Luncheon with the delightful Dr B

Salmon and Smoked Trout Fishcakes with Watercress and Beetroot salad

I was treated to luncheon by my erudite friend, the delightful Dr B, who'd hiked down from nearby Muswell Hill to the King's Head in Crouch End.  We had previously enjoyed lunch at Villiers Terrace and I'd also taken other friends there.  The set lunch at Villiers Terrace was really good, excellent value and evidently a pared-down version of their à la carte menu - in other words, it was exactly what a set menu should be. And the cocktails were really very good, surprisingly so for somewhere which can by no means be described as in the thick of it. 


Then, with much fanfare (there still is - check out the VT website), they brought in a new chef.  The last time I went there, having invited a couple of friends to join me and lauded the set menu appropriately, I was, quite frankly embarrassed.  It was edible.  That's it.  What looked like a shop-bought pastry case, a single short ribbon of smoked salmon, a couple of slivers of cucumber and a dollop of crème fraîche comprised my starter.  I didn't bother with the pastry case.  I subscribe to the Prue Leith (isn't she marvellous?) principle of 'is it worth the calories'?  I don't spend all that time working out in the gym so that I can spend my calories or replenish my energy reserves with garbage.  The smoked mackerel with poached egg was just that.  I like fish so that's why I chose it, and I also figured that they couldn't mess it up.  I was right.  It was OK, but as the Meera Syal old lady character on Goodness Gracious Me was fond of saying (this is such an Indian thing, I grew up on this) - "I can make it at home for nothing"!


Rather than being a pared-down version of the à la carte menu, the set lunch now appears to be a travesty of cheap filler dishes (let's pad it out with potato/shop-bought pastry cases/boil some pasta), delivered in an indifferent manner and exuding the odour and taste of mediocrity.


So, it was our first time eating at the King's Head.  I'd checked out the menu on the website.  I'd been there for a drink with the gorgeous Kamila of home-made carrot halva fame.  And then there's Dr B, a man of taste and discernment.  Hopefully I'm not lacking in these attributes myself.  At least operating on the basis that like attracts like, if I have friends of taste and discernment like Dr B then it follows that I am not completely devoid of the same.  I know he prefers tablecloths but bless him, he's prepared to slum it occasionally on my account.


We're very accommodating customers as a pair.  We just had a couple of questions which were answered cheerfully by our waitress, Anna.  Dr B's question (incidentally he's not a medical doctor he's a very clever, internationally renowned academic type of doctor) concerned whether it would be possible to have smoked salmon (which was on the menu) with scrambled eggs (which wasn't).  I think he was operating on the assumption that (a) we were one of only two sets of customers although we were joined by another two customers later on in the service; and (b) kitchens are generally stocked with eggs.  Sadly, it wasn't.  I was tempted by the burger (two days in a row, I know, but when they're done well they're very nice).  So my question whether the burger could be served medium rare.  Definitely not, because of health and safety.  I've heard this one before.  Someone should tell the guys at Byron.  It is, of course, a test.  At Byron they are secure in the knowledge of the quality and provenance of their beef and habitually serve it medium rare or to the customer's preference, rare, in my case. 


Where the burger is bought in and is from some amorphous - in this case billed as 'West Country beef' - anonymous bit of beef, yes, there's a region, but that's it, the chef is quite right.  It has to be cooked right through.  Whilst providing it medium rare would not necessarily pose any problem, providing that storage and hygiene is good and I've no reason to think it's not at the King's Head, unless one is completely sure of one's beef then particularly with things like mince, thorough cooking is required.  Personally, this is where there is a strong argument for (a) free range as a minimum and (b) going to a proper butcher.  I wouldn't dream of buying a piece of fillet from a supermarket and slicing it thinly for carpaccio, no matter how good the reputation of said supermarket.  Back to Wiltshire and Gerry's purchase of beef fillet for carpaccio.  He knows the butcher.  The butcher knows the farmer.  The farmer knows the cow.  The carpaccio thanks to Gerry's skill in purchasing and Richard's and Gerry's in preparation was a tribute to all of this.


Oh yes, the King's Head.  Back to what the good Dr B and I actually ate.  Dr B chose the salmon and smoked trout fishcakes with beetroot crème fraîche and some unadvertised but very good-looking watercress.  No doubt the watercress was from Wiltshire and yet had made the long journey from the South West, arrived in Crouch End and onto the plate looking crisp and fresh.  OK, it might have come from a few miles either way in Hampshire or Dorset, but Wiltshire is the centre for watercress production in the UK.  This is not a joke, it's true.  It looked darned good though.

Nicely dressed too.  I couldn't see the crème fraîche but Dr B appeared to enjoy it.  We had side orders of mixed salad (which didn't arrive) and chips which did.

Yes, they are a little pale, aren't they?  I don't think we do triple-cooked here.  In fact, I think I'm a little dubious as to whether we do double-cooked.  I think it's more likely that it's parboiling, draining and letting some of the moisture out, and then deep-frying.  Not bad.  Not a great chip, but by no means bad.  Some were crisp, some were limp.  Chips various rather than uniform in a 'we're all crisp and fluffy on the inside' way.  In lighter moments that could describe me I think - crisp on the outside yet fluffy on the inside.


The King's Head really is very pleasant.  Nice, albeit slow, service.  Mind you, there weren't many customers on a midweek lunchtime, bet the evenings are buzzier with the music/comedy/other entertainment available - and I know just from walking past that it is absolutely crammed at weekends.  I bet the roasts are good.


My haddock with poached egg, bubble and squeak (really a slightly flaccid but nice-tasting potato cake), a couple of stray, unadvertised, bits of wilted spinach (I love spinach so no complaints from me) was really good.

I'd had the foresight to ask for the white wine cream sauce (decorated with snipped chives) on the side.  A jolly good thing as it was wholly superfluous to the finished dish and remained untouched.

The smoked haddock had been poached perfectly.  It fell away in pearlescent flakes.  The poached egg was good, with enough softness left in the yolk.  An ideal light luncheon dish - with a funny, clever, generous and ideal luncheon companion.


Satisfaction all round.  The Sloe Gin Eton Mess - billed as for adults only would have been too much for one we agreed, but was a pleasant sweet way to end a lovely lunch.  Thanks, Dr B - until our next meeting.