Senor Ceviche - Summer Spritz Bar at Merchant House - Bermondsey Arts Club - Ohayo

Much like a standard Matt The List outing, this post starts with good foodie intentions but soon careers off down a boozier path.  Luckily, Ohayo is there at the end of it all to save the day.

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Peruvian-popup-turned-permanent Senor Ceviche have recently added new dishes (and updated a few older ones) having settled in to their colourful Barranco-inspired home in the increasingly wonderful Kingly Court.  It was a first visit for Matt The List, so it was all new to me!

The fabulous Fabrizia got straight to the Pisco point as we sat down, pointing us towards their trademark sours amongst other concoctions.  The cocktail list threatens to be too sweet throughout, but all four of our drinks were very well balanced, not least the Barranco Babe (1615 Pisco, Passion Fruit Purée, Vanilla Syrup, Basil, Lime Juice, Egg White & Burnt Angostura) which could have been awful in the wrong hands.

Uncle Pastuzo - 1615 Pisco, Aperol, Marmalade, Pink Grapefruit Juice, Lemon Juice & Egg White

Mamacita - El Jimador Tequila, Cointreau, Lime Juice, Agave Syrup, Fresh Jalapeno

Soon, we were overrun by plates. Arriving first, Jalea Mixto (Tempura Baby Squid, Prawns & Cod with Pickled Jalapeno Mayo) was worth ordering just for the sauce - hold on to that bowl.  

Two ceviche plates appeared soon after - The Spaniard (Sea Bream & King Prawn Ceviche with Tomato & Brown Crab Tiger's Milk, Red Onion, Coriander, Plantain & Crispy Chorizo) and Senor Ceviche himself (Sea Bream & Octopus Ceviche with Aji Amarillo Tiger's Milk, Sweet Potato Puree, Avocado & Tempura Baby Squid).  The Spaniard edged it thanks to some subtle smokiness, but both are fine examples of the genre.  

Mr Miyagi (Salmon Tiradito with Nikkei Tiger's Milk, Pomegranate, Purple Shiso & Salmon Scratchings) sounds like a winner but will have to wait for a second visit.

The Spaniard - Sea Bream & King Prawn Ceviche with Tomato & Brown Crab Tiger's Milk, Red Onion, Coriander, Plantain & Crispy Chorizo

Senor Ceviche - Sea Bream & Octopus Ceviche with Aji Amarillo Tiger's Milk, Sweet Potato Puree, Avocado & Tempura Baby Squid

Jalea Mixto - Tempura Baby Squid, Prawns & Cod with Pickled Jalapeno Mayo

Peruvian Barbecue plates followed, starting with a moreish Flat Iron Steak with Aji Limo & Chimmichurri - one not to miss.  The same goes for the Anticucho de Corazón de Res - Grilled Beef Heart Skewers with Sweet Potato Mayonnaise, Aji Panca, Bojita Olives & Mint.  If that sounds too adventurous, go for some Pachamanca Pork Ribs with sticky Nikkei BBQ sauce and peanuts. Yum yum.  

Despite being stuffed, Fabrizia somehow talked me in to a Passion Fruit Posset palate cleanser.  It's sharp and fresh, and large enough to share.  Alternatively, you could finish off with their Pisco-based Lima Espresso Martini.

Flat Iron Steak with Aji Limo & Chimmichurri

Anticucho de Corazón de Res - Grilled Beef Heart Skewers with Sweet Potato Mayonnaise, Aji Panca, Bojita Olives & Mint

Passion Fruit Posset

There's plenty to enjoy at Senor Ceviche, both from the bar and the open kitchen, and it won't break the bank (depending on how many £8 cocktails you put away).  Go with a group and work your way through the whole menu.

Mon–Thu: 12pm–12am, Fri-Sat: 12pm-12.30am, Sun: 12pm-11am

1st Floor, Kingly Court, London, W1B 5PW

Senor Ceviche - senor-ceviche.com

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Now for an update on two of my favourite bars - Merchant House and Bermondsey Arts Club.

 

First up, the team at Merchant House in Bank have launched a stylish Summer Spritz Bar in their ground floor space that also doubles as a rare & vintage spirits shop.

According to Nate, Lewis & co., it will be open "from midnight to sundown, Tuesday through Friday".  The magnificent and ever so slightly rowdy Carey is in charge, serving up very affordable £5 aperitivo cocktails made with the finest booze to a live jazz soundtrack.  There won't be a better Negroni for a fiver in London, though you can always splash out on a £20 Timeless Negroni made with vintage bottles if you are feeling fancy.  

Other drinks include Il Bacio (Strawberry, Passionfruit, Fernet), Sbagliato (Vermouth, Campari, Fizz) and a Duppy Share Rum Punch (check out their Spirit Social events).  You'll find me at the bar with an Americano (Cocchi di Torino, Campari, Soda) trying to convince Carey to open up the premium bottles.

In a city with increasingly overpriced food and drink, this is a real win for Londoners and an absolutely essential Summer stop.

Summer Spritz Bar at Merchant House - www.merchanthouselondon.com

Open from Midday - Sundown, Tue - Fri, throughout the Summer

13 Well Court, Off Bow Lane, London, EC4M 9DN

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In other bar news, basement boozer Bermondsey Arts Club has just released a new Summer cocktail list.  It's been created by two of my favourite bartenders, Milo Occhipinti & Jake Johari, who recently stepped up to a BAC management role (i.e. they do less work, wear fancier clothes and control the iPod - Snarky Puppy all the way).

It's a 4x4 menu of classic Aperitif, Straight-Up, Short and Long drinks with tweaks and twists such as their subtle Boulevardier (Bourbon, Sweet Vermouth, Campari) with coffee beans (mostly on the nose).  Planter's Punch is another winner, with nutmeg and Bittermens 'Elemakule Tiki bitters elevating the rum and lime classic.

Boulevardier - Bourbon, Sweet Vermouth, Campari, Coffee Beans

Planter's Punch - Dark Rum, Lime, Nutmeg, Tiki Bitters

Here's a few words on the new list from Milo:

"Bizarre and quirky mixology is dead and buried - classic drinks that withstood the test of time are making a comeback. Classic drinks with classic twists - that's what we've gone for, from the Sidecar made with a New Orleans blend of Cognac and Rye, to the Paloma with Jalapeño Bitters.  You'll also spot my Italian roots in the Rossini, Select Spritzer, Mi-To & co., showcasing old school Italian aperitifs and bitters that our industry was built upon.

"We are paying tribute to the legends of the past - those who started mixing drinks a hundred years ago when bartending meant pouring whisk(e)y. We salute them with this menu, because there is no need to invent, just to remember. As we like to say, we are standing on the shoulders of giants."

Bermondsey Arts Club - bermondseyartsclub.co.uk

Tuesday - Saturday - 6pm - 2am

Former Public Conveniences

102A Tower Bridge Road

London SE1 4TP

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P.S. Check out Milo's nutty "Caffe Corretto" bartending videos on YouTube here

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After all that booze, we should probably talk about hangovers. Or rather, hangover prevention. Let me introduce you to Ohayo.

Email readers click here to watch the awesome Ohayo video

Ohayo ("good morning" in Japanese) is a cheeky new bottled beverage (£3 a pop) packed full of B vitamins, electrolytes and other clever things that you need for rehydration and restoration after a night on the sauce.  

For it to work, it should be the last drink of the night, giving the body a night's sleep to reabsorb the essentials.  Remembering to use it is harder said than done of course, depending on how much absinthe and overproof rum you've consumed.  Thankfully, Ohayo have got you covered with a glow-in-the-dark bottle and a bright, removable sticker.

I put it to work in Paris after a mezcal-heavy bar crawl around Pigalle and woke up feeling considerably fresher than everyone else.  If you need more convincing, check out these articles:

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"The Holy Grail of an elixir to cure hangovers could be here" - Bar Magazine

"Happier Morning After" - Imbibe Magazine

"The Lowdown : Ohayo" - The Times

"Hair of the Gods" - Le Cool

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You can now buy Ohayo online here in packs of 3, 6 or 12 bottles.

Tomorrow says THANK YOU!

ohayotomorrow.com

Pachamama - The Bayou - BYOC

Thursday 16th October - Now, I've never been to Peru, but I did go to Lima a couple of weeks ago.

On top of that, I have now encountered Pachamama ("Mother Earth") herself, so that must make me a bit of an expert, no?  

That just leaves Andina, Lima Floral, Coya and the 10 other Peruvian foodie hangouts that have probably opened whilst I was writing this sentence.   I'm not complaining.

Across the room, my well-travelled flatmate reminds me that Elephant & Castle was dishing out Latin American cuisine long before Ceviche & co. turned up.  It's probably worth brushing up on your Spanish before venturing to the likes of Sabor Peruano & Emanuel though.

Pachamama just pipped Senor Ceviche to the finishing post, opening up in Marylebone a week before their Peruvian friends arrived in Soho.  Blink and you'll miss the tiny entrance on Thayer Street. Downstairs is no small affair though with 120 covers and a spacious bar, neatly described by Hot Dinners as looking like "a faded colonial home, lived in by an eccentric Peruvian family".

Small Peruvian plates with a British twist beckoned, but first they had to pass the Pisco test.  Papa's Pisco (Lemon, egg white, Amargo Chuncho & Pisco - £7) got the thumbs up, though it wouldn't be out of place on the dessert menu.  Other interesting concoctions (all £8.50) include Piñamama (Pineapple-infused Pisco, Dead Rabbit Orinoco bitters, orange curaçao, maraschino cherry), Fig Flores (Blanco Tequila, homemade fig preserve, lime, vanilla syrup, pistachio), and Comrade Artemio (Rum, Campari, homemade mandarin-vermouth marmalade).

It took me a little while to notice that we were seated next to a DJ - not something you expect in a restaurant, but they manage to pull it off here.  A little lower lighting would have suited the music, but there was a real buzz in the air.

Our cheerful waiter recommended ordering three savoury plates each, which is usually code for "two will do".  Ceviche arrived first:

- Wild Cornish sea bass, samphire, radish, sweet potato, tiger’s milk - £10

- Devonshire sea trout, watercress, beetroot, bleeding tiger’s milk - £9

- Squid, prawns, mussels, culantro, palm sugar, devil’s milk - £9

We were accurately warned that dishes would be "a little bit tiny" but I can't fault the cooking.  The seabass with crunchy radish and sweet potato was a particular highlight for me.

Wild Cornish sea bass, samphire, radish, sweet potato, tiger's milk

All the Ceviche

Soon our table was bursting with plates from the Robata and Josper Grill sections, plus one salad for good measure. 

- Flamed Octopus, purple potato, capers, crispy shallots - £8

- Blackened herb-fed chicken, grilled corn, lime, wild oregano (2pcs) - £8

- Josper-fired artichokes, purple-sprouting broccoli, fennel, smoked aji, Berkswell cheese - £7

- Crispy lamb belly, miso, green aji sauce - £12

- “Duck on rice” - £10

The smoky octopus was a great success, but in truth everything disappeared equally quickly.  Much like at Arabica Bar & Kitchen in Borough, the menu is packed with winning dishes but the bill does mount up quite quickly.  A table of four will get you a taste of a fair amount, though some of the plates struggle to stretch to four decent mouthfuls.  Perhaps Mama's tasting menu at £35/head is the way to go.

Enjoying the atmosphere, we stuck around for dessert:

- Chocolate fondant, brittle, salted peanut ice cream - £6.50

- Almond milk panna cotta, passion fruit, white chocolate - £6.50

I only ordered the latter as everyone else ordered the chocolate fondant, but was pleasantly surprised by the result.  I'm not normally one for wobbly puddings, but this example of the genre had a bit more body to it, and passion fruit and white chocolate make a great team.  As for the chocolate fondant, Angharad was almost reduced to tears of joy, bringing back memories of a similar effort at Coya.

Almond milk panna cotta, passion fruit, white chocolate

Pachamama has all the right ingredients to become a big hit.  Three hours flew by in their capable hands, and I would happily return for some more ceviche and emotional chocolate fondants.

Tuesday 28th October - From South America to the Deep South - Inverness Street in Camden is home to The Bayou, a new hotspot for creole cooking and live music.

We started with some cocktails (on happy hour before 7pm) from their standalone bar.  Bacon & Maple Old Fashioned went down very easily and was slightly more successful than an Espresso twist on a Pisco Sour which was an acquired taste.  Hard shakes are also available though you may want to wait til dessert for those.

Bacon & Maple Old Fashioned (photo from Bayou website)

Manager Jonathan saw us struggling to come to a decision on the food front and took charge, offering to bring us a selection of his favourite dishes instead.  He returned a few minutes later with BBQ Shrimps & Biscuit, and Fried Calamari with Hush Puppies.  Now, if you haven't done your Creole homework, this is when you turn to the "Southern Terminology" section of Bayou's menu:

Biscuit - yeast raised fluffy flour balls similar to unsweetened scones

Hush Puppies - fried cornmeal batter

Got it? Good.  The shrimp (or king prawns) were smothered in a tasty sauce of white wine, garlic and chillies, and were cutely presented in a pan.  Meanwhile "Creole" squid with a delicate & delicious batter was served with spring onions, chillies & lime chipotle.  

I realise I've used the word creole too many times already - for those of you that aren't familiar with the term, it is a style of cuisine from Louisiana that brings together many influences including French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian cooking.  We're talking lots of beans, rice and citrus - think Jambalaya, Gumbo, Catfish, Collard Greens, Beignets etc.  

At this point you should watch this YouTube video on New Orleans that I found on Bayou's Facebook page from a highly entertaining series called "Fuck, That's Delicious" - email readers will need to head to the full site to see the video.  Warning: NSFW - there are expletives every other word.

Still with me? For mains, Jonathan brought us a heartwarming pot of Shrimp & Chicken Jambalaya (similar to paella) and a heartstopping Bayou Platter - 3 smoked barbecued chicken wings, half a rack of Bourbon ribs, skinny fries, coleslaw and biscuits.  Just as the moreish meat was falling off the bone and in to my face, a pianist took the stage to set the mood.  

Full but not finished, we made our own decisions for dessert, opting for a Banana Pie with Almond Biscotti, and a classic Mississippi Mud Pie.  Both plates were rather photogenic, but they were soon empty.

Despite not being full, there was a fun atmosphere at The Bayou on a Tuesday night.  I can see this being a top spot for Christmas parties this year for locals.  They have competition from the likes of Lockhart & The Fat Bear on the food front, and NOLA rules the New Orleans cocktail roost, but there's still plenty of room for creole cuisine in London.

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A short walk in the direction of Mornington Crescent (I win!) brought us to BYOC Camden, the third outpost for this conceptual bar chain that actually deserves the oft misused "speakeasy" moniker. Long term readers may remember my write-up of the Covent Garden site - I loved the atmosphere and the premise, but the bartending just wasn't up to scratch.  As that's such an easy problem to fix, I was more than happy to give BYOC another go.

I should explain, BYOC stands for Bring Your Own Cocktail.  What they really mean is Bring Your Own Spirits, Liqueurs, Fizz, Beer (BYOSLFB?) - don't turn up with hip-flask Negronis and jugs of Mint Julep, that's their job.  For £25, you get 2 hours of dedicated creative mixology from the bartenders at your station, making use of the booze you have brought and the treasure trove of homemade syrups, bitters, juices etc that they keep stashed away behind the bar.  

In Covent Garden, there were four tiny tables and a bloke with a trolley.  In Camden, there is room for 50 cocktail lovers in an atmospheric drinking den complete with incense, blackjack & roulette tables, and 20s jazz.  Our hosts for the evening, Jill & Davide, were suitably dressed for the part.

N.B. All but one of the photos below were provided by BYOC - my camera couldn't cope with the darkness on this occasion.

Now, I'm a bit of a hoarder of alcohol, especially miniatures, so the BYOC system suits me down to the ground.  Angharad popped a bottle of Dalwhinnie 15 on the table.  I whipped out Johnnie Walker Black Label, Laphroaig 10, Moonshine Kid Dogs Nose Gin, Angostura 5yo Rum, Luxardo Maraschino, Grand Marnier, Ocult Pisco, Cava, Port, Mozart Chocolate Bitters and the world's tiniest Angostura Bitters, just in case they weren't allowed anything with even a hint of booze.  A slight improvement on the couple next to us who had brought Smirnoff & Bacardi...

Jill set to work, with the occasional input from Davide who was looking after a larger group to our left.  Here's how the next two hours went:

- Trinidad Sour - a twist on a Pisco Sour with 1/3 Angostura Bitters and a homemade shrub

- Blue Moon - an Aviation twist with Dogs Nose Gin, Maraschino & a blue curacao syrup

- Chocolate Orange Old Fashioned with Dalwhinnie, Mozart, Grand Marnier & a dash of almond

- Another Aviation twist, this time with cucumber and cassis

- Passionfruit Daiquiri with a subtle chilli kick using Angostura 5yo

- Laphroaig Sour - bold, smokey, divisive, awesome

- Pisco Sour with a hibiscus shrub to finish

Davide in action

They have a great array of glassware and garnishes that were lacking in Covent Garden, and they aren't afraid to mix it up with punch bowls and Tiki drinks depending on the crowd.  Jill clocked early on that we were serious about our drinks, and kept things strong & sour.  It may be different when they are at capacity, but the service was efficient and personal at the same time.  And, as it turns out it was Jill's first shift - she absolutely smashed it.

One dimly lit photo from me - proof of our visit!

Sadly we eventually had to venture back out to the 21st Century but I should expect it won't be too long before we time travel again.  Now they have top bartenders, BYOC is a unique and fantastic London bar experience that everyone should get on board with.  And help them out - take some interesting booze along, you'll still have plenty to take home with you afterwards and your cocktails will be all the better for it.

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Whilst I'm on a Camden roll, I should just point you in the direction of the Camden Town Brewery fun going on next week (3-9 November). To mark the launch of a new India Hells Lager (an IPA lager hybrid), they are running a week long Temple of IHL popup at 205 Royal College St, NW1, with different events everyday.  Scroll down for more details (and a quirky stop motion animation for non-email readers):

"IPA is resurrected as Lager! Join us for a week of celebration at our pop-up Temple of IHL. Tickets available now.

On the first day… Monday 3rd November

BLESSED BE THE HOME BREWERS: Calling all home brewers! Learn how we make IHL and help us brew a mini batch on our 50L pilot brew kit. Plus, bring along a bottle of your own brew for our Camden Beer Gods to taste! 6pm for a 6:30pm start. Tickets are £10 and include beer and pizza. Get yours now.

On the second day… Tuesday 4th November

OUR GOOD LORD LAGER: Camden Brewing Director Alex Troncoso preaches the good word of lager with the aim of bringing non-believers over to the light side. You will leave converted. 7pm for a 7:30pm start, £10 tickets, including 3 beers. Reserve here.

On the third day… Wednesday 5th November

THE ART OF CRAFT: Beer & Illustration, a match made in heaven. Hallowed designers and illustrators ponder the liquid muse. 7pm for a 7:30pm start, £10 tickets, including beer and an IHL t-shirt. Book now.

On the fourth day… Thursday 6th November

FULL MOON PARTY: We celebrate the coming of IHL with an evening of bacchanalian beer worship open to a chosen few. Buy tickets to any of our other events this week and you’ll automatically be entered in a prize draw to win a pair of invites. 7-11pm, guest list only.

On the fifth day… Friday 7th November

THE FEAST OF IHL: Eat, drink and be merry with a four-course Sabbath banquet created to glorify IHL! Praise be! Chef and menu to be announced later this week, spaces are limited so register your interest now.

On the sixth day… Saturday 8th of November

FESTIVAL OF CANS: We come together with our brothers in aluminium to celebrate all things can-shaped. Tastings throughout the day with beers from Beavertown, Brewdog, Fourpure, Ska, Oskar Blues and more! 12-6pm, Free entry.

On the seventh day… Sunday 9th of November

DAY OF REST."