Most trips I take seem to settle on a culinary theme, even if I don't quite intend it to be that way.
During my more recent trip to Tokyo, that became convenience store dining and milk soft serve (see my guide!). In London, it was a quest for sticky toffee pudding.
My quest began, totally not intentionally, on my Virgin Atlantic flight, where I actually really enjoyed the sticky toffee pudding served with dinner. Sticky toffee pudding isn't a dessert that we see much of in the US, so I wasn't particularly seeking it out or noticing it when I was doing research on restaurants, but somehow, it just kept coming back to my mind.
So, the first night I was in London, a dragged a group to Hawksmoor, for cocktails and sticky toffee pudding. It was highly mediocre, even though the internet had told me it was "the best" in town. The next night I took a break to seek out "the best" bread pudding (which I certainly did not find at The English Restaurant), but the following two nights were back to sticky toffee pudding at Tibits (vegan versions, which I really liked the first night). Another quick break from sticky toffee to try out mince pie from Pret a Manger (yeah, not a winner), and I was ready for more.
I did more research. And my research lead me back to Heddon Street Kitchen, which was already on my list for other reasons. Like ... being a Gordon Ramsey restaurant.
Heddon Street Kitchen is a casual place, with a menu full of Gordon Ramsey classics. I really wished I was able to visit with a group so we could get the very famous beef wellington, but, alas, they only serve it for 2 people, it is very pricey, and takes 45 mins to prepare. The fish & chips is also well known. As is ... yup, the sticky toffee pudding. Hence, my visit.
I ventured there as a solo diner, mid-week.
I had a really great time. I had a savory snack, a good cocktail, and of course, the pudding. Everything was good. Not great, but certainly good, and certainly better than similar things I had on the trip. Service was friendly but my server was kinda clueless. Overall, just, quite enjoyable.
I'd like to return to try more of the "real" food.
Heddon Street Kitchen is located on ... Heddon Street, a small almost-alley off of Regent Street, right near Piccadilly. It looks calm and peaceful here, but, the hustle and bustle is not far away.
During my more recent trip to Tokyo, that became convenience store dining and milk soft serve (see my guide!). In London, it was a quest for sticky toffee pudding.
My quest began, totally not intentionally, on my Virgin Atlantic flight, where I actually really enjoyed the sticky toffee pudding served with dinner. Sticky toffee pudding isn't a dessert that we see much of in the US, so I wasn't particularly seeking it out or noticing it when I was doing research on restaurants, but somehow, it just kept coming back to my mind.
So, the first night I was in London, a dragged a group to Hawksmoor, for cocktails and sticky toffee pudding. It was highly mediocre, even though the internet had told me it was "the best" in town. The next night I took a break to seek out "the best" bread pudding (which I certainly did not find at The English Restaurant), but the following two nights were back to sticky toffee pudding at Tibits (vegan versions, which I really liked the first night). Another quick break from sticky toffee to try out mince pie from Pret a Manger (yeah, not a winner), and I was ready for more.
I did more research. And my research lead me back to Heddon Street Kitchen, which was already on my list for other reasons. Like ... being a Gordon Ramsey restaurant.
Heddon Street Kitchen is a casual place, with a menu full of Gordon Ramsey classics. I really wished I was able to visit with a group so we could get the very famous beef wellington, but, alas, they only serve it for 2 people, it is very pricey, and takes 45 mins to prepare. The fish & chips is also well known. As is ... yup, the sticky toffee pudding. Hence, my visit.
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| #adultLife. |
I had a really great time. I had a savory snack, a good cocktail, and of course, the pudding. Everything was good. Not great, but certainly good, and certainly better than similar things I had on the trip. Service was friendly but my server was kinda clueless. Overall, just, quite enjoyable.
I'd like to return to try more of the "real" food.
Setting
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| Exterior. |
Like all the restaurants on this street, they have a large outside seating area, which still makes no sense to me given that it was always "freezing" to me outside. But, then again, the outside areas were usually filled with a least a few patrons, all who seemed to value being able to smoke over being warm.
Inside is the main restaurant, a wide open space. I think that there is an upper floor as well, but I didn't explore.
The bar was a small space that could seat about 4 people, but it wasn't really set up to have diners. Adjacent to the bar are a few low tables that were occupied, but the host asked if I wanted a bar seat (since I was alone) and I said sure. So he re-arranged some stuff and suddenly a comfy bar stool emerged.
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| Interior. |
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| My Personal Bar. |
It was kinda fun to have a personal bar.
I only review bathrooms when they are particularly interesting. I think this one counts? Sure, the wood paneling, the artwork, the unique oval design were all novel enough on their own, but, uh, there was a framed Gordon Ramsey in the middle of it all. Which is ... um ... yeah. No comment.
To get started, I wanted a cocktail. I was given a cocktail menu with a slew of interesting sounding drinks. I asked my server (who wasn't actually a bartender, which I didn't realize at first) for a recommendation, saying I wanted gin or whiskey or tequila, and not sweet.
He started suggesting drinks, which really seemed like he was just throwing a dart at the page. The first one he suggested was rum based (recall, I said gin or whiskey or tequila ...). The next one he suggested, leading with, "its very sweet, but ...". Um ... thanks (again, I said *not* sweet ...).
In the end, I ordered one of the special cocktails, the "Twelve Monkeys", only to find out they were out of an ingredient.
I gave up, and just asked for a negroni. I thought the orange accents would pair nicely with my upcoming dessert.
The negroni was well made, a classic. It also seemed to gain me some cred with assorted members of the staff, several of whom stopped by saying, "a negroni? Nice. I like your style.", and similar things.
Because I didn't want to jump *right* into dessert, I went for something savory to start.
The bar menu had a few interesting sounding nibbles, like salt & pepper squid and 'nduja stuffed gnocchi, but when I tried to ask my server about them, he was fairly clueless. A theme.
I know people really respect the fish & chips at Heddon Street, and although I wasn't quite up for the full order, I figured just the chips would be a safe bet, available as a side.
The chips arrived very quickly. They were piping hot. I had to slow down, and kept almost burning myself on them.
They were very classic, very good chips.
Thick, large chips. Very crispy exterior, fluffy interior. Greasy for sure, you can see them glistening, but not gross. They didn't seem particularly seasoned though, as in, not salted?
Still, far above average, and much, much, much better than the chips we had a Hawksmoor a few nights prior. I was a bit surprised to find them under-seasoned however, that isn't the Gordon way!
The chips don't normally come with it, but I asked if I could order tartar sauce to dunk them in. It seemed to be no problem, and I wasn't even charged for it.
I was also provided ketchup, a cute personal Heinz. That is one way to solve the annoying ketchup bottle problem!
It turned out, I liked the ketchup more than the tartar sauce with these particular chips anyway. The tartar sauce was fine, creamy, herby, probably amazing with the fish, but with the chips it didn't quite compliment it. Turns out, simple ketchup worked great.
But I was really there for one thing really: sticky toffee pudding.
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| Bathroom Shrine? |
Food & Drink
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| Negroni. £10. |
He started suggesting drinks, which really seemed like he was just throwing a dart at the page. The first one he suggested was rum based (recall, I said gin or whiskey or tequila ...). The next one he suggested, leading with, "its very sweet, but ...". Um ... thanks (again, I said *not* sweet ...).
In the end, I ordered one of the special cocktails, the "Twelve Monkeys", only to find out they were out of an ingredient.
I gave up, and just asked for a negroni. I thought the orange accents would pair nicely with my upcoming dessert.
The negroni was well made, a classic. It also seemed to gain me some cred with assorted members of the staff, several of whom stopped by saying, "a negroni? Nice. I like your style.", and similar things.
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| Triple Cooked Chips. £5. |
The bar menu had a few interesting sounding nibbles, like salt & pepper squid and 'nduja stuffed gnocchi, but when I tried to ask my server about them, he was fairly clueless. A theme.
I know people really respect the fish & chips at Heddon Street, and although I wasn't quite up for the full order, I figured just the chips would be a safe bet, available as a side.
The chips arrived very quickly. They were piping hot. I had to slow down, and kept almost burning myself on them.
They were very classic, very good chips.
Thick, large chips. Very crispy exterior, fluffy interior. Greasy for sure, you can see them glistening, but not gross. They didn't seem particularly seasoned though, as in, not salted?
Still, far above average, and much, much, much better than the chips we had a Hawksmoor a few nights prior. I was a bit surprised to find them under-seasoned however, that isn't the Gordon way!
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| Triple Cooked Chips w/ Ketchup & Tartar Sauce. |
I was also provided ketchup, a cute personal Heinz. That is one way to solve the annoying ketchup bottle problem!
It turned out, I liked the ketchup more than the tartar sauce with these particular chips anyway. The tartar sauce was fine, creamy, herby, probably amazing with the fish, but with the chips it didn't quite compliment it. Turns out, simple ketchup worked great.
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| Sticky Toffee Pudding w/ Clotted Cream. £6.50. |
At this point, the assorted staff were pretty amused by me. "Sticky toffee pudding and a negroni? You are awesome", said one woman as she walked by. "Sticky toffee and a negroni? Sounds like my kind of night!", said another. Hey, I know what I like and what I wanted, ok? No need to pretend otherwise.
So, that pudding.
It came served warm, a large square of slightly spiced cake, smothered in sauce, in a bowl with plenty more to lap up. The plating with the clotted cream off to the side was a bit strange, and I wondered if it was supposed to be on top and slid off?
Anyway, it was good. Not amazing, and I honestly think I liked the version on my flight even more, but much better than the Hawksmoor version, and better than the Tibits versions. Ok, yes, I consumed a lot of sticky toffee pudding on this trip.
The cake could have used more spicing, could have been more moist, but the toffee sauce basically masked all of that. The toffee sauce was good, sweet, almost too sweet, but I dunked nearly every bite in more sauce.
Overall, good. A warm bite, with plenty of toffee sauce and a bit of cream was a nice thing. But just nice, not ground breaking.
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| Aftermath. |
The sticky toffee pudding was a large serving. There was sooo much of that toffee sauce. It was certainly meant for sharing. But ... I was alone. I couldn't let dessert go to waste!
And, uh, I didn't.
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