Lima, 31 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1JH

Lima, 31 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1JH

03/09/2012

www.limalondon.com

She said: Peruvian, why not. This place is easy to miss tucked away near the post office sorting office. You enter a bar-like narrow area but this stylish South American restaurant opens up into a lovely sky-lit contemporary dining area. There’s a choice of a good value set menu (three courses for £20) or a la carte. As I was craving ceviche which was not on the set menu I went for the ‘sea bream ceviche with white tiger’s milk, sweet onion skin and inca corn’ – a fancy description set expectations which were surpassed. Zesty, juice flavours accompanied by some corn nuts were the perfect entrée. I followed this with a halibut and corn fritter like concoction which again did not disappoint; original flavours and healthy but not huge portions. If I hadn’t filled up on fruity breads and a very strong pisto bloody maria I would have made it to desert but more reason to come back. Service was relaxed but friendly and the fellow diners were equally relaxed and a mix of well-heeled older couples and oddly younger Japanese student-types. The a la carte came to £68 – including alcohol. Would definitely come back but probably going for the set menu second time around.

He said: eating here is a really refreshing, sensory experience. The space is intimate (ie small) but decorated to great effect in a fairly neutral beige and grey palette highlighted by flashes of colour from the glass-wear, cushions, etc, and an abstract mural on the back wall. Very stylish. When the food arrives you realize that the room actually works as a canvas against which the gorgeously presented food can stand out. Peruvian cooking is fairly new in London, so there’s a certain old-school excitement to ordering foods that include lots of ingredients you can’t quite place, and flavours you can’t quite imagine. Like when galangal and kholrabi were novelties, back in the days. Soon we’ll all be blasé about tiger’s milk and huacatay. I devoured my tiradito and my delicious vegetarian stew which included half a dozen things I’d never eaten before. Prices are at the higher end, starters and mains averaging at £ 8 and £20, but it’s worth it. Lima is fantastic, I can’t wait to go back.

The Thomas Cubitt, 44 Elizabeth Street, London SW1W 9PA

The Thomas Cubitt, 44 Elizabeth Street, London SW1W 9PA

02/09/2012

http://www.thethomascubitt.co.uk/

She said: I wanted a ‘pub lunch’ so we hit this upmarket gastro joint in Belgravia. There’s a busy, noisy (or atmospheric depending on your viewpoint) downstairs dining area but we went for the calm, smart dining space upstairs which was more intimate with portraits of fish on the walls. The menu offers a good selection of various pub dishes so I went for the fish pie which came with a salad. As fish pies go it was good but fish was sacrificed for more potato topping than was needed. Still I cleared my plate. He ordered a nice fruit juice cocktail but had rushed me in my drinks order so I made him have mine while I drank a lovely apple, mint and pear juice. Given the number of bakeries in the area we didn’t stay for desert although they did look good. Thomas Cubitt is part of a wider group of Gastro pubs in the area (we’ve previously reviewed Orange) and offers smart but relaxed dining at reasonable prices. A good choice if you’re on the lookout for some gastro-‘pub’ food.

He said: In case you’re wondering it’s pronounced Q-bit (I asked). I’m glad I didn’t bet on that because I would have guessed the other way. This gastro-pub is very much in the mould of all the others owned by the same group (The Grazing Goat, The Orange, etc), but the emphasis is much more on `gastro’ than `pub’. If there’s a line between gastro-pub and informal, noisy English restaurant, then the Cubitt is pretty damn close to it. It’s very nice, just like the others, though I much prefer The Goat.  I’m not sure there’s much that distinguishes this from any other good gastro, other than that it’s in Belgravia. Go if you’re in the neighbourhood, otherwise I’m pretty sure you’ll have something similar near you.