Albannach

Good whisky bars are thin on the ground in London. I know of a couple, Albannach in Trafalgar Square and the Salt Bar near Edgware Road, while there's a new place called Whisky Mist that opened with great fanfare recently (although this seems to be the kind of place that serves Monkey Shoulder cocktails rather than good malts...). I'm going to be visiting all of them eventually, and if anyone knows of others, please drop me a line in the comments. Remember, more whisky = good thing.

Recently, the Yogababe and I got together with some friends, LS, SY and KY, for a little farewell meal (LS is leaving London for pastures new). The Pretty Lady couldn't join us. We decided on Albannach, since there was a Top Table offer, and I'd been itching to try the restaurant for some time. I've been to Albannach a couple of times previously, but mainly for the whisky.

Albannach spreads itself over 3 floors. There's a lounge / nightclub in the basement, called Doon (inside joke for Scotsmen), a bar with sofas and tables on the ground floor (as well as a chandelier made out of stag antlers), and a restaurant on a mezzanine level, where whisky tastings are also held. The bar is where I've generally tended to loiter, sipping and tasting whiskies while propping up a little round table.

Albannach

66 Trafalgar Square

London WC2N 5DS

020 7930 0066

First off, the whisky. The selection is extensive, although some of the bottles seen on the website have since been finished. Au revoir to the Port Ellen 24 yo and the Laphroaig 10 yo Cask Strength - they had run out when I asked for them. Nevertheless, I've tasted a number of beauties there - Aberlour a'bunadh Batch #22, Caol Ila Cask Strength, and a Talisker 20 yo 1982 among them. The great thing about Albannach versus the Salt Bar is that at Albannach you get your whisky in 50ml measures. The Salt Bar apparently (as it says on their website) serves its whisky in 35ml measures, which is neither here nor there of course.

The restaurant is small, seating perhaps 30 people. The menu is short and to the point - starters, main courses, and desserts, perhaps 5 or 6 of each. There's also a set menu that's pretty good value, £12 for 2 courses and £18 for 3 courses. I chose to order a'la carte, ordering a rabbit terrine with piccalilli and quail scotch egg to start, a ribeye of Buccleuch beef with dauphinois potatoes, cavalo nero and wild mushrooms for a mains, and a Scottish cranachan and shortbread for dessert. The Yogababe had a trio of cured fish, a wild mushroom risotto with Inverloch cheddar crisp. The others had various other items, with KY's and SY's a loin of venison, thyme potato cake and parsnip puree worth mentioning.

As always, good produce tends to end up in good food. After all, most chefs are at least reasonably skilled. I enjoyed my starter, although I thought the rabbit terrine was a little under-seasoned. No matter - the typical gaminess of the rabbit came to the surface, offset by the tart picalilli (shame about the fact that there was just a dab of it). The scotch quail egg was interesting - somehow the yolk was still liquid!

My rib eye steak was delicious, but it was Buccleuch beef after all. It was perfectly cooked, and the dauphinoise potato was very well done. The mushrooms didn't taste wild though, and I would have been a lot happier if they had included some morels. However, I was very happy with my cranachan - whipped double cream on top of a mixture of whisky, honey, and raspberries (with a little bit of shortbread on the side). There was supposed to be oatmeal on top, but there wasn't - not that I think it would have improved the dish much.

I also liked the Yogababe's trio of cured fish - whisky cured salmon (but of course!), smoked mackerel pate and sardine escabeche. Great little idea for a dish - tasty, simple and keeping in with the Scottish theme.

Unfortunately, the service left something to be desired. Despite the small number of diners, the two wait staff could not seem to keep up with requests. I asked for a tasting glass a few times, for example, because they kept serving me whisky in tumblers. Nevertheless, I thought the food was of a decent standard, although slightly expensive. I guess the diners do cross-subsidise the whisky drinkers, because the whisky is fairly priced and quite worthwhile.

Scores:

9 July 2008: TFQ = 24, CS = 25, S = 10, AD = 9, VfM = 6. Total = 74 points.

What does this mean?