I had possibly the weirdest meal of the year (meaning the last 12 months, not 2011) this week at Borscht'n'Tears, a Knightsbridge restaurant I thought had vanished into the mists of time.
It appears not. It's apparently a favourite hangout for fun-loving Russians who have such a good time that they regularly destroy the furniture. (When I complained that my chair seemed about to fall apart the surly manager said "Everyone is dronk when they come here")
They do however do a mean Chicken Kiev, a dish that used to be the star of the M & S chill counter. It actually got so bland that I think even M & S ready meal fans got fed up with it and seems to have fallen into disfavour but you can see from the pic that this is a very fine specimen, stuffed with garlic (well you can't see that but take my word for it) and fried to a lovely crisp mahogany brown. It even has the wing bone left in in the classic manner.
Now I can't really recommend you to try it as my colleague felt very sick the next day. But surely some trendsetting restaurateur will take the hint and bring it back? (Or if you want to attempt one yourself - and I think I might - here are some useful hints from Times cook Lindsey Bareham)
Have you had a chicken kiev lately - or ever made one? Would you like to see it back on restaurant menus?
I have ordered it a number of times at Bob Bob Ricard... juicy, bone in and lovely. And served with the most amazing sweetcorn mash, it makes me cry.
ReplyDeleteAh. Might have guessed. I'll have to track it down there . . . Thanks, Kavey
ReplyDeleteWhatever next prawn cocktails! :)
ReplyDeletePersonally I think we should bring back real wine corks instead, still not getting used to screwtops, I am trying hard too. :)
Nothing wrong with a good prawn cocktail ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I quite like screwcaps . . .
Had a pheasant kiev at The Richmond and it was fantastic, complete with napalm-like spurt of garlic butter!
ReplyDeleteOooo, pheasant kiev - that sounds amazing!
ReplyDeleteBit late to this but I absolutely adore Chicken Kiev, my British grandmother used to make a mean one. Apparently it was a staple of Georgetown dinner parties in the 1950s and she always served it to unsuspecting American guests who thought it exotic and wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThe restaurant sounds comedy, fun-loving Russians indeed ;)
I will add that the Bob Bob Ricard version comes complete with cutlet frill (not seen in the wild since about 1974), thus rendering it, to me, totally irresistible.
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