The Ropemaker, Emsworth

As I have surely said on this blog plenty of times over the years, I will never go to any holiday or short trip without at least one meal booked that stands a better than average chance of being decent. This is partly just for the sheer joy of eating out (how sad must your life be if you don't like eating out) but particularly in the case of European trips, there's a pretty good chance the weather will be awful (and don't think even Spain avoids this - it rained for days on end during recent trips to Seville and Girona) so I need an indoor activity to escape to.

And it's just as well the Ropemaker turned out to be as good as it did, because the weather last week in Emsworth was utterly biblical. I foolishly left the dry, comfortable hotel room with only an umbrella and by the time I'd got the 20 min or so down the road to what I'm going to call the Old Town (I'm not sure what locals call it) my jeans and shoes were absolutely soaked through due to horizontal driving rain. After sitting in the Blue Bell nursing a pint and a crab sandwich for as long as it took to stop dripping onto the floor beneath me, which was a surprisingly long time, I reluctantly headed out again into the squall and got soaked to the bone all over again. As I said, it really is just as well the Ropemaker turned out to be good.

This was apparently the first day of a new menu, and though I was slightly disappointed to see they'd taken off their "famous" (as much as anywhere can be famous for anything after only being open 2 months) Bouillabaisse, there was still plenty of things you'd want to eat. This is a cheese soufflé which held a great shape thanks to a gently firm crust, and was lovely and fluffy inside. The cheese sauce was good too - silky smooth and not too overwhelming or too underpowered.

Crab and sweetcorn bites had a great texture and plenty of good crab flavour. Perhaps if I was going to nitpick I'd say they probably didn't need all three of guacamole, apple and pear chutney AND brown crab mayonnaise (the mayo and the chutney would have been more than enough) but I mean, who doesn't like guacamole anyway.

I've had enough bad examples of duck over the years (mealy and dry, overcooked and tough, or cold and flabby) to know that despite appearances it's pretty bloody easy to get wrong. The bird here was fantastic - so tender you could cut it with a spoon but with a defined golden brown skin from careful rendering. The veg selection was all soaked in one of those lovely thick, dark Madeira sauces and carbs came in the form of a neat square of crisp and creamy Dauphinoise potato.

I never got to try the rump steak as it disappeared so quickly, but I assume that's a good sign. It certainly looked accurately rare, and the chips were good and crunchy (although, inevitably, I'd have preferred them peeled). One of the balancing acts somewhere like the Ropemaker has to pull off is keep their traditional local customer base happy but also have enough elsewhere going on to make the journey worthwhile for a curious visiting restaurant enthusiast. And judging by the fact every table in this huge restaurant (and more or less every spot in the huge bar) was taken on a cold, wet Wednesday night is proof that they've hit upon a formula that works. PS. Ignore the photo above, we ate early and this was taken when we first arrived

Desserts were equally accomplished. Bramley apple and cranberry crumble was easily enjoyable, not too sweet or sour, and with a nice buttery crumb. And Pistachio soufflé (the second soufflé on the menu) looked and tasted the part too. We didn't order the cheese, but the tasteful mix of English (Ogleshield,Shropshire Blue) and French (Coulommiers, Couronne Cendrée) names means someone at the Ropemaker knows their cheese.

So who cares about weather, if it just means more of an excuse to stay for longer holed up somewhere like the Ropemaker and get stuck in. As I said, it's already a wildly popular place despite the slightly out-of-town location, so they hardly need my help putting the word out, but I'm happy to report that my night's stay here was extremely lovely (the bed in particular was incredibly comfy, I slept like a log) and I'd recommend it to anyone. Rain or shine.

8/10

I was invited to the Ropemaker and didn't see a bill for dinner, though we paid for our drinks at the bar separately. Visit their website for prices.

Hainan House, Angel

Hainan is an island off the south coast of China about the size of Vancouver Island - that makes it bigger than Sicily and Sardinia and twice the size of Hawaii, with a population of over 10 million people (more than London). And yet inevitably until last week I'd never heard of it. I make no excuses for this - my knowledge of the geography of China is pretty pathetic, and I should do better, but in a way it's the job (or at least partly the job) of these little regional super-specialist restaurants to draw attention to some of the bewildering variety of Chinese cuisine, much like Silk Road did for Xinjiang and Dream Xi'an and Master Wei did for Shaanxi.

So Hainan cuisine then, or rather Qiong cuisine which is how they describe it on their website, appears to involve quite a bit of poaching of meat instead of the Cantonese/Beijing style crisp-skinned roasts, matched with fragrant fermented herbs and vegetables and the occasional claypot rice dish. Hainanese chicken, for example, is a thing you may have heard of before as it turns up in a certain form on the Din Tai Fung menu and is one of my favourite things to order there. Once you get used to the idea of poached chicken (speaking as someone brought up in Liverpool and didn't have it until I was well into my thirties), it really is a very lovely thing indeed.

Anyway I'm getting ahead of myself. The lunch menu at £13.50 for a main and a side seemed an eminently reasonable place to start, and this is beef Hun - strips of dried beef which had a very interesting collapsey texture (not chewy at all) in a tofu beancurd sauce with lovely big fried tofu puffs adding a bit of gentle crunch. But almost my favourite element were the fermented mustard greens, lovely dark green chunks of pickled brassica which provided another level of punchy flavour.

We tried to share the duties of sides to cover as much of the menu as possible. My own choice was pickled mooli, brilliantly strongly flavoured with that familair pongy (in a good way) turnip-y aroma and very generous in portion size.

Tea eggs were also good, soft and subtly flavoured and although I would have perhaps liked a bit more seasoning, although maybe I'm just thinking of the salted egg you get with ramen and these had a different job to do. They still disappeared quickly enough.

And I didn't get to try any of the braised cabbage, as it got demolished when my back was turned, but by all accounts that was very good too.

Thinking we couldn't come all of this way without trying the famous Hainanese chicken, they kindly let us order a half portion of the poussin off the evening menu, and it didn't disappoint. Served at room temperature to showcase the delicate flavours at their best, every last bit was perfectly tender and perfectly seasoned, and the accompanying chilli-pickled pineapple was wildly addictive. I could have ordered a portion of that on its own. A little bowl of mushroom rice, fluffy and light and moreish, rounded off the savoury courses.

Service was alert and pleasant, but then as we were the only table occupied that Friday lunchtime, it was quite easy to command their attention. I'm hoping it's just a case of the word not getting out just yet about this dynamic little spot on Upper Street, because at prices like these - as I said, £13.50 for a main and a side, and £15 with a drink as well, even with service added on is a bit of a bloody bargain. And for the chance to try a style of Chinese regional food that hitherto hasn't been very visible in the capital, it's worth every penny and more.

Overall, there's really not much to fault about Hainan House. Boldly different, great value and smartly presented, even the hilariously precipitous journey to the loos, involving a crazily inclined staircase in three wildly different proportions, like something from a fairground fun house, just added to the charm. Whether it finds an audience rather depends on Londoners see authentic regional Chinese food coming out of Upper Street - even top ramen peddlers Kanada-Ya took a while to get going a few doors' down, even as people were queueing down the street for the St Giles branch. But, with a bit of luck, and a little time, they should do very well indeed. At least, they very much deserve to.

8/10

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The Royal Oak, Whatcote

There are so many different types of restaurant, so much variety in the ways and manner and styles that we eat out, that sometimes it's amazing we find anything in common about the experience at all. And yet somehow we do, and restaurant critics and food blogs exist because, by and large, if one person enjoys a place there's a pretty good chance another person will enjoy it too. I'm generalising hugely of course, but as much as there exists the concept of a Good Restaurant - and I'm pretty sure there is - then there is value in someone telling you about it.

But I have to be very careful when talking about the Royal Oak at Whatcote, because if I had sat down and written a list of all the things I personally wanted from a lunch out, from the culinary method of the kitchen, through the attitude to sourcing of ingredients, to the style and manner of service, I could hardly have ended up with a more perfect representation on earth than this charming old pub nestled in the Warwickshire countryside. And although it pains me to even consider the idea, perhaps not everyone would fall as madly and deeply in love with the place on first visit than I did.

But honestly, they had me at "hello". On a blackboard on the wall in the dining room at the Royal Oak are listed everything in season, and everything you might expect to see on the menu at some point, a menu that sometimes changes a few times a day based on availability. Crab, crayfish, grouse, lobster, muntjac, quail, rabbit, roebuck, snipe... it's like they reached into my brain and saw all my favourite things to eat and then wrote them down on a piece of paper, and paper, by the way, that is not only recycled and recyclable but literally contains wildflower seeds that you can soak out and grow in your own garden.

After a fresh and summery house aperitif that involved orange and fizz and had a single giant square ice cube in (a presentational flourish I always appreciate in short drinks), the first element of the lunch proper was a shot of roe buck consommé. The Royal Oak receive venison from the hills surrounding the village and break down the animal themselves, meaning they get to use the bones and various other bits to make this incredible broth, beautifully balanced between meaty richness and a slight tang of alcohol, with a thick, glossy texture that coats the lips. It was an absolute joy.

The next two snacks arrived together - a silky duck liver parfait sandwiched between delicate pastry, a prune chutney and a layer of ginger gel studded with herbs. And that was beautiful in every way, but the smoked eel with apple was enough to elicit gasps - inside more exquisitely crafted pastry was a smoked eel and apple sorbet, dissolving in the mouth to release distinct and decadent notes of smoked fish and summer herbs alongside the bright fresh wash of frozen apple. It was, also, miraculously good.

Sweetcorn had been teased into a kind of flower-shaped mousse, filled with some powerful wild mushrooms (with an earthy powdered element I couldn't quite put my finger on but which added another autumnal dimension of flavour) and then bathed in a light butter and sweetcorn (I think) velouté. Presentation at the Royal Oak is, as you can probably tell even from my terrible photos, easily at the multi Michelin-starred level but never at the expense of accessibility or flavour - it surprises and delights, but never shocks or jarrs.

Like every modern British restaurant worth its salt these days, bread and butter is presented as a course unto itself, in order to sufficiently showcase the effort that had gone into the various elements before the rest of the savoury courses arrive and steal the limelight. The bread, a near perfect sphere of supremely airy wholemeal loaf, was the perfect vehicle for the butters, not as filling or as powerfully flavoured as the more usual sourdough, but so light and easy to eat it invited you to load up each mouthful with even more butter than you would normally. The butters, by the way, were a 'normal' deep yellow churn, a salty, rich pork fat version and a goats' cheese, and they were all world class but I think, somewhat predictably, my favourite was the pork fat which had little bits of puffed rind on top.

Incredibly, the main body of the tasting menu had yet to start. That kicked off with this pretty circle of rainbow strips of courgette - pickled and grilled alternatively I think they said - draped over some beautifully cooked slices of roe-buck loin (I think it was) and fluffy curd. There was a lot to love here in every different technique and stunning seasonal ingredient on display, but the star - understandably - was the supremely local venison, which had a dark smoky crust and rich, deep pink gamey interior.

Monkfish tail, dense and meaty, came dusted with pine which was a lovely little combo. With it, a cylinder of roast celeriac topped with crunchy, herby breadcrumbs, a dollop of apple purée with nasturtium oil, and what I think was a chestnut purée. And that was all fantastic. But my God the sauce poured on top - buttery and crabby and bursting with flavour, so complex and light in texture but with an extraordinary depth of flavour - was an absolute masterclass, a reason to make the journey out to Warwickshire on its own. We talked about this sauce all the way on the train home, and I was thinking about it as soon as I woke up the next morning. This was a world-changing crab sauce.

The next course, then, had a lot to live up to, but absolutely did. There was a little slice of roast plum topped with sage, next to a vegetable purée of some kind I couldn't quite put my finger on, but which was silky smooth and full of flavour. There was a dainty little pastry case of immensely rich and gamey offal bound by another masterclass in saucing, studded with more root veg and topped with a generous pile of black truffle. But best of all was a quail breast stuffed with apricot and sage, juicy and packed full of flavour, with a fantastic faintly bitter touch from the sage and a salty, golden brown skin. Like everything else it was beautiful to look at, seasoned perfectly, intelligently constructed and a delight to eat. Absolute heaven.

Even an ostensibly simple cheese course managed to impress in a number of different ways at once. The cheese was a new one to me - Yordale from Curlew Dairy, which was a bit like a more creamy and complex Lancashire, a really good bit of cheesemaking. With it, a dollop of local honey and a golden brown Banbury cake (Banbury being the nearest town, and where you're likely arrive if getting to Whatcote by train), sort of like an elongated Eccles cake, sweetly glazed and addictively crisp. It was paired to great success with a South African port, The Bishop of Norwich 'The Liberator'. Wines at the Royal Oak have a heavy (though not exclusively so) South African lean as Solanche (Craven, Richard Craven is the chef) hails from there, and her enthusiasm for everything she serves is extremely infectious.

I'm sure the Oak wouldn't mind me describing the first dessert - blackcurrant sorbet on top of a clever blackberry leaf mousse - as Roganesque, as it had the same light touch and attention to striking visual detail as anything to come out of the kitchens at l'Enclume. It was a dish that reminded you how good blackberries are when in peak season and treated with supreme skill, and how lucky we are in this country to have them on our doorstep.

Damsons, from a tree just next to the pub, came prettily arranged on a sponge cake which had more damson compote inside. But the star of this dish was something they called Honington hay-brown butter, which I think had been smoked and salted and who knows what else to produce the most amazingly rich brown butter ice cream, the kind of thing I think I could polish off pints of at a time.

You will have noticed I have completely failed to be even the least bit "careful" about my enthusiasm and love for the Royal Oak. From the first sip of glossy venison consommé to the final bite of buttery, warm chocolate ganache (above), this was a meal without fault, made with love by people at the top of their game (no pun intended... or maybe slightly intended), and involving a succession of all of my favourite seasonal British ingredients. But what makes the whole operation even more special is that the nimbleness of the kitchen matched with a tireless effort to find what's good at any given moment means the menu constantly shifts to be the best it can possibly be. You'll notice that even in the time they took to print the menu that morning, guinea fowl had been swapped out for quail, to stunning effect. All of which means any given repeat visit has the chance to be bewilderingly brilliant in a whole new series of ways.

I don't know what else to tell you, other than the Royal Oak is as close to my ideal restaurant that exists in the actual world and that you should make every effort under the sun to go. Oh and if you think rural Warwickshire is a bit inaccessible, my whole journey from Battersea door to door took 2 and a bit hours, and that included a 25 min cab ride (£25 each way) from Banbury. So it's just as enticingly available for a leisurely Saturday lunch out of town than anywhere else outside the M25. Oh, and there's a lovely terrace for good weather. Oh, and the toilets are nice. Oh, and there's a good big space between the tables and there's a "pub bit" with a pool table if you want to linger around afterwards. Oh, and... never mind. Just go.

10/10

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I was invited to the Royal Oak and didn't see a bill, but if you want to do it properly, with tasting menus and matching wines, you're looking at about £220pp. And given everything you get in return, I consider that a bargain.

Mamapen at the Sun and 13 Cantons, Soho

There are a few pubs in London notable for their hosting of fledgling food businesses, giving talented but cash-strapped teams a chance to test their market and their cooking skills without the risk and stress of opening a completely brand new restaurant. Over the years, you will have possibly read about a few of them on this blog - The Prince Arthur in Dalston, the Spurstowe Arms in London Fields and the Newman Arms all played the part of startup host at some point in time, and some still do.

But perhaps nowhere is as influential on the London food network as the Sun and 13 Cantons in Soho. Not all their partnerships have been successful (to say the least) but then that's not always the point - when you open your doors to anyone with an idea untested in the marketplace, not everything will find an audience. But if you can say your humble city centre pub was responsible for the success of the brilliant Darjeeling Express, well, that's a record to be proud of.

I am not going to make any predictions about what lies in the Sun and 13's latest resident Mamapen's future, because I am notoriously bad at predictions (I thought Café Kitty would be a surefire success; it closed last week after barely a year open). But I can tell you that the appealing, reasonably priced food served by their enthusiastic and energetic team is doing almost everything right, and they deserve to go far.

Dinner kicked off with a plate of pickles, tasting as vibrant and multicoloured as they looked. My particular favourite was the almost fluorescent yellow daikon, which had a fantastic punchy pongy-ness.

Next, mushroom skewers, nice firm shiitake in a gently sweet glaze, licked with smoke from the coals. At least, I assume they're cooking over live fire because it certainly tastes like it. They came with a little clear chilli-spiked dip, as did the...

...pork neck skewers, equally deftly cooked with a nice dark crust from the grill. If this is Cambodian cuisine, I'm a fan.

Prawn crackers were notable not just for a remarkably addictive "sour soup seasoning" but because they came with a fantastic "burnt chilli and pineapple" dip which actually went with most of the menu not just the crackers.

Sorry if it seems like I'm rushing through these descriptions a bit but although most of the dishes felt like a lot of work had gone into them (thanks to nice balancing of fat and salt and sharp and sweet), not knowing the first thing about Cambodian cuisine I'm a bit of a loss to explain in more detail why. Our favourite of the snacks was pan-fried tofu knots, soft and meaty-tasting (despite being vegan), soaked in rich green chilli and with fried shallots for extra crunch. Cambodia seems like a very nice place to be vegan.

"Panko pork toast" was more elevated comfort food - accessible and even vaguely familiar to London tastes but still interesting, topped with a fried egg and homemade XO sauce. Oh it was good pork too, greaseless and with plenty of flavour.

We were finally defeated by this generous portion of chicken but fortunately Mamapen happily provide takeaway boxes. And so I'm happy to report that even the next day this was a fine piece of poultry, moist right to the bone thanks I think to a clever marinade and with another sweet, sharp and citrussy glaze. Charred broccoli were also beautifully crunchy and soft in all the right places, with an extra note of exotic toasted sesame.

It's probably right to assume that Mamapen, despite their announced title of "London's Only Cambodian Restaurant", aren't trying to be the last word in the cuisine. It doesn't feel like some deeply authentic slice of Phnom Penh transplanted into the UK - it is after all pub food served in an English pub, albeit food of a style and flavour the capital largely hasn't seen before.

But is in that very process of balancing authenticity and commercial success that so often produces extraordinary results. Stick rigidly to authenticity and you won't be more than a sideshow for a handful of ex-pats. Give the people what you think they want and you're no better than any other chain restaurant in the country. But if you can be accessible and interesting, using Cambodian cuisine as inspiration while still serving a menu full of dishes people want to eat in a country 6,000 miles away (and believe me, you'll want to eat all of it), then you end up with something quite special. I said I don't make predictions, and so I won't. But let's just say if "Chef's Table: Mamapen" appeared on my TV listings in a couple of years' time, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised.

9/10

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I was invited to Mamapen and didn't see a bill, but a realistic amount per head including a drink or two is probably about £40.