Divo

If I had to use one word to describe my visit to Divo, it would have to be disappointment. I'd been deeply intrigued by all the terrible reviews and had gone expecting... I am not sure what exactly, but certainly not what we got which was damn good meal. And not just damn good for Eastern European comfort food, but damn good full stop.
Sure, the place is ostentatious, with flat-screen TVs in fake gilded frames (luckily turned off), elaborately carved wooden pillars around the bar and the most amazingly ornamental, flower-patterned enamel in the bathroom. But the owners have clearly had a bit of rethink since the dire reviews.
Gone - to my huge disappointment - are the waitress' Ukrainian folk outfits with mini skirts. Gone is the £320 caviar pancakes (though may be these are now in a separate menu that doesn't get given the plebs like us) and the Ukrainian wine. Instead we sipped on a very nice French house red for a very reasonable £14.50 a bottle. We also tried some kvas (£3) - a drink made with fermented rye bread, which in my Russian childhood days used to be sold from a tap on the back of special mini-oil-tanker-style lorries. Alas, it turns out, the kvas of more childhood days was akin to the bottles of old fashioned lemonade in the supermarket. The version here was authentic, home-made and heavy on the bread flavours. Uncouth that I am, I didn't like it nearly as much as the fizzier, sugarier mass-produced stuff. They also passed the tap water test with flying colours, bringing a jug when asked and frequently replenishing both our glasses and the jug. In fact throughout, service was very attentive (the waitresses now wear red blouses and black trousers).



The starter of salo (£7) entirely transformed this fatty, common-as-muck but delicious to my Russian taste buds lump of lard into a dainty dish worthy of any upmarket modern eaterie. The slices were wafer thin, daintily arranged on a slice of toasted rye bread and complemented with greenery and capers.



The khachapuri (£7), alas, were again of the cheesy pitta bread style I'd tried in Baltic, if a lot nicer. (This did make me wonder whether there is a Georgian style and another non-Georgian style?) The accompanying pot of lobio was a moreish mix of chopped up kidney beans, garlic, walnuts and lemon juice.



Of the mains, deruni (£8) featured two potato pancakes, filled with nicely browned, buttery button mushrooms and herbs and served with a pot of sour cream.



The neck of lamb was delectably pink and tender -- though that probably rendered it not very authentically Eastern European. At £18 it was the joint second most expensive thing on the menu, which rather suggest the prices have come down somewhat since the place first opened. It was served in a very artistic arrangement with sides of rice, grilled aubergine and a tomato-y sauce.



We weren't exactly hungry after all that, but the desert menu was too tempting to resist. I had vareniki (£6), a surprisingly light version of these ravioli-styled dumplings filled with pleasantly sour cherries and served with more sour cream. (Vareniki are basically the same thing as pelmeni, only with vegetarian fillings rather than meat, which usually means either curd cheese or fruit.) I was very sad to discover I was too full to finish the rather generous serving.



The cherry cheese-cake (£6) was nice if not particularly unusual, while the poppy-seed cake (£7) came daintily encased in chocolate and accompanied by rum and raisin ice cream.



With two bottles of wine and service, the bill came just under £120 for three -- pretty decent value. I just hope they are making enough because on our Friday night visit the place was barely half full, with most tables speaking in Russian.

Conclusion: by a long way the best Eastern European restaurant I've been to in London.

Divo, 12 Waterloo Place, SW1Y 4AU; Tel. 0207 4841355; Tube: Picadilly; www.divo-restaurant.co.uk

Le Quecumbar - 1930s France comes to Battersea

It is a testament to Quecumbar's wonderfulness that I am eagerly planning a return trip despite its no-tap-water policy, a decidedly surly owner and a miles-away location. It's an hour long journey, culminating in a longish trek from Clapham Junction (my companion declined to break the walk with an aperitif under the wonky Foster's umbrellas of the Battersea Labour Club). So we are very relived to see a cheery green musical frog swinging from the board above the door. A bright red Quecumbar-branded minibus is parked outside, decorated with musicians' signatures. Inside, we are transported to the glamour of 1930s jazz era. Lights twinkle on green plants which line the stage. The walls are decorated with small pictures and an old clock sets the tone for another era. We start with prosecco (£13, on the drinks specials board) in the lovely back garden (featuring, among other things, a bird house shaped like a hat). Dulcet tones of a guitar lure us back in after a while and we pick food from the sole menu, chalked up on a large blackboard and propped up next to whichever table is ordering. There about eight choices each of mains and starters and I am struck by how used we have become to lengthy descriptions and adjectives. Much as I prickle at Jamie Oliver's "pukka" this and "fantastic" that, I am somewhat a loss when faced with such simple choices as "beef burgers" or "chicken in a creamy sauce". But it fits the menu nicely - it's about good wholesome food, with a French slant and no frills.
My companion's frog's legs are some of the juiciest and least greasy I've ever tasted. My deep fried camembert comes in generous chunks of glorious gooey-ness, nicely balanced by cranberry jam and a crisp salad. For the mains we order a bottle of chilled Burgundy (£16) - this is a place to linger. All the while, a guitarist and a masterful violinist play jazzy tunes. It's beautiful, and the room is quite enough to hear each note. But it's also relaxed, with guests free to indulge in quiet chatter. The boeuf bourgignon (£10)came in a deceptively small pot which ended being too generous for me to finish. The meat was tender (though a bit gristly), and I enjoyed dunking bread into the herby red wine sauce.

My companion opted for the crocodile burgers (£11) - these were juicy patties of white meat (not unlike chicken, to resort to an old cliche, but more flavoursome), served sans bun, but with salad and a few crispy potato wedges. Thoughts of the long trip home and of work the next day dragged us reluctantly homeward about 11pm. Next time we're resolved to try the Tuesday jam session. All in all, it's a lovely place for a romantic night or with a small group of jazz-lovers. Just beware of the £5 cover charge after 8pm and of the £4.50 bottled water (but they are part of the tastelondon scheme, so you can offset the water damage if you are a member). As for the owner, she may have just been having a bad day - some of the other reviews rave about how nice the staff are.

Le Quecumbar, 42-44 Battersea High Street, SW11 3HX; Tel. 020 7787 2227 after 6pm; Rail: Clapham Junction; www.quecumbar.co.uk

Chez Gerard, Victoria

I think this chain sometimes gets unjustly bad press. As chains go, it's reliable and reasonable value (especially if you have some of their money off vouchers - just sign up for a newsletter on www.santeonline.co.uk). The Victoria branch is conveniently just outside the tube/train station in a grand old building which is also used by the Thistle hotels chain.
Inside, you can easily pretend that you are in a grand French brasserie, with high ceilings, a long dark-wooden bar and people sipping cappuccinos or champagne. There are two options - the restaurant menu noticeable for its selection of steaks (I recommend the onglet, it's one of the cheapest at about £10, but is nonetheless a really nice cut of meat) and the lighter cafe menu with salads and croques. I had the goat's cheese salad (£8.75), which was authentic tasting and about the right size for lunch. My companion had the chicken salad, a bit more substantial for £9.95. There's of course a reasonable wine list, though you have to look at the prices - I think for £6 my glass of champagne (what's wrong with decadence once in a while?!) was much better value than my companion's similarly priced large chardonnay. They also do good-value set menus, with two courses for £13.50.
The service is friendly enough, and a lot of the staff are French. Another branch that's worth remembering is behind the National Theatre and is one of the best pre-performance options in that area (by virtue of being preferable to pizza express!).
Chez Gerard; Thistle Hotel; 101 Buckingham Palace Road,Victoria, London SW1W 0SJ Tel: 020 7868 6249. Tube: Victoria; www.brasseriechezgerard.co.uk