London Food & Culture

5 things you should eat at Rotunda

The tastiest dishes at the waterside restaurant - from new head chef Jason Wild

1. Crispy sole, shellfish butter (£18.50)

Smokey fishiness. Photo: PR

This main is a corker. A chubby fish finger of butter-light white flesh in the lightest breadcrumbs straddles smoked potato mash (a fat fad we fully endorse) on a genius slippery sauce made from leeks, mussels clams. Dill and strands of spring onion complete the very pretty picture. “The only thing that could be rethought?” said my lunch companion, licking her lips. “Those annoying oblong plates for the mains.” Fair enough.

2. Celeriac, heritage beetroot, grilled broccoli (£7.95)

Textural delight. Photo: PR

A light vegetarian starter: it’s good to see such imaginative meat-free dishes across all menus these days, isn’t it? Four cubed beetroot pieces in vibrant shades of purple, yellow and pink sit on a whorl of rich creamy celeriac puree, sprinkled with nuts. A tangle of broccoli is firmly on the al dente side, its lower stalks verging on raw – hopefully intended for health benefits rather than simply undercooked.

3. Lamb rump (£18.95)

A little tricky to carve but damn tasty. Photo: SE
All the beef and lamb served at Rotunda is dry-aged and hung onsite, before being butchered. But such is the restaurant’s dedication to flesh that they even have their own farm in Northumberland, where their animals are traditionally hand-reared, grass-fed and free to roam over acres of naturally fertilised farm land. A juicy slab of rump is chargrilled to give a savoury crust and packed with deeply distinctive tallowy flavour, if wobbily difficult to carve even with a serrated knife. Accompanying thyme-roasted mushroom confit, tomatoes and watercress add sweet, sharp and earthy notes, the jus all red-wine velvety richness.

4. Shaved vegetables (£7.95)

Raw butternut squash? Whodafunk it. Photo: SE
This colourful bowl overflows with raw curls of yellow courgette, cucumber and butternut squash – surprisingly sweet and easygoing. Combined with crunchy chicory and a zesty dressing, additional textural interest comes from hazelnuts, making a healthy, dare we say, ‘clean’ plate to start the meal. The addition of creamy glazed goat’s cheese means that while it might be on-trend, it’s not vegan.


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5. Roast English rhubarb, burnt English cream

A bit more rhubarb next time please. Photo: SE

The curved dining room has a nautical feel, with almost every table boasting a view through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the canal and Ice Wharf basin. As a narrowboat docks and its occupants disembark with barking dog in tow, we tuck into a shallow dish of the lightest custard imaginable, garnished with just a few too strands of the ‘forced’ winter fruit. A few more and it would really sing. Still, it’s a beauty to look at. Like this fine King’s Place institution itself.

Rotunda is open daily till 11pm, Kings Place, 90 York Way N1. More info here

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