Sunday lunch at The Drapers Arms

A rather unappealing and geeky habit of mine is buying the latest good food guides, reading them cover to cover and marking venues according to how much I want to try them out. It all started out quite casually with my marking a venue of interest with a small asterisk, but I soon had so many asterisks that they became meaningless and I had to invest in a more rigorous marking system:

• A star with a circle around – absolutely must go, life depends on it
• A star – may self harm if miss out
• An asterisks – yes but no but
• A dot – not going to lose any sleep over it
• Nothing – does this really have any place in the guide?

I now apply this to all my guides, although to save some face I should say that I have only got as far as reading and marking the North and Central London parts of the Which? Good Food Guide 2010 (it covers the whole of the UK, I am not that sad!) and the corresponding chapters in the Michelin London Restaurants and Hotels 2010.

This is the first year that I have bought the Michelin, always having assumed them to err on the side of pretentious and pricey, so I was pleasantly surprised to see so many entries for gastropubs. One such pub is The Drapers Arms, a recommendation corroborated by the Good Food Guide and further substantiated by a star with a circle round in both books (consistent starring and circling on different occasions with no memory of having done so equals extra credibility).

So it was that when my Mum and I found ourselves at the end of a very long line for a table at Ottolenghi, we said a collective “blow this” and headed to The Drapers.

Just after we arrived, the sun broke through the clouds and we were lucky enough to get the last table in the courtyard. Tick.

The waiter arrived within moments and offered to get me a drink. Another tick, although I was suffering a heinous hangover so I’m afraid my choice was not particularly inspiring: cranberry juice with soda. Mum was far more civilised and went for a glass of the Picpoul de Pinet, which she thought a little bland. It can’t have been that bad though, because she went back to it after the South African chenin blanc, which she found too sweet. I cannot offer an opinion on either because my hangover was such that I didn’t even ask to try it. Other side of the table, please, I can smell it. 

Better luck with the menu? It certainly looked that way; I could happily have eaten two thirds of the options and very easily half. The food is what I would call modern British, with a focus on seasonal produce cooked simply to make the best of the ingredients. Meat features heavily, with only one vegetarian main. Less common cuts, such as onglet and beef shin, are evidence of the chef’s time spent at St John. 

The choice for starters was surprisingly easy. I knew I wanted the smoked eel, potato, sorrel and ham hock, but I was tempted by the duck liver pate. I thought the latter to be a less interesting choice, but I felt like comfort food. Thankfully, I am in the fortunate position of having a mother with a small appetite who encouraged my input on her choice as well. This is on account of the fact that I would most likely end up eating the majority of both our starters. I did.

The smoked eel and ham hock worked well together and the portion was generous, but the dish was lacking oomph. It needed something to cut through the salty, samey flavours of the eel and ham, a task that had been left to the sorrel. This could have done the trick was there more of it and had it been exposed to less heat. As it was, the sorrel was bland and wilted, and the dish rather one-dimensional as a result.

The duck liver pate, on the other hand, was just as it should be, meltingly smooth and creamy, not a tad bitter, generously spread on sourdough toast. Double tick.

For mains Mum had the Scottish girolles with lentils, peas and watercress, which she was delighted with. The dish was very well balanced; lightly seasoned so as not to overpower the delicate flavour of the mushrooms.

Sadly, I cannot say the same for the squid, tomato, saffron and potato stew. The combination of flavours was great and the squid as tender as could be, but it was heavily was over-salted. Salt fiend that I am, I was able to make a good go of it, but I think that others less seasoned (excuse the pun) than myself, would have had more trouble.

Despite these hiccups with the food, I would still recommend The Drapers. I made an unfortunate choice with the stew, but it is easy to over-salt such a dish and it is likely that it would have been better on another day. Everything else about the meal was great. The service, in particular, was really good; well informed and achieving just the right level of friendly informality, without being inefficient. It was good value too; the bill coming to just over £50 before service, although Mum pointed out that my not drinking brought it down a bit. To round things off neatly, they even served me a decent cup of coffee, which in London is as rare thing to come across.

I will certainly give them another chance and that is as good a vote of confidence as any ... well, perhaps leaving aside 2 stars with a circle around and a recommendation from this guy: 

The Drapers Arms: 44 Barnsbury St, Islington, London, N1 1ER; 020 7619 0348;  info@thedrapersarms.com

Entrees from £4.50 to £7.00; Mains from £12.50 to £14.50, excluding shared dishes (menu changes daily)

Wines start at £3.65 by the glass, £10.15 by the carafe and £14.50 by the bottle. 16 wines by the glass and carafe, 3 sparkling by the glass. Mostly European with a focus on France and Spain.

Comments

[Ma]

Sometime Vix see if you can re produce the girolles with lentils for me , they were so good. This weekend
I am in Suffolk. I wish you had been here to enjoy supper with us last night. You would have approved .We bought fresh cod from a sea front vendor in Aldeburgh AND FRESH SAMPHIRE. We bought newly dug new potatoes from the Saturday morning country market in Orford. We barbequed the cod ( do you know you can buy mini 'throw away after one use`" barbeques from the Co op ? Not much call for those in Australia-when every house has a Barbee but very useful here in Uk me thinks) .We washed the samphire , didn't even blanch it , and poured melted butter over it - and the potatoes.+ lemon wedges. Result - everything tasted exquisitely of what it was - no flavours drowned by rich sauces.The fish was almost as translucent as that flounder we caught and ate for breakfast all those years ago in the Malborough Sounds in New Zealand.