The American
National Dining Rooms Reviewed by Virginia E Schultz
O
ne of my favourite museum restaurants is Tate Britain with its magnificent mural by Rex Whistler. I can’t tell you if the food is good, bad or indifferent because I’m usually gazing at some scene I missed the last time. With the National Dining Rooms located in the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing I was hopeful, especially after visiting the wonderful Coret to Monet exhibition which ends September 20th. Luis Melendez’s ‘Still Life with Oranges and Walnuts’ or Paul Gauguin’s ‘Bowl of Fruit and Tankard Before A Window’ would be wonderful to gaze at while enjoying lunch, I decided, as I went from the exhibition on the lower floor to the restaurant on the second.
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Unfortunately, I found a restaurant with one huge modern painting I can’t remember and a room that looked like the breakfast bistro in an Alpine hotel. Although my friend Arlette Shanken and I were seated at a window with a view of Trafalgar Square and could see an ant-sized creature on the fourth plinth doing their thing, there was little else to draw our attention. Still, I thought, the kitchen is under the direction of Oliver Peyton who, although Irish, is a champion of British food and whose Cornish menu in June was praised by a friend. “Not the cafeteria type food found in too many museums, concert halls and opera houses”, she assured me, “and their bread is wonderful as well”. July focused on Gloucestershire’s finest produce. Executive Chef Simon Duff, who trained under Marco Pierre White, and Peyton have created a monthly menu with two selections in starter, main and pudding. As a starter, I had Grilled Bibury Farm Trout with Sorrel, Fennel and Savoy Cabbage Salad while Arlette enjoyed Coln Valley Smoked Eel with Honey Toasted Spelt, Beetroot and Lambs Lettuce. The fennel and sorrel emphasized the freshness of the trout and the Cabbage Salad worked nicely with the fish. Spelt, a wheat grain, is a kind of British risotto and its honey sweetness paired well with the eel. At home, I often use it as an alternative to couscous or rice. For the mains, I chose Gloucester Old Spot Pig with Broad Bean and Wet Garlic Mash and Arlette the
Meadows Lamb Rack and Braised Shoulder with Carmelized Baby Turnips. The pig tasted like it was supposed to, with a sweet bacon richness, but then it wasn’t any old pig but a Gloucester Old Spot Pig. It was far tastier than a similar dish I had in a Michelin star restaurant recently. Desserts are finely wrought and beautifully presented. Arlette’s Gloucester Cherry Batter Pudding with Jess’s Ladies Organic Crème Fraiche was lovely, but the don’t miss pudding was the Eton Mess I devoured. Old Etonians claim this pudding was originally made with bananas, but the seasonal raspberries were even better than the strawberries I had with the same pudding a few weeks before. The Double Gloucester Potted Cheese with Fruit Chutney I tried out of curiosity, however, was too rich and salty. But the bread was as delicious as my friend told me! Wine is not over priced. by the bottle or glass. Arlette had a California Merlot and I a Viognier from Spain, quite reasonable at £4.50 and £5.00 a glass. In August, the menu highlights Devon produce. The county of the month menu is £22.50 for two courses, £27.50 for three. The restaurant menu looks interesting and certainly something to look at in the future. If they’d only put some interesting paintings on the walls. Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2 020 7747 2525 www.thenationaldiningrooms.co.uk