Four o nine

The Pretty Lady's cousin, SY, lives in Clapham. She invited both of us, Yogababe (her classmate - yes, the world's a little small) and her brother JY for dinner in Clapham one evening at Four o nine. It was a interesting little place - leather sofas, leather-upholstered chairs, wooden floors, walls stencilled with images of Clapham High Street. The restaurant is reached by means of a private entrance in Landor Road. You reserve, pitch up, ring the bell and ask to be let in.

Four o nine
409 Clapham Road
London SW9 9BT
020 7737 0722

We sat by the window, which was a slight mistake because of the setting sun shining onto the table, but after the sun set it was cosy and comfortable, despite the full restaurant. It was an unexpected little gem. The chef used to work at Chez Bruce before branching out on his own, and while I discovered this after we ate at the restaurant, it definitely showed. The food was quite delicious.

It was pretty early, so we had the restaurant pretty much to ourselves. We began with cocktails - I had Tommy's margarita (not sure how this differs from a normal margarita, but it was less sweet than the usual ones, and therefore that much refreshing). The Pretty Lady had a pineapple caipirinha which seemed a magnificent idea when I saw it in the menu, and worked really well too. It's the kind of drink that makes you go "Now why didn't I think about that?"

Anyway, SY, JY and I started with a pork dish. It was a medallion of pork belly on a bed of salad dressed with sweet mustard and topped with a poached egg. The pork was slightly underdone, which normally would be a little unpleasant (given the taste of British pigs), but the slight raw taste went well with the mustard and the smooth egginess of the poachie. It was quite brilliant.

The Pretty Lady and the Yogababe had chilled mint pea soup with truffled mascarpone. It was almost the consistency of mushy peas, but was cool, refreshing, and sweet. I couldn't taste the truffles, but the mascarpone dotted in the soup gave it a light dairy tang that cut through the sweet peas. Very good indeed.

JY and SY had sliced roasted lamb shoulder on a bed of summer beans (looked like ratatouille, but done with beans) and pesto. It looked very good indeed, but I didn't manage to steal a forkful. The expressions on their faces seemed to say they enjoyed it though. I do regret not tasting it, but it's another excuse to go back.

The Pretty Lady and I had spatchcocked roast chicken with morels, spring onions and new potatoes. The chicken was good - moist, slightly crisped skin with give - and the morels were bursting with jus. The spring onions were done just al dente, and the new potatoes had been browned in what tasted like chicken fat. Great execution, although I'm minded of Tyler Cowen's advice to never order roast chicken in restaurants (why? because it's popular, and hence easily survives the competitive process to get on the menu without necessarily tasting great). It wasn't half bad though, and I couldn't cook this myself.

The Yogababe had a cheese plate for mains (she's now a social animal eater, and we're not really that social, we're just family). Decent selection of Neal's Yard cheeses - I particularly liked the Stilton. It was slightly overripe, more to my taste than the 'Babe's.

We moved on elsewhere for pudding though, so I didn't get to sample the fresh ginger ice cream that I was eyeing earlier. Oh well. Plenty of excuses to go back now. The Pretty Lady thought the food was slightly overpriced, and that may well be the case. But the decor is quirky, the location a little out of the way, the food is tasty, and the cocktails aren't too sweet. A little more expensive seemed okay to me.

Scores:

3 July 2008: TFQ = 25, CS = 25, S = 12, AD = 8, VfM = 6. Total = 76 points.

What does this mean?