From doubles at Danclair’s to pies at The Pelican, here are the best things the CODE team ate this week

The Tamil Prince

In the absence of a proper summer, which – one hot day aside – we have not yet had, heat must be sought in other ways. At The Tamil Prince, recently opened in Islington, I found it in the food. Sitting outside on that exasperating type of cold June day, we warmed ourselves with spicy, deep-fried onion bhajis dipped in mint, and glowing, bright red ‘chicken lollipops’, marinated for hours for flavour and tenderness. We sipped on crab soup, too: curried and bright yellow, burning slightly as it went down. This cruel, teasing June felt better after that.
Rebekah Lodos, editorial assistant
CODE was a guest of The Tamil Prince

The Pelican

I kept hearing about The Pelican. Both Margot Robbie and Pierre Koffmann have been spotted enjoying meals there (separately, I hasten to add). But it was a Notting Hill local who I know and trust who properly sold me the place. Phil Winser and James Gummer are the people behind the pub’s latest iteration. Winser, an Englishman who made his name in New York running The Fat Radish, and a catering company that fed the fashion and art crowds, and Gummer, who also owns Notting Hill restaurant, 7 Saints. Post-pandemic, he’s back from Manhattan and has turned this corner boozer into one of the hottest spots in town. You’d perhaps be pushed to call it a boozer – the light oak bar and gentle furnishings make the place feel as though it’s just flown in from the Hamptons – where most of the clientele will probably be this summer – but the menu is most definitely British. It is overseen by head chef Owen Kenworthy. Sausage rolls, mince on toast and scallop scampi can all be ordered at the bar with a pint of Guinness or be served as starters in the main restaurant. On the specials board the night we visited? A monkfish and lobster pie – a proper pie, too, with the fishy mixture fully encased in a golden pastry. I could make a joke about pelicans and massive bills but there’s no need for that here as the pricing is sensible, with all the dishes on the main menu under £20 and house wine starting from £25 a bottle.
Adam Hyman, founder
CODE was a guest of The Pelican

Ristoranti I Pirati

On a summer’s day on the island of Ischia, Italy, a boat deposited a small cohort of us to a seafront restaurant accessible only by water. The menu was simple, rustic and affordable. The dish of the day was an Ischian classic of rabbit ragu with pasta. A bouncing vehicle for the ragu, delivering extra saucing with each mouthful, it was served as bucatini, which is simply better for this dish than its solid sister spaghetti, or it’s fatter, stockier distant cousin rigatoni. Rabbit has a soft gaminess to it that compliments the sweetness of the island’s tomatoes, which grow in the fertile soil of the volcanic land, and when coupled with the sturdiness of the pasta, the saltiness of the parmesan and the turquoise waters of the Tyrrhenian sea, the dish couldn’t be any better.
Mike Daw, partnerships manager

Margot’s Pride at Arcade

Fine sandwiches are about subtle detail. Though a simple food by design, there’s much to be said about adding celery salt – as was the case at Pret for many years – or spending extra on sourcing truly excellent lettuce. I think probably one of the most distinguishable factors in a sandwich is the quality of the salad leaves, if indeed salad leaves are used. The chicken sandwich from Margot’s Pride benefits from detail: the chicken, before being transformed into chicken mayo, is brined; the addition of habanero pepper and a little kombu seaweed provide doses of umami; lemon, garlic, tarragon become soft edges to the mustard and cider vinegar. Also good is the amount of chicken involved, and the roasted tomatoes and the baby gem which serve to compliment it. I don’t think I’ve had ‘porridge bread’ before – if I have it was called something else. It is stodgy and filling.
Josh Barrie, editor
Arcade Food Hall is available on the CODE app

Danclair’s Kitchen

On Monday we hosted our first member’s event for over two years (thank you COVID-19…). Starting as we meant to go on with a very punchy rum punch, we moved on to a generous selection of ‘small’ plates from the CODE x Danclair’s menu. Brian Danclair: owner, overseer, and superbly friendly host, hustled away in the kitchen, whipping up sweet, guava-glazed wings, mouth-numbing pepper prawns, fluffy cod fritters and ‘doubles’ – a Trinidadian street food with chickpeas, shadon benne sauce, tamarind and cucumber chutney on bara bread. The executive decision to round the night off with yet more rum and a few tumblers of smooth, smoky mezcal made for a very merry evening.
Molly Wade, memberships manager

Burger & Beyond, Soho

Burger restaurants are in abundance in the UK, so I’m often intimated by the huge amount of choice available to us on the high street. My old flatmate Elliot told me that his favourite burger was from Burger & Beyond, so when the opportunity arose to come and try out their new Soho restaurant, my expectations were high. I dread to think how many calories were inside my bacon butter burger – a beef patty with double American cheese, crispy pancetta, burnt butter mayo and onion, all chilling inside their signature sesame seed bun. To be honest, I don’t care, as it was worth every bite. Just in case that wasn’t enough, I also sampled a dish of pork tacos, too, which were full of flavour. Also, somehow I made room for a chocolate milkshake. Let’s go, Peloton!
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of Burger & Beyond

The Princess of Shoreditch

Delicate cooking with oomph: that’s how I would describe the food on my recent trip to the Princess of Shoreditch. Ruth Hansom and her team have produced a hidden gem. It gets little recognition yet deserves bundles. I’m happy for it to stay my hidden gem. The upstairs allows guests to enjoy a five or eight-course tasting menu. The snacks were astonishingly delicious, made with real craft. The venison tartare cigar was almost as addictive as the real thing, with a deep grown-up flavour about it. The bread course was packed with umami. The brioche piped full of mushroom parfait, paired alongside sourdough and Marmite butter, continued to pack big punches. If you read my best bites regularly, you’re probably getting bored of me banging on about snacks and bread. They are the highlights of most menus I find. No change here. The perfectly cooked lamb, braised belly, stuffed courgette flowers and peas lived up to expectations, as did the seasonally sensational strawberry pudding with sorrel sorbet. I urge all CODE members to run at speed to the Princess of Shoreditch. With 30 per cent off the total bill, don’t waste your time: go straight for the full eight courses.
Harry Cromack, account manager
The Princess of Shoreditch is available on the CODE app

Locanda Del Grifo

During a recent trip to Naples, I was aghast to discover that one of its most famous exports – Neapolitan ice cream, a staple of school dinners up and down our land – was unheard of in the region. My Italian travelling companions and Napoli locals looked at me with equal measures of disgust and confusion when I suggested that the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry combination that punctuated so many childhood memories comes from the city. Apparently not. Fortunately, not all of Naples’ exports are as shrouded in deceit. Pizza, for one, is a noble tradition that deserves a special kind of recognition when there. We ate well during our dinner at Locanda Del Grifo, where the delicious house pizza of cotto, mushrooms, soft buffalo mozzarella and olive tapenade demonstrated tradition well.
Mike Daw, partnerships manager

Le Magritte Bar at The Beaumont

My colleague Mike, who is likely writing about his recent trip to Italy in this edition of ‘best things the CODE team ate this week,’ used to work at The Beaumont and I was lured to visit as I trust his great taste in restaurants. While I’m yet to try their famed Colony Grill Room (on the CODE app by the way), I visited the hotel’s Le Magritte Bar for cocktails and snacks. Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood was there. I foxtrotted passed him to my table. The room is handsome, with a walnut-panelled interior, hung with an eclectic mix of artwork. I sipped a ‘Pilgrim 1966’ to begin, a citrusy, spicy number with Pisco, lime and passion fruit. A hit for the summer. Next up, a classic negroni done very well with ample ice and a balanced flavour. I liked the glassware so much that it exposed the inner kleptomaniac I never knew I had in me – I resisted, of course. Nibbles? A truffle pizza Bianca with coppa was colossal, but light and fresh. The French toast with bacon jam and truffle was the champion though. Little nuggets of sweet and savoury sexiness. In the words of that cyborg bloke, ‘I’ll be back.’
Henry Southan, social media manager
CODE was a guest of Le Magritte Bar at The Beaumont
The Colony Grill Room is available on the CODE app

The London Cabaret Club

Having started my evening at the London Cocktail Club with a cocktail that changes colour, I sensed that this would not be a typical dinner. Throughout the evening our courses interspersed rather wonderful displays of dancing, acrobatics and singing. It was an experience I’m unlikely to forget anytime soon and has given new meaning to the phrase dinner and show for myself.
George Gill, operations coordinator
CODE was a guest of The London Cabaret Club

Read more reviews from the CODE team here