“I was tempted to have a quick nap in order to re-live the whole experience in dream”
After a mistake in my diary I found myself all dressed up with nowhere to go for lunch (it was a Tuesday, which for whatever reason somehow “felt” like a Thursday, so I got ready for Thursdays lunch arrangements in vain, or perhaps not…) I attempted a reservation at Bocca Di Lupo – my favourite Soho Italian, but they didn’t pick up, so by sheer luck (or perhaps fate) I spontaneously tucked a copy of The Spectator and Noble Rot into my handbag, and ventured solo to Clipstone instead.
The restaurant has a friendly neighbourhood feel, with outdoor seating and a compact open kitchen at the back. I am ushered to a window seat and handed a menu (which changes daily). I order a negroni – I’ve become obsessed with them to the point where I’m not having to explain to concerned friends the subtle difference between “alcohol obsession” and alcoholism. Negroni in hand I peruse the menu. God, it’s very good! I want everything. I briefly consider 2 courses, but then come to my senses and order 3 (as any self-respecting person does when faced with so many good options).
The three course menu offers an almost embarrassingly-good value for money, and I gratefully devoured:
Rabbit Rillettes. It’s game season, so I see it as my civic duty to eat my way through the UKs most underappreciated resource. This dish was gorgeous. Fatty and smooth rillettes, speckled with mustard seeds, chive and cornichons. I’d be tempted to pop several times a month just for this plate and a negroni. Despite the daily changes, this plate has remained on the menu for some time, a testament to the strength and appeal of this dish. It’s a classic, a generous portion of something you’d expect to find in the fridge of a fat Frenchman living in the Loire. I’d buy it by the jarful if I could.
Bbq smoked eel, kalibos cabbage, horseradish. Too good for mere words but I’ll try: Perfectly balanced – sweetness in the BBQ marinade (Asian flavours) tempered by the wasabi-esque horseradish. The eel was a delight – my first time trying eel (I make a habit of trying new things when possible) and this was a very memorable introduction, an alluring, smokeshow, and my favourite of the three plates. The only improvement to be made would have been a generous hunk of crusty bread to soak up the delicious liquor at the bottom of the bowl.
Roast partridge, purple sprouting broccoli, chestnuts. This dish was very much like being dragged mouth first through a forest floor (in a good way). A soft set crab apple jelly acted as a dressing for the whole plate. It’s a playful creation – extremely easy on the eye and even better on the tongue. The partridge was cooked with sensitivity and precision, and the broccoli, hazlenuts, apple, juniper, and chestnut cream on which it sat, seemed the most deliciously appropriate final resting place for this humble, and perfectly cooked bird.
Thoughts:
This was a lunch so deliciously satisfying, that I was tempted to have a quick nap in order to re-live the whole experience in dream. I’m a good Michelin star predictor. I remember visiting Brat in the early days and saying to my dining partner at the time, that this restaurant will certainly get a star. Not long after, it did. Clipstone is of a similar ilk, and in my opinion even better than their more celebrated sister restaurant, Portland. I enjoyed the window seats, which are a great spot for people watching and contemplating how a restaurant this good can have a seat available at such short notice. Clipstone is very much the sort of place I would open myself, if I had the guts (and the financial backing). Bags of substance with a dash of style – I defy anyone not to have a good meal here. A real pleasure – and one I will return to again and again.
Sabrina Goodlife.