London - Hix
Winter 2009
Frank's view 
The Fray Bentos stays in the can
Flying pigs is one thing but Mark Hix has taken it a step further by canning the creatures and suspending them from the ceiling of his new London restaurant.
In reality the Fray Bentos cans hanging in a mobile above the bar were probably of the steak & kidney variety with the pork on a plate below, Blythburgh pork crackling with crab apple sauce to be precise, as that day’s special starter.
"The menu changes for lunch and dinner every day", informed our waitress. It moves with the seasons utlising food sourced from all over the UK. The Cornish shellfish soup with Julian Temperley’s cider brand (£7.25) was almost too fishy. Is that possible? The Parsnip & crab apple soup (£6.75) was delicious.
Main courses range from £13.75 to £18.75 although those prices give an artificially low impression, as all side orders are around £3.75 extra.
The Pan-fried Ray with Morecambe Bay shrimps (£18.75) was enormous but perfectly cooked. The chef wasn’t happy to release our Redleg partridge with bread sauce and parsnip crisps (£17.50). Perhaps he was concerned with the positioning of the clawed feet which remained, plated, on the headless corpse. I could have sworn they curled in and out as the knife sliced its tender breast.
Champagne comes in flat glasses rather than flutes and there is a good selection of wine in manageable carafes without extortionate mark ups penalising the smaller drinker.
Hix sits in what resembles a warehouse, or is it an art gallery, between Soho and Regent Street. The clientele oozes sophistication; fabulous top end media lovies.
He hasn’t been mean with space. Many restaurateurs would have crammed in a few more covers, although the free standing tables for four offer much better seating than the banquette lined ‘minis’ for two.
Dining is available at the full length bar upstairs and the bar room downstairs doubles as a private dining room which will no doubt be booked up and buzzing with secretarial flirtations for many years to come.
Hix
66 - 70 Brewer Street
London W1F 9UP
020 7292 3518
http://www.hixsoho.co.uk/
In reality the Fray Bentos cans hanging in a mobile above the bar were probably of the steak & kidney variety with the pork on a plate below, Blythburgh pork crackling with crab apple sauce to be precise, as that day’s special starter.
"The menu changes for lunch and dinner every day", informed our waitress. It moves with the seasons utlising food sourced from all over the UK. The Cornish shellfish soup with Julian Temperley’s cider brand (£7.25) was almost too fishy. Is that possible? The Parsnip & crab apple soup (£6.75) was delicious.
Main courses range from £13.75 to £18.75 although those prices give an artificially low impression, as all side orders are around £3.75 extra.
The Pan-fried Ray with Morecambe Bay shrimps (£18.75) was enormous but perfectly cooked. The chef wasn’t happy to release our Redleg partridge with bread sauce and parsnip crisps (£17.50). Perhaps he was concerned with the positioning of the clawed feet which remained, plated, on the headless corpse. I could have sworn they curled in and out as the knife sliced its tender breast.
Champagne comes in flat glasses rather than flutes and there is a good selection of wine in manageable carafes without extortionate mark ups penalising the smaller drinker.
Hix sits in what resembles a warehouse, or is it an art gallery, between Soho and Regent Street. The clientele oozes sophistication; fabulous top end media lovies.
He hasn’t been mean with space. Many restaurateurs would have crammed in a few more covers, although the free standing tables for four offer much better seating than the banquette lined ‘minis’ for two.
Dining is available at the full length bar upstairs and the bar room downstairs doubles as a private dining room which will no doubt be booked up and buzzing with secretarial flirtations for many years to come.
Hix
66 - 70 Brewer Street
London W1F 9UP
020 7292 3518
http://www.hixsoho.co.uk/
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
