Cuisine: British
Cost:
Rating:
Where?: 22, Great Marlborough Street, Soho, London. W1F 7HU.
Closest station(s): Oxford Circus, Bond Street, Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly Circus.
Telephone: 0207 437 4106
Website: www.centralandco.com
Opposite an entrance to Carnaby Street I found myself stepping into Central & Co, a new venture on Great Marlborough Street – with its proximity to Oxford Street I fear that restaurants in this area will be uninspiring places looking to churn though as many tourists and weary shoppers as possible. Happily, Central & Co does not fall into this bracket and is already drawing a strong following. It is an uncluttered space with wooden tables; feeling light and airy rather than sparse – when the sun is shining the front of the premises are opened up to allow the light and heat to spill in.
The menu divides into small plates, mains and puddings; offering a British focus with Gallic influence. It has been quite a while since I wished to devour so much of a menu; the small plates all sounded appealing – we plumped for the rabbit rillettes, langoustines, steak tartare and cauliflower fritters. This left me feeling rather guilty that I hadn’t ordered the other 12 or so small plates, surely it was rude of me to neglect such great sounding food. In the region of £4 - £8 the small plates are not bank busting. As we waited we were delivered a huge breadboard which remained on the table – something Central & Co cannot be accused of is being stingy.
Each of the small plates lived up to what I had hoped for. Cauliflower fritters were crisp, without a drop of oil in sight, delicate and delicious – many more people would eat their 5 a day if all veg tasted like this. The tartare again was very good; not too finely chopped steak, hugely acidic capers which dribbled their wonderfully sharp juice through the dish. The rabbit was prepared simply and accompanied by a pea puree, it needed nothing more. The langoustines did not fail to impress either – cooked simply they maintained their delicate flavours.
The mackerel salad niçoise main was very enjoyable – a decent chunk of mackerel, perched on a pleasantly textured and varied salad (including olives that my dining partner would not shut up about how much she loved). The steak too ticked the right boxes, cooked as I had requested and with plenty of flavour, not the best I have ever had but equally I have had a lot lot worse at much higher prices. The chips were sufficiently large to prop up a barn, not necessarily to my taste but pleasant nonetheless. With the price of mains ranging from the low to the high teens they were certainly reasonably priced for the quality and size. We ended by gorging ourselves on the cheeseboard, which was again generously proportioned, and the perfect end to the meal.
In spite of the praise I have for the food, the highlight of the meal was in fact the service – from start to finish it was great, extremely friendly without stepping towards Michelin-sycophancy. Our waiter had a genuine passion for the food and wine and was keen to that we made the most of our evening. My Kiwi company for that evening summed it up in enquiring at the end of the evening whether she might be able to take the waiter home – I believe for her kitchen rather than bedroom, however it was not for me to enquire.
Lastly, the final box which I whole-heartedly applaud Central & Co for ticking is their decision to sell a number of their wines by the carafe – sadly too rare these days in London. Much of their varied and not over-priced wine list is offered by the carafe which allowed us to sample a selection of wine with each course.
I thoroughly enjoyed my evening at Central & Co and look forward to returning. When I do I will certainly be attacking the rest of the small plates selection washed down with a few carafes – the mains were enjoyable but, for me, could not live up to the glory of the smaller plates. A great addition to Soho, a relaxed and friendly venue offering well executed and interesting dishes and to top it off it won’t break the bank.