Portland
Fitzrovia, London
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Halfway up Great Portland Street, opposite the Horse & Groom pub, here is an unassuming, small but animated venue with plenty of big ideas. The place extends from window-shelf seating at the front to an open kitchen at the back, with attentive staff dealing capably with the bustle. In addition to the tasting menus, there is a three-course carte, but its inducements include single snacks and sharing snacks, as though to tempt you at least partway towards a multi-course experience. There is plenty of inventive buzz to head chef Chris Bassett's cooking, and a forthright approach to bold flavours: Devon crab gains from slivers of barbecued peach and discs of green apple, with the delicate texturing of crisped kale to boot, while the Hereford beef tartare features an egg yolk the colour of an amber traffic-light, a squid-ink crumpet bed and frills of finely grated Keen's Cheddar. Prime materials, from Somerset Saxon chicken to Gigha halibut, are exemplary – the former miraculously soft, the latter gently browned and tricked out with accompaniments including braised turnip and a pugnaciously salty croquette of smoked eel. Fig-leaf tart is a slender slice of delicate custard with poppyseeds, fig wedges and crème fraîche. Our inspection evening essayed a gradual build-up from one or two slightly clumsy canapés (though the seeded sausage roll of Iron Age pork is worth grabbing before anyone else does), but overall, there is a feeling of both originality and value to the food, encouragingly for a West End spot. Wines by the glass are not hugely inspiring, but the list of single-bottle rarities is worth a flutter.
