Practically Perfect Food at Picture

Ok, I’m not going to lie…we all know I like a glamorous restaurant. Somewhere with fabulous views like City Social, clubby decor like STK or a sexy interior like Hakkasan.

But, actually the most important thing to me is always the food. Mr Silver will attest to the fact that my moaning is absolutely endless if I haven’t liked the food in a restaurant.

So when I was invited into Picture, a restaurant who’s concept is good food with no pretension, I was looking forward to trying something that clearly be substance over style. For this review I knew I could leave my Herve Leger mini dress and five inch Louboutins at home and I enlisted Susan SilverSpoon (my mum) to join me on the culinary journey.

At best it resembles a school hall at worst…it has the look of a prison canteen…(not that I’ve ever been in one…)

And soon Susan SilverSpoon arrives. She’s very happy as she has a new toy, an iPhone 6 plus. I have the new iPhone 6. We order a prosecco and elderflower cocktail and happily compare our new gadgetry.

The delicious rustic baguettes with whipped butter are enough for us to put out new phones aside and get nibbling on what is in front of us.

For the next course, tenderstem broccoli played a starring role, along with plum tomatoes, goats curd and capers. I enjoyed the fact that chef turned the broccoli into a dish in itself rather than it’s usual place as a side dish. The simple ingredients made for a very delicious combination, the vegetable were perfectly charred, the tomatoes juicy and ripe and the curd wonderfully creamy.At this point we took a little detour off the tasting menu. The next course was pork cheek which neither me or my mum fancied.

I chose another vegetarian dish instead: ravioli of Italian greens with ricotta and chilli. The dish was the highlight of the meal for me. I mentioned in my Christmas afternoon tea post that I have a rather unconventional love for brussel sprouts which I was very pleased to see crown the top of my delicious pasta dish.

As you can see from the previous dishes, the menu at Picture doesn’t make use of fancy ingredients (there’s no foie gras or caviar here). But the chef’s Alan Christie and Colin Kelly (previously of Arbutus and Wild Honey) use simple fresh and seasonal ingredients and cook them perfectly to make up these fabulous plates of food. Along with manager, Tom Slegg, the chefs opened the Bloomsbury restaurant with a simple concept of good food without the pressure of fine dining. The simplicity of the menu means it also doesn’t come with Michelin prices and the tasting menu is very good value for money at £35. The quality of the food and value for money meant that Picture was recently awarded a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin guide.

Mother Spoon’s alternative to the pork was a shoulder of lamb with butternut squash and sultanas. A fabulous autumnal dish with perfectly cooked lamb.

Service-wise our waitress was very knowledgable about all the dishes and ingredients used and the substitutions were no problem at all.

The next course was a favourite of mine: sea bream served with lentils, fennel, turnip and dill. The skin was beautifully crisp just as it should be and the flesh was tender and flaky. And trust me…I know a good bream when I see it!

 

My mum stuck with the main from the tasting menu, a 28 day aged beef served again with seasonal ingredients, kale, sweet potato and salsify. The meat was soft and cooked just how she likes it…but she was still talking about the salmon ;).

 

 

My mum is evener weirder than me and doesn’t even like chocolate mousse and instead had a vanilla panacotta with blackberries and gingerbread.

I’m not always great fan of tasting menus but at the end of the meal I felt just right: not ridiculously stuffed (like at The French Laundry) or still hungry (as in my Petrus experience). My mum and I really enjoyed the food at Picture, in fact you might say it was pretty much perfect!