St. John Bar and Restaurant
Wheat and White Sourdough with Local Butter
Brown Crab Meat on Toast
Foie Gras with Grilled Bread
Welsh Rarebit
Bloodcake and Fried Egg
Half Dozen Madelines
Bread Pudding and Butterscotch with Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Brown Bread Ice Cream
Originally booked to serve in casual contrast to a 3* Michelin lunch, but instead serving as a continuation of my British culinary education after a disastrous visit to Waterside Inn gave way to a two-part tasting at The Hinds Head and The Crown at Bray, it was to the table of Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver’s St. John that I turned and although the high energy Smithfield scene would prove a staunch departure from the sleepy town of Bray nearly every single bite of food would prove just as well-crafted while service similarly shined. Considered by many to be London’s most steadfast proponent of Nose to Tail cooking with a menu often redrafted twice daily to reflect the market’s very best it was just after 9 o’clock that I entered the spacious former smokehouse and with ceilings high and my seat against the wall a large order ensued, my first bites arriving in the form of duo of stone-milled breads that I paid close mind to so as not to overindulge. Perhaps the first restaurant of the trip where I wished I’d recruited a dining companion as no less than a dozen of the night’s sharable plates caught my eye it was nonetheless in three courses that I proceeded and with the luxurious sweetness of buttered-up crab somehow managing to steal the spotlight from silky liver I immediately I knew right away I was in for a good night, a trend only to be continue in the restaurant’s celebrated Rarebit and aromatic black boudin crowned with a pair of runny eggs. Unable to resist wiping up all remaining yolk with yet another slice of lightly buttered bread it was finally to dessert that I turned and having already experienced the exemplary Eckles cake at the bakery on Druid I instead invested in elsewhere, a steamy slice of molasses bread pudding swimming in butterscotch proving thoroughly sweet while brown bread ice cream presented its savory side with far more subtlety alongside six sizable Madelines that would have rendered Proust weak in the knees.
RECOMMENDED: With only the Rarebit, Bone Marrow, and Eccles offered every day but not a single item I tried less than exemplary I’d simply suggest going with your gut, realizing that higher-than-average prices are justified by superior ingredients and a kitchen who knows how to treat them right.
AVOID: Making your reservations too late in the evening as popular items are prone to sell out, some six of the nights offerings already struck from the menu when I sat down at 9:00.
TIP: Open with a far more limited menu at lunch and now featuring additional locations throughout the city it is advised that those hesitant to make reservations look to these options for dinner as the wait-list for a dining room two-top at the Smithfield location was still over an hour when I arrived for my meal.
https://www.stjohngroup.uk.com/smithfield/
