This year I took Gary on a surprise trip to St John Restaurant in Farringdon for his birthday. At least, it was supposed to be a surprise although I could not help but tell him in the morning where we were going!
The restaurant is named after my favourite saint and is situated in St John Street. The restaurant is a stone’s throw from St John’s arch which was built in the 16th Century as an entrance to the Clerkenwell Priory which was the Priory of the Knights of St John (known as the Knights Hospitalier).
The restaurant was founded in London in 1994 just as London’s foodie scene started to flourish and I have therefore wanted to go for a long time (but not really had the excuse). It’s not for the faint-hearted as it specialises in nose-to-tail cooking, serving up dishes using most parts of an animal for those that are brave enough to try it.
In the event, I was fairly conservative and had a pork salad with dandelions for a starter. I was not totally convinced about the dandelions but we do have some growing in the garden and may be inspired to try and use them. For the main, I had brill which came with a green sauce which was out of this world. Sadly, I can’t remember what the sauce was and as the evening’s menu is only published at 5pm each day, it is likely to be too late to try and find out!
Gary was a bit braver than me and his face lit up when the waiter suggested try the pig spleen starter and lamb sweetbreads. In the end he chose both!
For desserts I had an Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese (the only choice on the menu for me). Gary had an apple and calvados trifle. Drinkwise, I tried out Plymouth gin for the first time, the wine list is French so we couldn’t really go wrong.
Anyway, the evening was a great success, Gary wrote on his facebook page afterwards that he had “an offaly good birthday” which can only be the highest accolade!
The restaurant website is – https://stjohnrestaurant.com/