The Ninth
Fitzrovia, London
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Jun Tanaka's ninth restaurant enterprise settled into the foodscape of Charlotte Street as soon as it opened, and is now off and running again, following a period of closure due to a fire. The ambience still feels cool and relaxed, with grey banquettes against roughcast brickwork, ornamental lights and mirrors, plus a few comfortable seats at the bar and another room upstairs. Clued-up staff are full of personable maturity without being overbearing, while the pace is judged to perfection. Initial flavours are as strong and multi-layered as they need to be to make a good first impression – as in snacks such as exquisite crab and seaweed tartlets, or coccoli dough balls with puréed artichokes and a great whack of black truffle. Starters from the sharing menu might feature a tempura-battered piece of red mullet with carrot/shallot escabeche and shrieking-green wild garlic aïoli (that perfect batter one of a few personal references from a chef with Japanese heritage). Otherwise, an Italian and Provençal mood prevails: mains take a simpler approach for a veal chop with morels, or whole grilled (but not especially crisp-skinned) sea bass, surrounded by an honour-guard of luscious mussels and Sicilian datterini tomatoes in red and amber shades. Finish with chopped peach poached in mulled wine with yoghurt sorbet and mint oil or a gargantuan choux au craquelin, its biscuit-coated, chocolate-based soft shell encasing a huge orb of pistachio ice cream. This is a menu yearning away from the concept of sharing dishes (how to divide a serving of monkfish, prawns and clams in broth?) but the food is bright and appealing at nearly every turn, right down to the good-value set lunch. A mostly impressive wine list needs a little more variety among dry whites by the glass, where high-acid Sauvignons, Rieslings and Verdejos rule the roost, but there are good growers throughout.
