Saturday, November 28, 2015

Black Pepper Restaurant in Hatch End, for couples, or groups

We had booked a back room for a committee meeting. I've been going to this restaurant for years and didn't know they had a back room. According to the way they configure the tables, as a solid rectangle of three tables, or a U shape, it can seat a small number cosily or a large number elegantly for a formal occasion.

The server popped in often to take orders and bring food.

Somebody else ordered mussels and said half wouldn't open but when that was drawn to the attention of the management the price for that dish was removed from the  bill. No arguments. I thought that was good service.

I ordered two courses meal from the set menu.

I  like sweet wine. I looked for the dessert wines and ordered a glass of muscat (muscat is the grape which usually makes sweet wine). I feared that as it was listed as dessert wine I might get a tiny portion in a tiny glass. I was pleased to receive a large glass so that I looked like I was drinking a proper white wine with my main course.

The duck main course was pleasant, along with the vegetables, sauce potatoes and spinach. Not over-large. Good enough. Just right.

So was the cheesecake, glad to say it was not that disappointing shaking, squishy, collapsing cheesecake but a solid piece of cheesecake, almost as solid as the famous New York style cheesecake which I used to eat in Starbucks and several other coffee shops in Singapore. A reasonably, sensibly sized piece, not too large, which assuaged my guilt feelings and fear that my calorie count was weighing down the seesaw.


The ground floor toilet is for those with wheelchairs but also handy if you cannot manage stairs, or don't want to when you have a long skirt, and heeled shoes, and a glass of alcohol inside.

Why have I not voted it five star? Because four stars means good enough to go back if you live nearby. I save five stars for Michelin quality food with weird ingredients, and food you want to photograph, and places you should visit from outside the area or indeed across the world.

I ordered decaff coffee. I saw somebody's else's tiramisu desert in a high round bowl which I mistook for a cup and thought it was a cappuccino with con panne, with cream.

So when my coffee came plain without cream on top I was disappointed. Not the restaurant's fault, but I must remember for next time. Nothing special about the coffee. No fancy cup. No complimentery chocolate with the coffee. If you want to delay your departure, maybe.

My share of the bill was about £25 including 10% service.  No fuss when one of the group wanted to pay their share with a credit card. Up comes the machine.

The group voted that we were happy to go back.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, speaker and author.


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