We were in London just one night so I could attend the opera, and I needed to have a simple, not too heavy, early dinner, and chose IMPALA right near our hotel on the walk to Covent Garden. IMPALA fit the bill and was pretty quiet as I took a seat at 530pm. I had a table right opposite the open kitchen and a huge prep table that virtually all the chefs encircled for the entire time I was there; it was great to see these 1/2 dozen or so doing their jobs. To the right of this was a bar with stools for those who wanted to sit and chat with the chefs doing cold prep or perhaps enjoy a tasting menu.
The cuisine here is Moroccan based using local English ingredients, so my s whicherver was a tad unnerved when I said no sesame or poppy or small seeds, as it seems so many of the dishes incorporate them. He went to chat with the head chef nearby who actually came over to the table several times to ask about the seed issue and i explained, that it was just whole seeds not oils or such and he was very happy. He later brought many of the dishes explaining them as well; this was a real team effort.
I started with the Beef Tartare made with baklouti chilli and this could be one of the best around town. (photos on FB) It arrived with finely shredded cheese on top, and the spice was amazing, but the piece de resistance was the fried dough that came with it instead of bread!! What a brilliant novel and tasty idea indeed.
Second was Pastilla, duck pastry with pickled walnut which were two pastilla pastries that looked more like spinakopita and had a very spicy ketchup-like dip. Another spicy dish that tasting so divine, I wanted more. Third was Kibbeh of white crab and sun dried wheat wrapped in shiso leaf. This was one large bite (as I was instructed) and really not what I would call a kibbeh; deconstructed crab kibbeh, maybe. The crab sat inside atop the leaf and was a tasty, refreshing bite, but at 7pounds($9.50US) I would have appreciated two!
I was also enjoying a glass of Nino Barraco "Biancomatto" 2025 Catarratto from Sicily which was also so refreshing with great mineral flavors. The wine list was great with every one (13 whites/2 oranges(amber)/2 roses/9 reds/3 sparkling) all available by the glass or bottle, even if some of them were insanely priced; the lowest was 7pounds up to 56 (over $75) for a glass of 2006 Pouilly-Fuisse!
I was still a tad hungry and asked my server for a suggestion and ending up with the Fried Mackerel, cod's roe and muhammara, which was nothing what I expected. The fish sat sandwiched between a bed of muhammara(spicy red pepper and walnut spread) that was so creamy it was almost beyond rich and atop a huge ribbon of creamy cod roe. It was amazing, and now I was truly full. After a strawberry pate a fruit as a mignardises, I was happy to move on as the noise level between the music and guests (two tables were now so close to me I could hear every word said) made me yearn to get to the opera. A great meal but dine early to avoid the noise!
