Two fine dinners – Sticky Mango (London); The Harrow, Little Bedwyn

 Sticky Mango at 33 Coin Street, London SE1 9NR 

Chef Peter Lloyd

Nuno Rosa, head waiter at Sticky Mango 

(above and below)

 

 

The long established RSJ Restaurant now has an offspring – Sticky Mango, serving Asian street food. Sticky Mango has colonised and transformed the RSJ’s Yellow Room and the basement, while the RSJ Restaurant continues as before upstairs. Sticky Mango is a partnership between Nigel Wilkinson and Chef Peter Lloyd. Sticky Mango opened in October. 

On Wednesday evening (16.11.16) we ate there for the first time and were very impressed. Knowing Peter I expected the meal to be very good but we were really impressed by the quality and inventiveness of the food – just delicious.     

Sticky Mango, 33 Coin Street, London, SE1 9NR. Tel: 020-7803 9733 info@stickymango.co.uk Entrance on Stamford Street.

 

 The RSJ’s basement area transformed

(above and below)

Spicy banana blossom salad, bean sprouts,
Asian pear, crispy shallots, mint 

 G’s black shrimp, sun-dried pineapple, Jicama and pea shoots

 

Tempura soft shell crab
Singapore chilli sauce, fried steam buns

Jasmine rice 

Ox cheek beef Rendang

apple blossom, chilli and coconut salad

The ox cheek is cooked for three hours.

2015 Saumur Rouge, Domaine des Hauts de Sanziers
which worked very well with the spicy flavours
softening the tannins, which were evident 

when tasted before the food arrived 

•••

The Harrow, Little Bedwyn 

Great treat on Friday evening – dinner with good friends at The Harrow, Little Bedwyn. We chose the Set 6 Course Tasting Menu. Having taken the precaution of ordering our wines in advance we were served the Wiston Estate Sugrue-Pierre « The Trouble with Dreams » English sparkler very soon after our arrival in the busy restaurant. Made from 55% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir and 5% Pinot Meunier, this is a lovely fresh sparkling wine with mineral acidity in the finish.

 Langoustine bisque with grilled sourdough

 

 Citrus cured salmon & Torbay crab with Exmoor caviar salt

(this dish was especially good)

 Cornish line caught turbot with Dorset clams & leeks

2004 Bin 7, Riesling, Clare Valley

Leasingham 

Looking through The Harrow’s wine list the 2004 Leasingham Riesling stood out. An Australian Riesling with 12 years bottle age and furthermore at a very reasonable price. I had no idea when I emailed Roger and Sue with my choice that I was ordering their last bottle of this wine. The screwcapped Leasingham certainly met expectations from the lovely evocative nose and flavour of lightly evolved Riesling – some lemon and lime, floral notes and peachy. Overall it was the purity of fruit and the wine’s vibrantly fresh finish that was memorable. 

Back in 1999 tasting a Yalumba screwcapped Riesling from the mid 1970s was an epiphany. This 2004 is further confirmation that Riesling – Oztralian certainly – ages brilliantly under screwcap.    

 

 

 Northumberland roe venison,
black pudding (Charles Macleod from Stornaway), parsnip and morels

(above and below)

1996 Chinon, Domaine de la Noblaie 

Roger kindly invited to bring our own bottles along, so I chose to take one – this 1996 Chinon from Domaine de la Noblaie. It showed brightly with enticingly spicy aromas and generous soft fruit and a long balanced finish. Furthermore it turned out that the 96 Chinon and the venison were made for each other. 

The 1996 was made by François Billard, whose main job as the time was teaching oenology at the Lycée Viticole at Montreil-Bellay. It wasn’t until 2003 that his son Jérôme returned to the domaine after his studies and after working in various parts of the world to take over.

 

Selection of five English cheeses
– we shared this between the five of us   

 Boiled egg & soldier 

– very inventive pre-dessert

Orchestrated chocolate while 

including a cherry parfait  

The Harrow is highly recommended. Both the food and the wine list are wonderful. The service is very efficient, while being friendly and relaxed. A delight! 

 

JIM