In 2015, my best new opening in London that I have tried has to be The Nineth. The resturant is brought to us by chef Jun Tanaka who is working at his nineth restaurant to date but this time being his very own restaurant.
The Nineth opened its door last November and during then I took the opportunity at their soft launch to see what Jun brings to Charlotte street and the Fitzrovia area.
The restaurant serves French Mediterranean style food and all for sharing. That is what dining out is all about as food is at it best when it is shared.
We started our evening with sharing a few of the dishes from the snack section of the menu.
Oxtail croquettes
Duck scotch egg
Barbajuans
It was followed by a selection of Hot Starters with my favourite being the Rabbit confit lasagna, mustard bechamel.
King prawn macaroni, chives and ginger
We also tried the Razor clam ceviche from the hot and curd section of the menu. This dish reminded me of my first dining experience at The Pearl when Jun was still working as a chef there.
It was then on to what you could consider as the mains. We each choice a dish to share from the fish and meat section, along with a few selection of vegetable dishes to accompany them as sides.
I found it wonderful to see a range of fish dishes on the menu, especially serving them as a whole fish which make them suitable as a sharing dish. It feels like home and the word family would come to mind.
We choice two fish dishes and each one was beautifully cooked. I am sure my mum would had approved, as the fish was well clean.
Whole roast sea bream, lemon and miso, smoked aubergine.
Roast plaice, chicken wings, shallots and beurre noisette.
Whole roast quail, smoked bacon, foie gras, lardo and grapes was full of flavour and cooked just right. The grapes made a good combination with the dish and it surprisinly worked. It has inspired me on what you can do with grapes. It’s more then a fruit!
Smoked duck breast with caramelised chicory and walnuts
To go with our fish and meat we tried a selection of vegetable dishes.
The Pommes cocotte, rosemary and confit garlic was a taste of Winter, actually more like taste of Christmas. The roasemary brought fragrant to the dish and the garlic was perfectly roasted until soft.
Honey roast winter vegetables, Bleu D’Auvergne
Green lentils, chorizo and red pepper salsa
Fricassee of Jerusalem artichokes
We completed our meal with dessert with my favourite being the Pain Perdu served with honeycomb and vanilla ice cream. The Nineth French toast had a crispy outside with a eggy custard on the inside.
Tarte Tatin served with rosemary ice cream was a sticky tart, which I felt was on the bitter side. The most interesting part of the dish was the rosemary ice cream. You have a very high chance of knowing it is rosemary as the flavour was very strong.
My overall experience that evening did not felt like a new opening. The food was beautifully cooked and the front of house all seem very informative with the menu as well as providing us with excellent service.
Dining at The Nineth was like fine dining experience but on a more casual and cosy. It will be a restaurant I am looking forward in returning.
The Nineth
22 Charlotte Street,
London,
W1T 2NB,
UK
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