OTT On the Thames

 

I still trek home every time I want to get my hair coloured as I've never found anywhere in London that does it as well as my faithfull lebanese hairdresser Elio Giorgio, who has now set up and is running a successful salon in Bourne End a good ten years after I first had him cut my hair . To ease the pain of demanding to be driven there to do my roots, I suggested that we all have lunch at OTT - this time an acronym for On the Thames - afterwards. With the weather being sunny and the prospect of being able to get a table outside on the terrace to overlook all the boats in the Thames and all the other sailors in the water that day it was agreed.
  

 The outing started badly when my hair appointment over-ran and took a while longer (by that I mean an hour) than usual. By this time I was rather impatient as I'm not too good at sitting still and was longing to be soaking up the sun which hasn't made much of an appearance this year. Luckily though, when I arrived, cold sauvignon blanc was waiting for me accompanied by the breads and dips - baba ganoush, pesto, hummous, tomato and I had been sent the menu to pre-order my food.

As well as a la carte menu, there is a 'Thames menu' presumably for sitting outside on the terrace which is pretty much the same as the lunchtime menu. There's much similiarity in the style of cooking across all of the menus, which could be described as 'modern mediterranean'. Starters were all the kind of things that we wanted whilst admiring the view - light, fresh and tasty dishes: smoked salmon roulades, chicken ceaser salads etc.

 

Mains were more substantial with chicken braised in white wine, muchrooms & onions with mustard mash, or pan fried sea bream on a bed of potatoes, asparagus beans and salad then a baked cheesey mushroom on pak choi as a vegetarian option and a more filling cajun pork tenderloin with chorizo and black pudding on crushed new potatoes and baby onions.

 

There's a set price for two courses at £9.95 and a supplement of £4.95 if you want a pudding or cheese course. I tried both - being greedy and also having not indugled quite so much in the breads and chutneys. The cheese came with two large slabs each of both brie and stilton and a wonderful fig and prune chutney to enjoy with the crackers. I preferred this to the cherry tart with dark chocolate and marshmallows, ice cream and berries, which was rather sweet and I had hoped would come with more cherries and fresher ones rather than the glace variety. Nice if you like sweet desserts but not really one for us.

 

If you find yourself around this part of the world and are looking for somewhere to have lunch, supper or soon breakfast, then this is a good option for a lazy meal and a drink. Just sit back, order, enjoy and relax! 

www.ottrestaurant.co.uk and 01628 531111 for bookings. Although be warned you can't book a table outside.  Get there early and book a table inside to be on the safe side.

www.trisori.com