o and i celebrated our first year together over the fusion flavours of anna hansen’s cuisine at the modern pantry. the food here can be steep on the pocket but luckily we had the london restaurant festival in our favour – two courses and a glass of bubbly for a fantastic twenty five quid.
our entrees were fuller and heartier in flavour. they were both red meat: mine an onglet ofbeef marinated in miso, cooked medium rare and served carved surrounded by its juices, a tart and chili tomatillo relish with earthy and comforting thick cut cassava chips on the side. o’sduck leg curry featured a large duck leg cooked to such tenderness that a mere nudge of the fork had the meat falling off the bone. fresh green coriander added spring, lemongrass a complexity and bok choi a break from the robustness of the dish. there was fragrant thai rice on the side.
although quite full we felt that something sweet was a necessity. i think it was also a curiosity as to what there was. on the waiters recommendation we had the chocolate based dessert -chocolate and liquorice delice, chocolate granita, sautéed plums, cocoa chilli wafer. it was an interesting concoction of dark and light chocolate, textures that were brittle and melting and tart sautéed plums that had slightly caramelized edges. both o and i tried to get a bit of everything into each bite and combined together with a hint of cream for a smooth edge, it really was delicious.
