A (mostly) British Birthday

It was Dave's 45th birthday today, and after a bit of uming & ahhing we decided to go up to town for the day.


The Cow in the Marsh
etching by Carl Wilhelm Kolbe, 1800

We walked down to Greenland Pier, got a boat up to Embankment and then walked up to the British Museum to take a look at an exhibition on The cost of living in Roman and modern Britain. That was interesting enough, but rather smaller and more limited than we had expected, so we also had a look at Landscape, heroes and folktales - German Romantic prints and drawings. This was actually quite interesting, illustrating how the political and economic ravages of the Napoleonic wars forced artists to move away from patronage by the ruling elites to a form of popular subscription. This particular style of art is not normally to my liking, but I was rather taken with the etchings by Carl Wilhelm Kolbe (1759–1835), which mostly featured cows surrounded by improbably large and abundant foliage.

After that we strolled down towards Soho, stopping off at Foyles on the way (it's Dave's birthday - we can't really ignore the world's largest bookshop). Then a pint in Old Compton Street followed by a rather good gravad lax smørrebrød at the friendly Nordic Bakery in Golden Square.

For dinner, we eventually decided to try Rules in Covent Garden. Established in 1798, it is reputed to be the oldest restaurant in London, and specialises in traditional British food, in particular game. This place has had somewhat mixed reviews over the years, but has an almost unassailable record of past literary and theatrical patrons, including Charles Dickens, Thackeray, H G Wells, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, John Le Carré, Dick Francis, Laurence Olivier, Buster Keaton, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin and John Betjeman. A quick check of on-line reviews (thanks to the woders of smartphones) revealed a very positive recent review in the Independent, so we decided to give it a go. It turned-out to be an excellent choice, and we had a great meal and a really enjoyable evening. This is what Dave posted on Facebook (with a few minor edits):

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Birthday in London

by David Somerlinck on Tuesday, 08 November 2011 at 00:12

Unusual to be in London for my birthday, but have had a great day.

Took the boat into town to visit the British Museum for a bit of potter around.

Had no plans as to where to eat in the evening but ended up at Rules in Maiden Lane.  Established in 1798 it claims to be the oldest restaurant in London but in my 45 years I´d not eaten there. Think had been slightly put off worrying that it might cater mainly to Colonel Blimp types and/or tourists neither of which would be conducive to a pleasant experience. Oops.

We got in there early, without a reservation. We were warned that they may want the table back after two hours (after we´d been shown to it) and at that point I was ready to say no. Very pleased we didn´t.

Starters

• Roast grouse salad with foie gras, pears & wild herbs
• Pressed wild rabbit with black pudding, cider jelly & mustard

Both were excellent. We were joking that it was the third consecutive night that Andrew had eaten black pudding - not something that would usually feature on his top ten list of foodstuffs. But it worked well with the rabbit. Grouse is not a bird I can recall ever having eaten before, and this first experience is probably going to be hard to beat. I was already very happy before my main course:

Mains

• Fillet of venison with braised salsify, chanterells & sprout tops
• Pheasant Kiev with celeriac

Venison is something that I´m always happy to eat but the fillet was superb. Rare, as requested and definitely of the highest quality. Not cheap but worth every penny when you get excellent meat cooked, in my view, to perfection.

I understand why Andrew ordered the Pheasant Kiev (when was the last time you saw that on a menu?), but I have to say it did not have anywhere near the same wow factor as the amazing venison. That may be damning with faint praise, and if it is the sort of dish you particularly enjoy you would be perfectly satisfied, but the venison fillet was devilishly good.

Cheese plate
Despite the restaurant apparently having been concerned about needing the table back they didn´t bat an eyelid when we ordered cheese with dessert to follow. The British Regional Cheese Plate came with a cheddar, a blue and a  goat´s cheese. Sorry can´t be more precise.

Dessert

• Arctic Roll with apples, blackberries & vanilla ice cream
• Baked Warm Chocolate Tart with coffee ice cream

Arctic Roll with a birthday candle

It is in the puddings that Rules seems to head towards the sort of comfort food reputedly the favourite of ex-public school types which maybe put us off the place in the past. My English friends will remember Arctic roll as a frozen Birds Eye dessert. Simply put it´s Swiss Roll with an ice cream filling. It was sheer perversity which made me order it as had never seen it on a restaurant menu. The dish lived up to the quality of the earlier courses, but even so the restaurant managed to exceed expectations.

When it arrived, the kitchen had written 'Happy Birthday' in chocolate sauce on the plate and there was a candle in the small mound of blackberries. Costs the restaurant nothing, but makes the customer feel special. Andrew describes his warm chocolate tart as lovely.

Rules is not the sort of restaurant to take vegetarians or people who like minimalism (the walls have a surfeit of paintings, mirrors, gilt, and antlers) but it never felt pretentious. The waiting staff were what you hope them to be, but so rarely are - professional yet not aloof.

The clientele included a group headed by someone we decided had to be a peer of the realm and, not suprisingly, tourists. Unusually for us, we got chatting to the diners at the table next to us a couple from Tennessee (in town on business) with their seven year old daughter.

All in all, we had a thoroughly civilised evening. Rules is anachronistic and we wouldn´t want that experience every night of the week, but tonight I feel like have had an extra-special meal.

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Rules Restaurant, 35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7LB
Tel: 020 7836 5314
http://www.rules.co.uk/home