The menu changes every week and the prices are incomparable. The dishes are served family style and easily feed two or three people each. On the evening I finally got my dining buddy, Lisa, to join me, we were intensely lucky to have the menu be geared entirely around Beef Seven Ways (meaning for us – mostly OFFAL!)

Our first course, priced at a mere $10.00, was Mosaic of Carpaccio; New York strip steak and honeycomb trip with a slow-cooked egg, violet mustard, fried capers, and potato chips.  The selection of meats were sliced wafer thin, tender and rich. The only downside of the dish was the accompaniment of the rather pedestrian potato chips. There are easily half-a-dozen different, EASY ways to present a carbohydrate other than opening a bag of Lay’s.

Next up was an Oxtail Terrine, with fines herb gelée, root vegetable brunoise, truffled egg, mixed chicories, puffed barley, and spring herbs. Here is my confession; it was a posted picture of the chef making this very terrine which enticed me to this meal. Despite the varied flavors, this was a very balanced and well-made terrine; fresh and surprisingly light. It made me miss creating my own terrines. Quite a deal at $9.00.

Lisa is a sucker for marrow bones and their presentation of Beef Consommé with marrow butter toast and persillade might very well have been the dish of the evening. Two long croutons were presented with the broth poured tableside. Pacing ourself because we had ordered the entire menu (and, admittedly, packed up some of the terrine to take home), this was a course we finished easily and eagerly. $8.00.

Based on the menu description, the Surf and Turf was quite possibly destined to be Lisa’s favorite; simmered Atlantic skate with crispy sweetbreads with asparagus, crushed pea, and sea urchin emulsion. We both adore sweetbreads AND skate but this is the one dish which somewhat faltered for me. The sea urchin emulsion on the sweetbreads worked extremely well but the crushed pea and asparagus sauce for the skate was heavily spiced with something that bit back. I was happy with the few bites of pure fish I could get, but it was a discordant flavor against the light, engaging foam on the sweetbreads. There was nothing that brought these two main ingredients together. But Lisa liked them both; $12.00

Tongue and Cheek — hilariously entitled and delectable to behold — continued our beefy endeavor. Seared tongue, braised cheek, savoy cabbage served with a demiglace and fresh grated horseradish. The intense richness of these meats precluded us from taking much more than a few bites, reserving the bulk for left-over status. The cabbage was a brilliant, somewhat palate-cleansing attribute which helped cut through the fatty texture of these meats. $11.00

Served last in the bovine extravaganza, was Aged USDA Prime Ribeye with potato espuma, charred scallion pickle, and béarnaise sauce. While Lisa is a sucker for all things with sea urchin, for me, it is all about a good béarnaise sauce. The potato espuma was almost non-existent in its fluffiness, practically disappearing when it hit the mouth. I was ready to scrape my fingertips through the béarnaise but thankfully, the meat was an excellent tool for job in lieu of my fingers. This was the most expensive dish of the evening, a whopping $14.00

This was a rare evening at Mission Street Food in that the only “dessert” which was offered was Sweet & Sticky Glazed Habañero Jerky. I suppose they wanted to stay within the Beef theme, but our server advised us that as opposed to a delightful sweet finish, the habañero predominated the flavors, providing a mostly spicy finish which we opted to avoid. When all was said and done, with tip and wine, the cost of this meal PER PERSON was around $60.00. Had I thought to bring a wine from my collection, we would have gotten it around the $50 per person mark. For the quantity and quality of food offered, there truly is no better deal in town; as long as it is a Thursday or a Saturday. Oh, and of special note, they serve late. Up until midnight!

The post Mission Street Food first appeared on Feast Blog.

Anchor and Hope is a gastro-pub located near the Tate Modern Museum and the Old Vic theater. It has been written about extensively on multiple food sites and lauded often by bloggers. It was recommended as a final dining experience one evening by a London local and I honestly had forgotten that I had received previous recommendations.  Unfortunately, what transpired almost ruined what could have been a stellar dining experience.

As it was our last day in London, my old friend and I were tromping around the Thames, anticipating meeting up with the rest of my party shortly around dusk at the Oxo tower for cocktails. Twenty minutes before our appointed cocktail time, I received a call that they were done with cocktails and getting hungry – why didn’t we all head to the Anchor and Hope and whomever was there first, snag a table for five. “L” tubed over and arrived at approximately 6:15 p.m. and was told a table would not be available until 7:30 or 8:00!  Well, we went ahead and put our name down and headed around the corner to the Wellington for a pint. Needless to say, the fact that the people I was with was willing to wait an hour for this restaurant and not for Tayaabs a few days before was slightly annoying.

We returned at 7:30 and was told it would be another half-hour to 45 minutes. Okay, the boys headed off to another pub and I wandered around a local market. I went and found the boys at the other pub and they indicated they would be right back to Anchor & Hope. I walked back to the restaurant and we were informed that a table for five had been available while we were gone and that it would be another half hour. Can I express how upset we were all getting? By 8:45 (two-and-a-half hours after we checked in!) we got a table. And guess what? Half of what we wanted to order was already crossed off the list.

Starving at this point, we managed to order the beef ribs with béarnaise (their last of the evening), a roast duck (also their last, we were told), a snail salad, cuttlefish risotto, and a fennel gratin. The beef was excellently prepared, delightfully rare, and at this point, great tasting. The snail salad was my least favorite (especially after the one I had at St. John). The duck was quite hearty but I really liked what it was stuffed with (a bit of pork around some cabbage). The winner of the evening was the fennel gratin. All of the food was respectable but I think the enjoyment was due more to abject hunger and having waited so long. I would have liked to enjoy a dessert, but as it was getting on after 11:00 when we were finishing, it was too late for everyone who was anxious to leave. The setting is too crowded, too loud, and too cramped. I would be hard-pressed to ever want to return.

The post Anchor & Hope – London first appeared on Feast Blog.