Food Review The Angel's Share

Apologies to all the vegetarians out there, but this is going to be a meaty review. Sorry.

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Food Review: The Angel's Share

The Angel’s Share, part of the Leelex roster along with Oporto, Jake’s Bar and Neon Cactus, has gone through a couple of culinary incarnations (burger bar and pizzeria), but they might have hit the nail squarely on the head this time with their lava grill. Essentially, you get a red hot slab of basalt brought to your table to cook your meat/veg on - health and safety officers, look away now. It sounds a bit gimmicky, but the proof of the fillet is in the cooking.

Eating takes place in the relatively subdued upper level of the bar, an open airy space edged with leather-benched booths and dotted with small round tables with low-backed leather chairs; smart casual executive. Menus come on clipboards and are clear and concise; more detail is given to the knowledgeably chosen American beer list, featuring the maple-chased Goose Island Honkers (£3.40) and the intoxicatingly crisp Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (£3.20). Not a Budweiser or Miller in sight.

Our starters of the mini quesadilla (4.95) and seafood chowder (£5.50) arrive promptly with our accompanying Honkers and Anchor Liberty Ale (£3.60). The chowder is piled high with fresh mussels and prawns, made hearty by chunks of potato and dainty by sprigs of dill. The Quesadilla is crispy and tasty but could benefit from a bit more pork and a bit less chilli.

The last remnants of soup mopped up with a hunk of spongy fresh bread, the main event (Surf and Turf, £18.95) arrives. The hot plate dominates the table like a stone-age console, with condiments set below, chips above and a big pile of vegetables beside. Oil is poured and the first strip of fillet is set sizzling on the slab. Spots of hot grease speckle the table but the aroma is worth the mess. Cutting it as it cooks, the first chunk is deep purple at its heart, butter-soft and as rich and flavoursome as its 28-day maturing would suggest; sauce and seasoning is redundant. The accompanying skewer of prawns may not be as spectacular but each morsel is burst in the mouth fresh. Fresh is the keystone here as, because you cook the meat yourself, each cut is as fresh as the last. Even the portabella mushroom, soaked in the beef juices on the slab, is meaty and delicious. The rib eye from the American kitchen (£13.95) is also a treat, but isn’t as stunning or as much of a talking point as the manly indoor barbeque of the lava grill - and every diner gets to be the alpha male or female.

Desserts are comparably robust; the chunk of brownie (£4.95) is rich, moist and warm and the eyrar of swan-like churros (£4.95) with their pool of dark chocolate are satisfyingly crisp, slightly savoury but pleasantly sweet. Replete and re-mancipated, we swagger into the night. We might not have caught and killed our quarry, but daaaamn, we cooked it good!

Posted on Wednesday 3rd February 2010
Rob Wright

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