse of sea buckthorn, burnt white chocolate and horseradish powder – a dish full of contrasts and refreshing spiciness which worked together beautifully. Anise infused chocolate ganache, beer caramel, pumpkin ice cream, dehydrated chocolate mousse and lime zest sounds complicated, but the beautiful composition of flavours was actually very very moreish. And more arrived: in the form of the delicious dessert made of English apple – sugar glazed & pureed, baked ricotta ice cream, white wine jelly, brown butter crumble and a little accent of verjuice.

Hm yes, it was a long lunch, but soooooo delicious. Will be back.

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