East India House,
109-117 Middlesex Street,
Broadgate,
London,
E1 7JF
0872 148 0496
The ViewLondon Review
Man-sized portions of fine food in a City setting.The VenueTucked away off Bishopsgate, two minutes from Liverpool Street Station, Lanes doesn’t present a particularly glamorous facade - it’s on a quiet side street, with faded canopies overhanging the windows. Inside, though, it’s a spacious, modern brasserie style restaurant and bar. Warhol-style screen-prints of a strangely disparate crew of celebrities adorn the walls: Captain Kirk, Jimi Hendrix, Hilda Ogden and Ricky Gervais doing That Dance.
The AtmosphereAs you’d expect given its location, it’s full of City types in suits and ties pursuing vigorous conversations. There’s a strong masculine preponderance. The tables are well-spaced so you don’t feel too close to other diners ands the atmosphere is relaxed. Service is efficient but staff won’t hurry you, and most of the diners seem intent on staying put for a good long time, which is quite understandable.
The FoodBasically British-based with European influences, the food is imaginative, with intelligent use of fresh ingredients. Warm, crusty rolls are served with a sweet, smoky red pepper pesto - a nice touch and a welcome change from the usual pat of butter. While you wait for your starters, you can enjoy a tiny cup of creamy, briny wild mushroom soup - another thoughful touch and a great stimulant to appetite.
Starters include roasted tomato soup with Lancashire cheese croutons and potted shrimp with watercress. Strongly recommended is the marinated pork with pear, blue cheese and pine nuts - the pork comes in pale, tender, lightly salted discs and the tiny pear-cubes, the blue cheese morsels and the pine nuts add sweetness, tang and crunch respectively. Also recommended are the pan-seared scallops, meaty but light, served with a pretty oval of pomme puree garnished with chives.
Mains include some good fish options such as smoked haddock at £16.50, or monkfish with creamy curried mussels at £21.50. The parmesan-crusted veal cutlet is an inch thick and about the size of a table-tennis bat, and it’s pink and meltingly tender. It comes with lambs lettuce and a little jug of dark, serious mushroom sauce. Wild mushroom and girolle risotto is superb: earthy, rich, enhanced by the foresty taste of truffle oil and with a perfect poached egg nestling on top. A side dish of artichokes, pine nuts and truffle oil with a balsamic dressing is delicious, its flavours robust enough not to be overwhelmed by the hearty main dishes. As for desserts (all at £6.50) it would be hard to beat the sticky toffee pudding, which lives up to its name by sticking to the ribs. A trio of homemade vanilla (made with fragrant fresh vanilla), rum and raisin, and hazelnut ice cream is a slightly lighter option.
The DrinkA serious and extensive wine-list, with no fewer than 29 whites and 28 reds on offer. They are mostly European and mostly French, and range in price from £18 to £146. An Entre-Deux-Mers at £18.50 is light and crisp and gluggable. The most expensive champagne is £265 a pop - Lanes say they sell one or two bottles of this a week, more if City trading has been good.
The Last WordThis is simply delicious food. The prices are hefty but so are the portions. Do not come here if you are slimming or economizing, but otherwise, do!