New Favourite London Haunt: Duck Soup
Sent to you by adam via Google Reader: New Favourite London Haunt:
Duck Soup via (title unknown) by Niamh on 11/10/11
It’s time for a little break from my Croatia adventures and a little
bit on London. I thought that I would tell you about where I have been
spending a lot of my time there: Ducksoup.
Ducksoup is a new London restaurant on Dean St in Soho. Frankly, if you
haven’t heard of it by now, you must be living under a rock. Soho is so
exciting right now, with new resaurants that have character, great food
and drinks. A perfect antidote to depressing chains, Koya (opened last
year-ish) is a favourite, Ducksoup is of the same ilk. Relaxed,
deceptively simple with attention to detail in every aspect, and very
reasonably priced it has natually proved very popular already.
Quail with Burnt Tomato
Chef, Julian Biggs, ex head chef at Hix amongst others, serves up a
handwritten menu of full flavoured food, updated daily on their tumblr
and twitter. A record player plays vinyl in the background (I have
heard that you can bring your own), the atmosphere is fun and buzzy,
and the (natural) wine list is updated frequently and is very good.
Plates are priced at £3.50 for a snack size, £7 for a small plate (e.g.
the quail) and £14 for large dishes like fritto misto or lamb chops.
Chickpea, parmesan and bread soup - delicious and a bargain at £3.50
Food highlights were the fritto misto with incredibly fresh, bouncy
squid sticking in my memory; quail (twice) once with burnt lemon and
harissa and another time with burnt tomato; bright orange, sweet and
rich violina pumpkin with sharp creamy goats curd, chopped hanger steak
and toast.
Violina Pumpkin with Goats Curd
Natural wines are the wines on offer here. Natural wines, if you don’t
know, are wines that have no chemicals (bar a little sulphur in bottle
as a preservative), ferment with the natural yeasts of the grape, and
have had little interference. Some winemakers follow the lunar cycle,
others apply more intense biodynamic techniques, but the common
denominator is that there is no gunk in them. Now that can only be a
good thing, right? They taste good too. A world away from the generic
wines on offer in most supermarkets. People say they are hangover free
but I have drank too much of several to prove otherwise. I do still
love them though. All wines are available by the glass and for the
quality, are extremely reasonable.
I could go on. But I’ll save you that and just recommend that you go
there. Save a seat for me though! I have been four times (I told you I
liked it) and the last few times, it has been so busy, and deservedly
so. I am sure that you will like it as much as I do.
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