Duck Soup: Soho’s New Love?

Duck Soup is a recipe to success (in Soho at least)..

First … there were this slightly bare bricked wall, this steeply pleasant bar counter that served food and drinks, and the ambiance of carefree minimalism. Sorry, I was not being precise, but imagine Fernandez and Wells with a bit of Polpo and Terroirs. It wasn’t shabby, or smart, but it looked just casual.. and just right. The biggest table I saw was for 6 people, though I heard of a bigger dining room upstairs. The restaurant so far plans to take reservations only at lunch hours.

Second … there was this audaciously comforting menu, which changes regularly. Today it was Zucca-meet-paired-down-Petersham-Nurseries. It bordered on being Italian and quite frankly 2 out of 3 dishes were nearly entirely vegetarian. All dishes were written on movable blackboards and tucked at places not particularly levelled with my eyes (which were an inconvenience). Bar nibbles cost around £3.50, starters at £7 and mains at £14. I forgot to check out much my dessert was priced.

Egg Mayonnaise was a soft boiled egg with cayenne pepper dust and liquid mayo, which tasted more like acidified double cream. The baby gem lettuce crunch made the dish less boring. Jesus du Pays was more a success. Coarsely ground meat and rustically sliced. It came with porky robustness with a bit of bites. There were a few other charcuterie options on the bar menu, too.

The onion starter was pleasant. Linconshire onions were baked whole for accomplished mellowness and oozy sweetness. Salty, thyme-infused ricotta crumbles and very bitter leaves made the dish effortlessly three dimensional. If you are a lazy or unskilled kind, however, you may find the process of unwrapping the onions, assembling the trio, and putting it all in your mouth a real task. The same enjoyment could be said of my Ceps on Toast – raw and thinly sliced ceps salad with flat leaf parsley, Berkswell cheese and a thing sheet of pork fat (Lardo di Colonata). Though suffered minimally from being over-parsleyed, the dish was fresh and expertly textured. The thickly sliced and toasted Sourdough sponged up the juicy goodies. There was also a sustained comfort of the meaty taste to make me feel it wasn’t entirely.. too veggie.

£14 for a Quail main course did look a bit pricy. But, OH!, there were two of them on my plate. Their legs were bent and lifted; their breasts broad and firm… sexy! Cleaving the breasts, I felt instantaneously in love. It was tender on the knife and juicy and not obscenely pink to the eyes. A squeeze of even juicier burnt lemon and a smear of earthy saffron mayonnaise.. and it had me there.

Easy.

Beautiful.

I wanted to come back for more of this. This was followed by a colourful and generous bowl of Mixed Squashes and Girolles. The squashes were well-seasoned but too mushy. I liked the curdy cheese, the bites from the chestnuts and the girolles/chanterelles (?) that were so massive and meaty. Again bright and fresh taste for a vegetable dish.

There was only one dessert of Creme Caramel. Silky. Sweet. Burnt aroma. Not exciting but kinda textbook perfect ^_^

Third … (after many veg dishes) I left with a healthy bowel. Guilt-free and content (after a parade of class dishes).

Duck Soup not only conforms to London’s gastronomic hipness but also fills in the niche in its fresh, vibrant and produce-oriented menu. If you can get over the fact that meat isn’t prominent (as of today), you’ll find clean flavours, no pretense on and off the plate, good price, and a BYO-vinyl policy. Great potential for a hang out spot. I think Duck Soup will be expecting a queue soon..

And I can’t wait to see how the menu evolves.

NOTE: I went back to Duck Soup. There were finally many more meat dishes!!

And here’s my posh Fritto Misto of langoustine, artichoke and john dory, served with saffron mayo. Golden and light :-9

Enough said,

My head rating says, “8 out of 10″.

My heart rating says, “8 out of 10″.

DUCK SOUP

41 Dean Street
London
W1D 4PR

Tel. 020 7287 4599