Pubby sort of pub, gastro sort of food
Why is de Beauvoir town so-called? Was there a Mr de Beauvoir who built the houses and named the square after himself? It's certainly a place of contrasts mainly between large, frighteningly feral housing estates and cutesy million pound houses with shutters at the window and a Porsche on the driveway.
Taking over a fairly down-at-heel pub called the Sussex and re-naming it after a bird sanctuary on the Norfolk coast seems an oddly De Beauvoir town sort of thing to do. Quirky, media-savvy and a complete break with the past. The Scolt Head is a clean, large, no-frills pub with decent beers - the Timothy Taylor was in particularly fine form. There's a small beer garden to the front and a dining room off to one side. The restaurant part opened recently and it is rumoured that Trish Hilferty (whose kitchen pedigree includes the Eagle on Farringdon Road and the Fox on Paul Street prior to its recent sale) had a hand in setting the tone for the kitchen. Her fingerprints are certainly all over the menu which is gloriously short - four starters, four mains and four puds.
Short menus are just fine always providing that you like the sound of every dish so much that choosing remains a problem. Short menus mean seasonal and market driven; short menus imply that the kitchen is concentrating and will get things right. At the Scolt Head the starters were a wild mushroom and nettle soup; asparagus, fried egg and Parmesan - perfectly cooked asparagus, but needing a runnier egg yolk; potato, onion and sorrel frittata - well-seasoned, intense flavours; and ox tongue, with potatoes and salsa verde, which was a tad bland. Mains include a steady, trad, boeuf Bourguignon with mash; a grilled rump steak with sauté potatoes; and pan fried skate wing with chips rocket and tartare sauce. Then on to a flourless chocolate cake or a lemon posset. The only criticism would be the amount of rocket the kitchen whacks onto dishes as garnish, the frittata gets a haystack as does the skate - and it didn't add much to either dish. Otherwise, the presentation on the plate is admirably low key, and thank goodness so are the prices: £5 for starters and puds £8 to £13.50 for mains. A genuine neighbourhood asset.
Charles Campion
The Scolt Head, 107a Culford Road, N1 (020 7254 3965)
I agree with the 'short menu' philosophy. My gut feel is that anything over a few options increases the danger of presentation over substance, or atleast creativity for the sake of it.
Posted by: Bob Davidson | 14/05/2007 at 12:14 PM
Mr Campion, regarding your feature published in Wednesday's (9/5/07) ES and the priciest soup. I don't think you should be promoting a product containing an unsutainable ingredient such a shark's fin. The waste of fish, with a long reproductive cycle, the demand for this product generates is immense and should not in my opinion be given air time. Sustainable or farmable products like the tips of rabbit ears or cats tails would probably give just as much flavour as a small piece of shark fin but would not result in the death of a majestic creature.
Regards,
Stephen Penfold
Posted by: Steve Penfold | 15/05/2007 at 05:52 PM
I know Charles will feel as agrieved as the next man about the sad plight of sharks. However, while on the subject of fish, "farmable" is not a useful alternative suggestion. The salmon farms in Scotland (promoted by Mr Oliver) have done more damage to natural fish stocks and their environment than most other human activities. This is already well documented so I'll say no more.
Posted by: Bob Davidson | 18/05/2007 at 01:25 PM
Mr Campion,
Yesterday we moved into our new home on Culford Road. We decided to celebrate by trying out our new local 2 minutes walk away, The Scolt Head. It was a warm evening and the beer garden looked lovely.
Ten of us sat down for dinner including some friends and our 3 children. Contrary to previous comments we found the small menu very difficult as many could not see anything they liked the sound of.
I and three others selected the potato and Chorizo soup, but was very disaponted to receive a bowl of what could only be described as dishwater with bits of potato, vegatables and 3 lumps of red meat floating around in it. Although it looked very unappetising I had a spoonful and all I could taste was cabbage water. There were 10 of us and the small menu meant that between us we had more or less everything on the menu. Unfortunately I was not alone, everyone was disappointed with what they received, except for the delicious seeded bread with balsamic dip we were served before the meal, but after our experience with the food nobody fancied to risk a desert. I must say though the service from our waitress was faultless
We were disapointed, when receiving our bill, to be charged for my soup, which I had quietly and politely, with full explaination, asked the manager/owner to take away after the first spoonfull. We were also disappointed that the manger complained that our children were making too much noise, they did giggle and laugh loudly a couple of times but in a noisy pub environment I am certain she was the only one to have noticed. The fact that it was only brought up after I dared complain meant she probably just needed to have a dig at us because I dared send back my soup.
We as a family eat out about 3 times a week, (too much I know), and this is the first time I have EVER sent a plate of food back to the kitchen.
Needless to say we will have to find a not so local, local, not for the food, perhaps it was just a bad day, but because of the rudeness we encountered from the manager/owner's, get out and don't come back attitude.
So by all means visit "The Scalt Head" but: don't dare complain, dont take your kids and don't laugh out loud.
Posted by: Haig Robins, family and friends | 02/06/2007 at 08:58 AM
I've been a fan of Trish Hilferty's cooking since her days at The Fox and after reading of her being involved in the setting up of The Scolt Head i just had to visit.If anything,this is better than The Fox.Her desserts have certainly moved up a notch (rum ice cream being especially memorable).The menu may be short but every item sounded rather enticing and choosing was difficult.I opted for cod with caponata.The cod was flawless,the caponata downright spectacular.
I have found The Scolt Head a tad too noisy,but with this sort of food on offer,i will just have to bear it.
Posted by: Sonia Graves | 14/06/2007 at 09:10 PM
I went to the Scolt Head the other night for the first time and was genuinely impressed. The food was simple but done to perfection, and the ambience was exactly as a gastro pub should be - very relaxed and suitably rough around the edges. I also thought it was fairly priced.
Posted by: Phillip Tiny | 15/06/2007 at 04:41 PM