the ninth

the ninth is not a uniquerestaurantin london right now. i can think of a number of places – piquet, blanchette and terroirs, for starters – delivering great food at a reasonable price in relaxed surroundings. but there is a precision and, at times, an understated brilliance to thisrestaurantwhich does set it apart. let’s put it this way: i don’t think tanaka need move on to his 10th establishment any day soon

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/may/01/the-ninth-restaurant-review-jay-rayner

we had a great experience last night. food was delicious, everyone was helpful and polite. we had beef cheak as a starter, pasta with truffles, lamb cutlets which was magnificient and finally rhubarb as desert. definetely a must gorestaurantin london.

i was interested in thisrestaurantas it is one of the top 50 cheapest michelin star meals in the world. it is based on the set lunch menu which if you had 2 plates it would only be £22, 3 plates for £28 or 3 plates plus a drink for £33. it is excellent value considering the location and ambience. it was raining and i was slightly early for my reservation and they ushered me in and quickly seated me whilst i waited for my friend. it is formal without being stuffy or pretentious. really loved the service here.

we liked the look of the choice of 6 plates so went with one of each to share. he had a wine and i had a mocktail of blackberry bramble. i’m glad they catered for non alcoholics with something more fancy than just a soft drink.

pickled carrots came with creamy yoghurt, some butter leaves, and crunchy hazelnuts. a brilliant flavourful vegetarian dish. brandade croquettes were nice and crunchy. it wasn’t too fishy and came with a lemon butter sauce. sorpresine (pasta) is served with baby artichokes &
broad beans. another fine vegetarian pasta dish. lamb nicoise salad was excellent. pink lamb medallions sat upon warm beans and potatoes. a half soft egg sat on top. amazing dish and one of my favs. crispy duck leg with lentil & smoked bacon salsa was the perfect dish for this cold day. i always love a good duck dish and this was no different. wonderfully cooked, it was delicious. wild garlic risotto & creme fraiche rounded our lunch off well. it was light enough to not feel too full but hearty enough. a lovely taste to it.

couldn’t leave without dessert after spying other tables having some. we got the paris-brest espresso with tonka bean ice cream. it was decadent with crunchy praline pastry filled with an espresso cream. ice cream was creamy. so much yum!

it may be cheaper in price but doesn’t compromise on quality so my suggestion is to book for lunch for their excellent value.

jun's latestrestauranton charlotte street was launched last year and since then has become a dining hot spot for serious food lovers. his take on french-inspired

i used to watch chef jun tanaka consistently beating other chefs on a tv show called chopped i used to watch when we lived in the us. chef tanaka recently opened the ninthrestaurantin london so i wanted to check his real-life cooking skills. therestaurantis located on charlotte street and is mediterranean inspired. our oven roasted fish was delicious and would be good to go back and try the dinner menu at some point.

after reading few reviews of the ninth, the first solo project by chef jun tanaka, i knew it would be arestauranti would like and the perfect venue for lunch with samanta stewart, the blogger behind food expectations. i’d been reading sam’s blog for a while and i already knew we’d have lots in common, but as we chatted through lunch we discovered even more similarities in things we liked and places we’d been.

charlotte street's most recent stylish resident; the ninth caught my eye as i was casually strolling by.

the exposed brick walls, it's warm and inviting lighting make this place perfect for dates.

it so happened that i would be meeting the beautiful erin & felicia for lunch date on a seriously cold wintery day. two gorgeous girls to cosy up against the luxurious sofa seats? yes please!

we had the wholerestaurantto ourselves, how very romantic :p

the ninth, is the 9th venue from jun tanaka (formerly of the pearl in holborn) and is his first solo venture, delivering simple yet refined french/mediterranean food ideal for sharing.

we couldn't decide what to order from the menu and let our waitress choose for us.

we started off with oxtail croquettes, which were generously filled with a light and crispy armour.

next we were presented with flamed mackerel with dill, cucumber and capers, sea bass carpaccio and salsa verde & pickled kohlrabi and cured pork belly with pecorino and mustard leaf.

from the 3 starters, i was a little disappointed with the pork belly. it was a pale shadow in comparison to the seafood dishes. especially the piquant kohlrabi and salsa verde with sea bass that had citrus, refreshing punch to it.

just look at her...

the beef was just so tender it melted in your mouth and tasted almost buttery.

however the whole roasted sea bream, served with lemon and miso smoked aubergine was in a league of it's own.

the crisp char of the skin, unveiled a delicate, soft, undeniably moist flesh underneath.

the only shame, was that i had to share this dish with others...

this was served with cavolo nero with hazelnut pesto and the fricassee of jerusalem artichokes and truffle. they were subtly flavoured and well seasoned making a fantastic complement to the main dishes.

we finished off with mini madeleines fresh from the oven. these were delicately flavoured and were a welcome finish to a decadent meal.

overall, the service was flawless, the food simple yet refined and were full of flavour with the strongest contenders being the seafood dishes. 

yummeis: 8/10

while there’s hardly a shortage of expensive fine dining restaurants in london, there has still nonetheless been a general shift away from pricey, starched table cloth restaurants towards less costly, more informal eateries. in most cases, big name chefs andrestaurantgroups have been content to merely launch spin-offs, such as dabbous and its corrugated iron cousin barnyard. some chefs, however, are willing to go all in. jun tanaka used to cook at the glossy and expensive pearl in holborn, but is now heading up the more approachable the ninth in fitzrovia just two doors down from barnyard.

hey y'all. this is a hella lazy post because it's 10pm and i'm drunk on three cocktails and i don't *really* have time to blog at the moment because life is pretty crazy and all. but anyway, thisrestaurantis too good not to tell you about, and looking at the photos made me all hungry and shit again, so i sorta feel like i need to write about it right now.

a quick break from our gastronomic tour overseas to bring you one of the openings in london that i am most excited about. i generally do not like to visit restaurants within the first 6 months of their opening. many new restaurants undergo significant teething problems whether it be the execution of food from the kitchen or the service lacking polish. in some cases, arestaurantmay not even last that long! (e.g. the ill-fated and universally panned le chabanais) for me, it is a bit of an acid test to see if arestaurantis good enough. when i go out to dine, i am not fussed about being the first blogger to review a restaurant. i simply want to have a good meal and given that i do not live in london anymore, every time i am in london, i want to make sure that this is the case. after all, there are plenty of places to dine well in london.