Harrow-on-the-Hill's Incanto Restaurant - and A Romanian With Insights Into P r o e s t i

Problem
Where to eat with fussy friends?

Answer
Incanto Restaurant at Harrow-on-the-Hill.

Harrow-On-The-Hill
The drive up the steep hill takes you from modern Harrow through narrowing streets to ancient Harrow. At the summit is the school.

The statue of Elizabeth I looks down from high on the wall. Henry VIII's portrait dominates the green.

Buildings display various style of architecture. As you drive up your eyes are elsewhere. Parking is at a premium.

Once out of the car, you can enjoy the scenery. On the other side of the green from Incanto is an old red telephone box. It's the only thing which nobody has bothered to paint. But still red, evoking the good old days.

So British. A shop window show the boys' school uniforms and straw boaters. Who's for cricket?

Incanto Restaurant
The deli at the front seems to have expanded. It probably hasn't. I love the amusing signs. In the deli section you can see the food being cooked.

Beyond the beams and glass is the restaurant at the back. Incanto restaurant has changed hands but the standards is still  just as high.

Menu Choice
The choice is not large. However, everything is cooked fresh.

Midweek they have a busy lady's lunch. Pizza.

Children also have their own menu. It's suitable for children aged seven and under in both style and, I presume, portion sizes.

Tables and Seating
It was a hot day and we moved away from the sun streaming though an overhead window to the back. Usually I like to sit against the wall. Back to the wall gives me a feeling of security. I can watch who is arriving - nobody creeping up. A chance to wave down a waiter. A  chance to put down my bag without tripping up the waiters and passers-by. An opportunity to admire the decor, as well as the other diners.

But that's the problem. Other diners can be a distraction. This time I sat facing the wall. I found this new for me position had the advantage of encouraging me to give my dear friends my undivided attention.

Our server was from Romania, P r o e s t i. We had driven through it on the way back to Bucharest. Its the last place you drive through before the airport. We had speculated as to what would make somebody leave P r o e s t i for London.

The girl from Romania was as delighted to meet tourists who had passed through her town as we were to meet her.  (More about her city in the next post.)

We were all trying to lose weight and keep fit, and had our eyes on the dessert menu, so we went without starters. I recalled that the dried parsnip on the soup had been wonderful on my last visit.

Complimentary amuse bouche. Photo by Angela Lansbury. 

Just as well we went without the starter. Up comes another course - the complimentary amuse bouche. (French for amuse mouth - an on the house taste.) What was it? Mushroom canapé. Just the right thing to keep the customers amused while the chef cooked up the main course.

Two of us had deliberately chosen different dishes for our main course so we could share out the vegetables and get more variety.

The dishes were a delight to look at. All four dishes looked good.

Meat dish.

Fish dish.

Delightful Desserts
At first we were not happy with the lack of fruit in the desserts. All sugar, pastry, little fruit. However, my chocolate dessert came with a choice of ice cream or sorbets. I find vanilla is boring, are rarely tastes of vanilla. I asked for an alternative. The child's menu had more flavours and the server recited them.

One person chose tiramisu. My friend chose melon, with blueberry sorbet. She said the melon had not much flavour but the blueberry sorbet was the best she had ever tasted.

Chocolate dessert with fruit sorbet. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

I was equally excited by my dessert.

The coffee came with neatly presented cubes of contrasting brown and white sugar. One row of three white cubes, one row of three brown. I was tempted to rearrange them into alternating lines, checker board style. But I did not want to handle sugar others might be eating.

All in all, a very satisfactory meal.

Descend the wide spiral stairs to the toilets. An amusing picture of two squirrels is at the bottom of the stairs. Inside the ladies is what I missed even in the five star hotel in Brasov, Roumania. Incanto had what all grand hotels and restaurants in London and around England provide. Gourmet hand gel and matching moisturiser.

Perfection.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. All photos by Angela Lansbury, copyright. More articles on London, England, Roumania, other tourist trips and tips on learning languages. Please share links to your favourite articles.

Lovely Loire Wines and Super Soup: RSJ Restaurant with wines from the Loire

Searching for wines from the Loire, we had found this restaurant. The name RSJ stands for rolled steel joist, and you can see the supports holding up the old building, which is painted clean white inside and out, with charming arched windows in the upstairs dining room overlooking a quiet side street.

The set menu included soup of the day. The parsnip and chestnut soup was one of the best soups I've ever had, enhanced by salty flat ribbons of parsnip on top.

My main course of chicken and white beans with green spinach was rather so so. (I must admit Heinz baked beans have been a best seller for years, but I still think I'd rather have potato.) The fish dish came with potatoes. Somebody on the a la carte menu had fish with large chips. The risotto was very good but not wonderful.

Dessert time was again a mixed blessing. I opted for the rhubarb with white chocolate womethign and shortbread. The white mousse mould was boring, neither good texture nor flavour. However, I managed to swap part of it for somebody else's dessert, and got a taste of the nut tart.

The mints with coffee were good but not superlative. So why was I so pleased with the restaurant and why were my two companions so thrilled with it?

The answer is the wines. (Plus service and decor.) Let me tell you about the wines. The wine expert amongst us chose a wine with the Huet family label, from the good old days. A sweet wine. Delicious. It pleased those who like sweet wines and those who like dry wines. It was aromatic.

I confess that what we chose would not be everybody's choice. The man who runs the restaurant said their best seller was not the sweet wine but the Sauvignon Blanc. The fact remains that if you like Loire wine, this place has a huge choice.

Decor? Plain and clean. Some colourful paintings for sale on the ground floor. Some caricatures on the staircase. Attentive staff.

Bust of somebody on the reception desk on ground floor. See the description on the base of the sculpture.

Warning: The toilets are down a flight of stairs in the basement and the restaurant is up a flight of stairs. Our friend with a walking stick managed, but better check if you are likely to have a problem with stairs.

Getting There
We walked from Waterloo station. Satnav on a smart phone sent up to Coin Street. We made the mistake of taking the section which seems barred at both ends. (I wondered, how do the cars get in?) The restaurant is on the corner, so when you reach Coin Street, look both ways across the main road for the restaurant, instead of marching impatiently in the wrong direction.


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