Mennula

Tuesday was our first full day in London and it was a busy one. We hit Westminster Abbey, the Churchill Museum and War Rooms (the underground complex from which Churchill directed the war effort during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz), and the Tower of London.

Within the Tower grounds very close to the White Tower (the original structure built by William the Conqueror in AD 1070) there still stands a very small section of the ancient Roman wall that once surrounded London (Londinium, to the Romans). It would have been cool if that had been our inspiration to try Mennula ("Almond" in Sicilian), but it was actually Gordon Ramsey.

Ramsey has a new show on BBC America where he picks 2 restaurants in Britain of a particular genre and puts them through a series of tests. Mennula, which is on Charlotte Street, just a few blocks from the British Museum, was one of Ramsey's chosen Italian restaurants. Watching the competition a few weeks ago, it was clear Mennula's food was amazing and, but for a service problem when Ramsey brought in something like 30 diners at the same time to really test the operation, Mennula would have won (In fact, it's hard to see how it still didn't win even with the problem because its competition was one of those pretentious places where every dish is overly complicated with gimmicks -- like foams -- to show you how clever the precocious chefs are). Even though Mennula came up short in Gordon Ramsey's eyes, my wife and I decided we had to go there once we got to London.

We had a late reservation (8 PM) and the restaurant was nearly empty, which was a shame given how good our food was. In fact, if it wasn't the best meal we ever had, it could not have been much worse than second or third.

The interior of Mennula is small, perhaps 10 tables in the front with a small back room which was closed off last PM (which might explain why it struggled when Ramsey sent in 30 diners all at once), and the interior is a crisp white with dark accents, tables & chairs, and leather bank seating. While we were there, the lighting was low and the music was a steady stream of cool R&B, which would make Mennula an outstanding spot for a romantic date.

We began with a complimentary bread and cheese plate, the centerpiece of which were 2 balls of risotto and cheese in a fried breadcrumb crust, sort of like the famous Italian rice balls known as arraciano. The cheese was amazing and the risotto added texture which contrasted very well with the fried breadcrumb crust. Not to be missed, however, was the amazing olive oil that was served with the bread and cheese. The oil was so fresh that it tasted as if it had just come off the press. Magnificient.

For my appetizer I had the searned Cornish squid in squid ink (which adds depth of flavor and richness; i.e. it's silky and adds a hint more squid flavor) with pine nuts. It was amazing. The squid was perfectly cooked, which is no easy feat, and it was prepared a bit differently than how you would likely see it. Squid is normally cut into rings, which makes it a bit more chewy, which is not always good. Mennula cuts its squid lengthwise, into ribbons. This avoided the tube issue entirely. The pine nuts added just enough flavor and a great textural contrast to the squid.

My wife started with a warm salad of wild mushrooms with garlic and sweet red chilli. It was stunningly good and perfect for a cold, raw, London night. The sweet red chilli added an incredible warmth to the earthiness of the mushrooms, which were themeslves delicious. My wife was pretty sure that that chilli was infused into the olive oil that was drizzled over the mushrooms, but the chef, who came out of the kitchen to talk with use for a good 5 minutes, insisted that it was merely mixed into the salad.

My wife had the linguine gragnano with lobster, chilli, basil and tomato. I had some and it was amazing The was more than enough lobster and the linguine was perfect. The sauce had a nod to Thai, but was still very Medaterainian and complemented perfectly the sweetness of the lobster. It was amazingly fragrant as well and it was definitely a dish you ate with your nose, as well as your mouth.

I had the seared fillet of organic salmon with swiss chard and roasted red peppers stuffed with potato and salt cod. The salmon was perfectly seared, which left a nice thin crust that contrasted well with the rest of the salmon and helped compliment the texture of the chard. The roasted peppers were sweet and chewy, which was offset well by the salt cod and potato filling. It was an extremely well-balanced meal.

Normally, we favor a bottle of red wine, but given our entrees we opted for white. At the suggestion of the maitre'd, we opted for a 2009 Falaghina Rami (about $45) which was a perfect balance between dry and sweet and complemented both dinners quite well.

For desert my wife had the amadei chocolate and almond torta caprese ("Oh, you like the chocolate cake?" teased the very Sicilian maitre'd, who'd caught on early in the evening that we were Americans). It also came with mascarpone (similar to cream cheese, but sweeter) ice cream, which was really semi freddo (i..e half frozen) and more the consistency of custard rather than ice cream. My wife loved her desert. It was very rich and full of flavor.

I had the sfinci (pronounced sif-inch-ee), whch are little Sicilian balls of fried dough stuffed with cinamen cream, honey, and toasted sesame seeds. (:> x 10 - do I really need to say anything about this desert?). It also came with what they called almond ice cream, but which was also really semi freddo. It was amazing and a perfect offset to the very, very sweet and rich sfinci.

After we were done, some complementary miniature biscotti and cookies with fresh homemade whipped cream and chocolate piped on to the plate appeared on our table, along with two very generous shots of limonciello. It was a perfect ending to a simply amazing meal.

Finally, whatever Ramsey's issues, we found the service to be prompt, attentive, and very responsive.

Dinner was not cheap; 124 pounds, 31 pence (just under $200) but it was a pretty small price to pay for what may be the best meal we ever had. Indeed, while you'd be foolish to make a seven hour trip across the pond just to go to Mennula, you'd be equally foolish not to go to Mennula if you've already made the trip! Here is the link to Mennula's website - http://manula.com/