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London restaurants have adapted brilliantly post-lockdown. Here are three leading the pack
BRITISH/AUSTRALIAN FUSION AT HAM
HAM'S ROASTED COD WITH GNOCCHI
HAM
AN INVENTIVE AUSSIE-INSPIRED MENU
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est Hampstead’s Ham reopened with a dedicated Ham at Home menu, designed for home delivery. This British/ Australian eaterie has a focus on high class ingredients with carefully sourced meat and fish – but if you’re expecting lots of varieties of ham, you’ll be disappointed. The name might be misleading for lovers of pork. Our delivery had travelled for more than a mile but was – impressively – still hot. To start there was soda bread with whipped vegemite butter, an instant Aussie classic – and then burrata with Datterino tomatoes and oregano, a delicious starter beautifully arranged in takeaway packaging that
HAM
would doubtless have been transferred more elegantly to the plate by the chef who made it – but nonetheless, it was creamy and excellent. Also very good was buttermilk fried chicken with satay sauce. A main course of roasted cod with gnocchi was high class, but our favourite dish was a Cumbrian beef rump with grilled baby gem. Soft, slow-cooked beef was silky and grilled lettuce was a revelation. Puddings of chocolate mousse with honeycomb and cardamom rice pudding were creative and impressive. In all, this is a stylish, inventive kitchen that’s adapted brilliantly to the delivery model. We’ll visit in person soon. Delivery or collection available, 238 West End Lane, NW6 1LG; hamwesthampstead.com
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