If you haven’t heard of it, the Cornwall Project is a supplier of the finest produce Cornwall has to offer, to many of London’s hottest restaurants. They’ve since taken over the kitchen at the Newman Arms; a cute little pub in Fitzrovia.
The small upstairs dining room is cute and it doesn’t look like it’s changed much from when it was first built.There are dark wood panelled walls filled with framed pictures and ornamental plates; it reminded me of my Granny’s dining room.
The menu is concise with just three options for starter and main. We kicked things off with mackerel, fermented gherkin and borage (£6), which was pretty as a picture. The fermented gherkin added a bit of tang to the mackerel which was much needed. White beetroot, duck hearts, worksop and hazelnuts (£7) could have done with extra duck hearts to really get me going, but the flavour combinations were spot on.
For main, roasted lamb rump (£18) was a blushing shade of pink with the crispest skin you could wish for – love a bit of a crispy lamb skin me. The accompanying seaweed sauce added a sublte saltiness which was lovely. I didn’t see the point of the kohlrabi though – I mean, kohlrabi really does have no flavour!
The quality of the day boat monkfish (£18) was spectacular. The grilled fennel, pink fir potatoes, along with an intriguing anise hyssop and olive sauce, made for a well balanced mouthful. The food was undoubtedly delicious, I was just a little disappointed not to have the option of some sides – a bowl of lovely roast potatoes or some greens would have gone down a real treat.
We shared the one pud on offer, which again, was a real looker. The violet mousse (£6) on its own, tasted exactly of parma violets, but then mixed with the English blueberries and salty pistachio crumble it made it something quite special.
It’s not often the case to get such beautifully presented and tasty grub above a boozer – but they’ve managed to do it here. I hope the menu gets a little bigger and they introduce some sides as we did leave a little hungry, but in terms of flavour and quality of ingredients, it’s hard to fault.
4/5