This modern British restaurant opened seven years ago just as the Guardian newspaper moved into the upstairs floors. It’s also the main dining room for King’s Place, an eclectic arts centre with a busy diary of talks, concerts, art exhibitions and events.
Which is all well and good, but at this time of year we really want to rave about its waterfront terrace. As we said in last week’s alfresco eating feature, it surely rates as one of the most atmospheric outdoor dining spots in the capital: the Regent’s canal surrounds the terrace on two sides, chairs and tables fill the garden, deckchairs flap in the breeze by a makeshift bar, and across the marina is an eye-catching mish-mash of converted warehouses, expensive apartments and brightly painted narrow boats bobbing away.
Despite grey skies when we visit, it helps that we’re sitting on a table shielded from the elements by a wooden screen, leafy plants and herbs spilling out of wicker planters either side. But no other diners dare to brave the early summer evening chill. If only the sun would break through, we could be abroad: a Nordic capital, perhaps, or a Canadian city. Swans glide around Ice Wharf, oblivious, and the honk of geese in flight occasionally breaks the silence.
Rotunda’s focus has always been seasonal British cooking. It’s commendable that they have their own farm situated in the Northumberland countryside, we learn from our hosts, where animals are grass-fed and free to roam. They also boast a hanging room, several storeys beneath ground level in the bowels of King’s Place, where the meat is hung before being butchered on site.
LOCAL ADVERTISING
Best of all? The lack of pretension on the menu. With simple fish or meat dishes taking centre stage, the food can be enjoyed as easily as the views over the canal.
So, as we sit braving the weather, a Mon Rose arrives. A pale southern French pink not quite as creamy as the best Provence, it’s more than suggestive of a hotter clime nonetheless.
As the wind picks up, we ponder the delicate presentation of the starters, which thankfully arrive quickly: treacle-cured salmon, its pleasingly firm texture contrasting the crunch of the flat crouton, is a little light on its advertised “gin dressing”. But lamb pastilla are more memorable, cute cigar-like packages with the tang of apricot and pistachio on a delectably smooth harissa-smoked aubergine puree. It’s even better mopped up with tasty, cake-like Irish soda bread. Beef carpaccio – as it’s hoped with the restaurant’s bovine credentials – is excellent: sliced thinly, its notes of truffle, shallot and parmesan are as intoxicating as the laidback marina setting.
With meat such a focus here, we obstinately order one vegetarian main. And the truth is it’s less impressive: a healthy fricassee of chargrilled asparagus, broccoli, potatoes and hollandaise, it’d make a better side to share. Much tastier is on-trend hake in a creamy chowder with cubed squid, the juicy prawns lending it a real fishy depth. And – is there a theme here, perhaps? – best of all is a flat iron steak, one of the day’s three special cuts of beef, served blushingly medium-rare with chips and an addictive peppercorn sauce.
Just as the sun is setting, everything changes: the celestial reds and pinks break through the cloud, the sky now suddenly a deep blue. But the wind is now whipping up a storm – and we’re not sure how long we can go on pretending the climate is Mediterranean.
So we relent and, with a sigh, move into the busy, candle-lit dining room. Because of the building’s curves, and the canal outside, there’s something boat-like about the interior, so a nautical feeling persists. Warming up with one of the finest dessert wines – a 2007 Tokaji – we tuck into small but perfectly sized puds: decent blobs of cheesecake with rhubarb, a very smooth and flavoursome raspberry parfait, and a slightly stiff chocolate mousse. But it’s the sweet, elixir-like vino that makes them all sing.
Like so many of life’s experiences, it’s possible to hope for perfection while still thoroughly enjoying something that’s flawed. And that’s precisely what the famous British weather has facilitated tonight.
But, as make our way out onto thundering York Way, we can’t help but dream of returning on a truly balmy evening, drinking rosé late into the night.
