Top 5 for Aussie tucker
The menu at Osia is peppered with 'tuckerisms'
12 April 2012
The thought of Australian food no doubt conjures-up images of shrimps sizzling on the barbie and kangaroo steaks being served-up with a cold 'tinnie'. But several London restaurants with an Antipodean flavour are revealing the sophisticated side of cooking Down Under...
- Osia11 Haymarket SW1Y 4BP. Tel: 020 7976 1313Chef and co-proprietor, Australian Scott Webster, incorporates many unfamiliar ingredients into his Antipodean cooking which he doesn't want labelled 'fusion'. The menu is peppered with tuckerisms such as quandong (a tiny, peach-like fruit), wattleseed (a seed with a nutty, coffee flavour) and kumera (a sort of sweet potato). It demonstrates Webster's intention to 'mix the flavours of Australia with Europe's outstanding natural ingredients' and the various complex dishes are usually as good as they are novel - there is little else like them available in London. The cool, metropolitan design, all slate and leather and concrete and linen, brings a touch of class to Haymarket.
- Cinnamon Cay87 Lavender Hill, SW11. Tel: 020 7801 0932.The trendy Australasian fare has won a devoted and more-than-local following for this inventive and friendly Battersea spot. It's a comfortable, well-designed neighbourhood restaurant with a refreshingly different menu, with interesting combinations of flavour and texture such as fresh vegetable sushi rolls, ponzu sauce and alfalfa and pickled ginger or a salad of honey-roasted octopus, squid and chorizo with marinated red onions, wild rocket and shaved Manchego cheese.
- Gourmet Burger KitchenRestaurants in Clapham, Putney, Fulham Broadway and West HampsteadOk, so this is a New Zealand-owned chain, using Aberdeen Angus Scotch beef but it’s won a following with Aussies living in London thanks to it’s fabulous milkshakes and for producing some of the best burgers in town. The menu is comprehensive but if you want a true taste of Down Under, opt for the Kiwiburger — the toppings on this particular addition to the menu include egg, pineapple, cheese, salad and beetroot (apparently, the pickled purple slices are a popular addition to the burger in Oz).
- NahmHalkin Hotel, 5 Halkin Street, SW1. Tel: 020 7333 1234The old cliché of ‘never judge a book by its cover’ is nowhere more appropriate than at this gem of a restaurant inside the Halkin hotel. For, despite a dull, slightly odd interior featuring muted gold surfaces and net curtains, David Thompson’s award-spangled interpretation of the ‘Royal Thai’ cuisine of ancient Bangkok is among the best you’ll find in the UK. Thompson, who came from Darley Street Thai and Sailors Thai in Sydney, has revealed aristocratic, extraordinary Thai dishes to Londoners.
- Smiths of Smithfield66-67 Charterhouse Street, EC1. Tel: 020 7251 7997Staying true to its roots as a former market store, Smiths retains an industrial, New York warehouse feel and serves British food but the menu is overseen by Australian chef John Torode, who opened Mezzo then Bluebird. He demonstrates a dedication to sourcing prime produce that is the hallmark of top Australian restaurants. Quality is high and organic or additive-free ingredients are used where possible.
