Gail's Kitchen

Mediterranean surprise

Located inside "Myhotel Bloomsbury" just off Tottenham Court Road. Gail's Kitchen is a contemporary restaurant/ cafe serving small plates of Mediterranean inspired food that are ideal for sharing with the bread base ingredients playing a key part in the menu.  

Grilled sardines and tomato salad

New potato and roast aubergine salad
with soft boiled egg

Food orders arrived randomly and at a pretty fast pace. The char grilled octopus with chickpeas and harissa was decent at best, the octopus was cooked for too long which resulted in it being a little bit chewy which was a shame as the seasoning was spot on. The new potato and roast aubergine salad with soft boiled egg was much better on the other hand, the aubergine had great depth of flavours from the herbs and had a silky texture. Pizza bianca was an outstanding plate of food, the dough itself was so soft and refined and this was covered by some well executed slow roast tomato with top notch fennel salami, mozzarella & pistou, what an Italian delight it was.

Char grilled octopus with chickpeas and harissa

Pizza bianca

Breast of lamb arrotolato was also a solid dish, the lamb was moist and had good seasoning, nice mixtures of Mediterranean flavours from the gremolata with the green beans and lentils absorbed all the lovely rich flavours. Sticky chicken with roast garlic, carrots and almonds was the overall winner on the evening, chicken was cooked at the perfect level, the garlic offered robustness with the sweet carrots and almonds giving it a nice touch of contrast, it was nothing fancy but totally delivered in a wonderful taste.

Breast of lamb arrotolato

Sticky chicken with roast garlic, carrots and almonds 

All in all it was a pleasant surprise, service was also very friendly and caring. I wasn't expecting the cooking to be at such a solid level. With a touch of creative and clever elements in the mix, it was indeed a very refreshing and welcoming concept as I am getting a little bored with the majority of small plates of food restricted to mostly just Spanish tapas. Gail's Kitchen offered something original with a nice touch of Mediterranean influence, well worth a try. 

Food 5.5
Service 6
Ambience 5
Value 6

£29 per head

13 Bayley St, London WC1B 3HD

http://www.gailskitchen.co.uk/