Review: The Providores
Last year I discovered a restaurant in Covent Garden which has ruined cereal for me. Kopapa, sitting discreetly on the Seven Dials, serves up Turkish Eggs, otherwise known as The Breakfast To End All Breakfasts. Inspired by the dish served in the Changa restaurant, two perfectly poached eggs sit in a cloud of whipped yoghurt, drizzled with rich chilli butter, and accompanied by two slabs of hearty bread to mop it up. It is an unparalled way to start the day (not least because it keeps you full until dinner time).
As much as I would love to, it probably isn’t wise to eat quite that much liquid butter every day, which I why I actively have to restrain myself from visiting Kopapa. Imagine, then, my delight when I discover that the team behind my petit-déjuner destination also has another spot serving up dinner (admittedly Kopapa also serves lunch and dinner, but I would not be able to order anything but the eggs).
The Providores, on Marylebone High Street, is similarly unassuming from the outside, but step inside and you are immediately swept up by a bustling atmosphere. The downstairs level is the informal Tapa Room, and was full to bursting on a Thursday night. The upper level is the more refined dining room and although initially less busy, there wasn’t a free cover in sight by the time we left.
The restaurant has been around for more than a decade, and has the settled-in, comfortable feeling that only time can produce. The décor is cosy rather than ostentatious, and from the smiling staff to the simple linen table cloths, there is an air of quiet confidence. It is intimate enough for a date, relaxed enough for a friendly gathering, and smart enough for a business meal…No mean feat.
Like the Tapa Room downstairs, The Providores' menu is based around small plates, and it is recommended that a person order around three each. On a very basic level, three savoury dishes instead of the standard starter and main automatically means you get to try more, which can only be a good thing. The selection is not enormous but covers all bases (meat, fish, poultry and vegetable) and are unusual enough that you can’t imagine a home-cooked version what you’re ordering (again, when paying restaurant prices, this is only a good thing).
My twice-baked blue cheese soufflé was a rich, salty yet surprisingly light cake served in mini skillet, swimming in spoonfuls of bright butternut ginger sauce. My friend’s coconut and black cardamom laska was equally enjoyable – a veritable pool of flavour and textures, the soy trufflled shimeji mushrooms, quails eggs and chicken dumplings playing for attention against the tender soba noodles.
Moving onto the slightly heavier meat for a second course, we tried the brilliantly-named Dingley Dell pork belly and the signature Beef Pesto. Both were delicately portioned but boldly flavoured, the kind of thing in which you can taste the meticulous preparation. A fish course followed (an unusual order, perhaps, but it kept it interesting), of which the pan fried sea-bream was especially flakey and succulent.
The Providores is also a bit of hub for those who favour new world wines, featuring the biggest New Zealand wine list in Europe. The cocktail list includes both classic and creative tipples; I sampled the Lady Grey martini, which was a refreshing blend of Lady Grey-infused Sipsmith gin and lemon juice, topped off with frothy egg white.
After such an elegant meal, my inner child came to the fore when it came to pudding. The plate of chocolate and biscuits was a colourful collection of sweets – the biscuits were more pretty than they were tasty, but the range of chocolates were different and deliciously homemade. The cheeseboard offered a broad selection (and caused particular excitement when we realised the goats cheese is made by one of our friends).
After a leisurely two hours, we wandered downstairs (back through the still buzzing Tapa Room), happily satiated without being stuffed. Wonderfully replete, I hadn’t even notice the absence of the Turkish Eggs – and that is saying something.
www.theprovidores.co.uk
As much as I would love to, it probably isn’t wise to eat quite that much liquid butter every day, which I why I actively have to restrain myself from visiting Kopapa. Imagine, then, my delight when I discover that the team behind my petit-déjuner destination also has another spot serving up dinner (admittedly Kopapa also serves lunch and dinner, but I would not be able to order anything but the eggs).
The Providores, on Marylebone High Street, is similarly unassuming from the outside, but step inside and you are immediately swept up by a bustling atmosphere. The downstairs level is the informal Tapa Room, and was full to bursting on a Thursday night. The upper level is the more refined dining room and although initially less busy, there wasn’t a free cover in sight by the time we left.
The restaurant has been around for more than a decade, and has the settled-in, comfortable feeling that only time can produce. The décor is cosy rather than ostentatious, and from the smiling staff to the simple linen table cloths, there is an air of quiet confidence. It is intimate enough for a date, relaxed enough for a friendly gathering, and smart enough for a business meal…No mean feat.
Like the Tapa Room downstairs, The Providores' menu is based around small plates, and it is recommended that a person order around three each. On a very basic level, three savoury dishes instead of the standard starter and main automatically means you get to try more, which can only be a good thing. The selection is not enormous but covers all bases (meat, fish, poultry and vegetable) and are unusual enough that you can’t imagine a home-cooked version what you’re ordering (again, when paying restaurant prices, this is only a good thing).
My twice-baked blue cheese soufflé was a rich, salty yet surprisingly light cake served in mini skillet, swimming in spoonfuls of bright butternut ginger sauce. My friend’s coconut and black cardamom laska was equally enjoyable – a veritable pool of flavour and textures, the soy trufflled shimeji mushrooms, quails eggs and chicken dumplings playing for attention against the tender soba noodles.
Moving onto the slightly heavier meat for a second course, we tried the brilliantly-named Dingley Dell pork belly and the signature Beef Pesto. Both were delicately portioned but boldly flavoured, the kind of thing in which you can taste the meticulous preparation. A fish course followed (an unusual order, perhaps, but it kept it interesting), of which the pan fried sea-bream was especially flakey and succulent.
The Providores is also a bit of hub for those who favour new world wines, featuring the biggest New Zealand wine list in Europe. The cocktail list includes both classic and creative tipples; I sampled the Lady Grey martini, which was a refreshing blend of Lady Grey-infused Sipsmith gin and lemon juice, topped off with frothy egg white.
After such an elegant meal, my inner child came to the fore when it came to pudding. The plate of chocolate and biscuits was a colourful collection of sweets – the biscuits were more pretty than they were tasty, but the range of chocolates were different and deliciously homemade. The cheeseboard offered a broad selection (and caused particular excitement when we realised the goats cheese is made by one of our friends).
After a leisurely two hours, we wandered downstairs (back through the still buzzing Tapa Room), happily satiated without being stuffed. Wonderfully replete, I hadn’t even notice the absence of the Turkish Eggs – and that is saying something.
www.theprovidores.co.uk