Food review | STEPHANIE BROOKES
A small plate of tangled, golden churros was presented, much to the glee of my fellow dining companions. The batter, golden in hue, was light and crisp to the bite and the cheesy Parmesan hit was the final payoff. The accompanying brown crab mayonnaise offered a sweet and creamy finish. I have already made a rather shameless Twitter plea to the restaurant to keep this item on the menu. It truly is the snack food of dreams. Spiced onion tatin, tallegio and garlic chives was a visually appealing dish with a burnished, sticky outer layer which had an almost toffee-like quality. Underneath, the meltingly soft onions blended with the creamy tallegio sauce and the light, buttery pastry. The final savoury offering of Confit duck, maitake, Jerusalem artichoke and spring greens was a glorious main event: the delicately soft meat was earthy and deeply rich in flavour, further enhanced by the umami notes from the maitake. The crispy artichoke shavings, although not
abound with flavour, added a contrasting texture. I would have gladly eaten this dish again. It isn’t often that I find a menu where each dish perfectly hits the right note on overall balance, with a great variety of unexpected flavour combinations. It was certainly the main focus of conversation for our group that evening and I was a little disappointed when our allocated time was up: the price to pay for increasing restaurant popularity. I’m just hoping the initial hype of Kudu subsides, only for my own self-indulgent reasons. I would happily while away many a Friday night at this local Peckham gem. essence INFO
Kudu 119 Queens Road, Peckham, London SE15 2EZ Telephone: 020 3950 0226 Email: info@kudu-restaurant.com Websites: www.kudu-restaurant.com www.stephaniebrookes.com PHOTOS BY CLAIRE MENARY | COPYRIGHT: KUDU
MAY 2019 | essence-magazine.co.uk 43