West 10 |
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The following review has been written by Sheffschefs after a visit to the establishment. All visits are made anonymously, as ordinary paying customers. To read user reviews of this restaurant click here. The West 10 Wine Bar was born a few months ago, when the then Trippets 2 was taken over by new owners. We decided to check it out on a busy Friday evening, to see if anything had changed radically. The ground floor wine bar was already very busy even at 7 p.m. but we managed to secure a spot at the bar for a pre-dinner drink and a browse of the menu. We placed our orders at the bar too, so by the time we made our way upstairs to the restaurant area, we didn't have long to wait. Given the bustle downstairs, we were surprised to be the only diners when we got there, but pretty soon, other diners joined us and it seemed that the management had sensibly staggered bookings. The menu had offered a section of 'pre-starters' including mixed olives, or bread with dipping oil and we'd plumped for some olives to start us off. We were very pleasantly surprised by this dish, which had plenty of well-flavoured olives, plus an unexpected portion of bread and dipping oil. It was very good value, and for those who like to ensure there is space to fit in a pudding, would be quite sufficient as a shared appetiser without a more substantial starter. Both the starters, one marinated goats cheese and the other scallops, came well presented with a generous portion of rocket and pepper salad. Both tasty, but the cheese was a bit stodgy and it was a challenge to finish it all. Between courses we took in more of the environment and found it quite pleasant, low lighting and dark wood furniture makes for a cosy atmosphere. It did start to feel a bit like a private club at times though, as increasing numbers of guests either knew each other, or knew the staff! Still, such repeat business must be a good sign. For main courses we'd selected crispy sea bass and maize fed chicken. They both came with a salad almost identical to the starters, but this wasn't a problem as we also got a dish of fresh vegetables and new potatoes. Both main courses were thoroughly enjoyable and though the veg was plain and simple, it was lightly cooked and crisp, which in our opinion is the only way to serve it, so it did get the thumbs up. We enjoyed our meal and the only down side was that it did start to get a bit smoky towards the end of the meal as the wine bar downstairs got fuller and fuller. Not cheap, but we felt it offered quite good value for money, given the quality of the food.
October 2002
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