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The Providores
109 Marylebone High Street, London, W1U 4RX
Reviews for The Providores
1 found this helpful
We enjoyed dinner here on Saturday 20 June 2009. We started downstairs in the Tapa Room with a glass of fine NZ bubbly, then moved upstairs for dinner. I really liked the dining space - lovely and small and intimate, quite plainly decorated, but with a light, airy feel. Service throughout the evening was without fault. The food: we liked the idea of tasting plates and opted for three savoury and one sweet course each which, along with the bread offered, was ample to eat. My first course of ginger roast pumpkin was a rather tiny portion and lacked the flavour I was lead to expect from the description. I felt a bit short-changed! The other dishes we chose were the pork belly, lamb, duck and the foie gras with oxtail croquette. These were all delicious with the standout for me being the turnip cake which was served with the pork. An explosion of flavours. The foie gras and oxtail dish was also excellent. My husband's favourite dish was the lamb. He chose a Turkish inspired dessert of a pistachio and pastry confection which he thought very good. I chose the rhubarb bavarois with cinnamon doughnut. The bavarois was very nice, but the doughnut was awful. A fresh doughnut should be soft on the inside, a little crispy on the outside. My doughnut was tough and dry - whoever made that in a restaurant of this calibre should be shot! It should never have made it over the passe. The wine list is absolutely excellent and the choice of NZ wines extensive. Lovely. All in all, we had an enjoyable evening, but it is all rather pricey. Would we go back? I'm not sure, but we're glad we've tried it.
0 found this helpful
I am not a big fan of fusion food and this place sounded like my worst nightmare as far as restaurants go...I ended up having dinner there recently anyway...and loved it - Really very good food, a pleasant atmosphere and friendly service.
4 found this helpful
‘There isn't a single dish that I wouldn't consider ordering…’
[Aidan Brookes]
FOOD AND WINE matching is far from trivial, especially when you get it wrong. I remember when my father vetoed a sommelier, selecting a bottle of Barsac to rinse an entire meal sweet. A sticky collision! The same principle can be applied to the people you dine with. A conceited companion affected by dietary quirks, excessive intoxication or a miserly attitude can ruin a repast.
I met Jonathan, sage co-author of meal miscellany, ‘Around Britain with a Paunch’ a few months ago. We arranged to have dinner and played e-mail tennis to whittle down a selection of venues doing things differently, deftly and with bravery. Clearly he is worldlier than me because his shortlist included a bierodrome in Berlin whilst mine extended to Colchester’s ‘Company Shed’. Eventually we set our sights on Peter Gordon's 'Providores' in Marylebone Village: sophisticated Kiwi cuisine brightened by Asian and Middle Eastern spices...
Whilst I am a fan of the buzzing ground floor ‘Tapa’ room, named after a mahogany coloured ceremonial tapestry (try the Wasabi martini), I had not before ventured upstairs to the small but chic dining room.
Thanks to our second-rate railway, I was running late and so I telephoned to arrange a flute of cool, apple puff scented Pelorus (Cloudy Bay) for Jonathan. This is one of New Zealand’s most distinguished sparkling wines, owned by the world’s largest luxury goods organisation, ‘LVMH’ – Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey – note the handbags go first! The restaurant delivered this with charm. Indeed, despite a couple of recent criticisms about an ‘unsmiling’ attitude, we only ever encountered patient, unqualified sweetness, front of house.
The menu, which reads almost lyrically despite an utter absence of adjectives, is malleable to your desires. Basically you choose between two to five plates, noting the enticing wording ‘desserts can make up one or more of your courses’ and then think about the wine. Bear in mind that the user-friendly, again concisely worded list provides probably the most comprehensive range of Kiwi bins in Europe, with much offered by the glass.
Whilst I tried to forward plan, going so far as to ask chef / blogger Aidan Brookes for navigational advice through the intricate menu (he did a placement here in ’06) I felt much more spontaneous now. I suggested therefore that we stopped gazing at the paperwork and handed all decisions to the kitchen. The result? Ten plates, shared, served two at a time, with liquid correspondents.
Rather than itemise every course, here is a taste of the most intriguing...A soft circle of panna cotta, which evoked fresh white Stilton, was topped with petrified dashi (made from the base of miso soup). This nudged bracingly fresh, moist tataki (‘pounded’) line-caught Yellowfin tuna and deep green sweet nori (seaweed) purée. It was decorated with small feathery fennel fronds, licked by brisk green peppercorn and lime dressing and dotted with slightly medicinal tasting, brittle buckwheat bullets. Despite a desire for a pocket version of ‘Wikipedia’ to decode aspects of the description, the medley was moreish, balanced and I would imagine highly nutritious. It highlighted the tangibly fresh, slightly mysterious ingredients and a pristine, honed aesthetic awareness. This verged on the deconstructed, but never fully flowed into that philosophy.
A glass of toffee scented, judiciously unoaked Māori-made Chardonnay from the tip of the south island, Marlborough (Tohu) elegantly cleansed. It may be worth pointing out that the Māori were one of the few peoples to have no form of alcoholic beverage before the British missionaries arrived.
Soft-shell crab was crisply, greaselessly deep-fried and served on tight-knit ginger and wasabi tobikko (flying fish roe) arancini (rice ball) with pickled papaya (a preparation which toned down the fruit) and carrot salad. I last encountered such romantically titled ovaries at another Kiwi influenced enclave, the ‘Bleeding Heart’, Farringdon. A lacquer of salty sweet Nam Jihm dressing nervily brought all the elements together. The textures richly interplayed, particularly the grated carrot, which became slightly sweet, even nutty under the influence of the dressing. Gordon, incidentally, is a salad radical, as demonstrated by his leafy missive ‘Salads – the new main course’.
A glass of stylish Pinot Gris (a prince to north Italian pauper, Grigio) came from the foot of New Zealand’s north island, Martinborough – note the ‘n’ for north as opposed to Marlborough at the tip of the south. It had a visibly languid texture when spun in the glass and generous, glamorous flavours such as lychee, blood orange flesh (and a slither of peel) as well as ripe pear (Palliser). Its sumptous, persuasive weight deftly softened the inner juiciness of the crab, which had the texture of dry forest leaves.
Jonathan is fascinated by the magnification of the senses. He talked lucidly about enjoying Heston Blumenthal’s ‘Sound of the Sea’, experienced at ‘The Fat Duck’, Bray. Apparently ocean sounds are woven via I-Pod alongside a collage of tapioca, fried baby eels, cod liver oil and langoustine crowned with abalone, oysters and seaweed. Here, the fact that the roast Middlewhite swine belly created such an audible, satisfying crunch helped amplify the flavour, he said. I think I see what he means. This was served on kim chi (Korean fermented cabbage – they eat 40lbs of it per person, per year) with dense, dark earthy wood ear mushrooms, pickled quails egg and lustrous, highly aromatic anise Sichuan broth.
A glass of dry, wet chalk scented Riesling from Waipara Springs, North Canterbury added an interesting tangerine tangent and a judicious piercing acidity.
Squab (or young) pigeon was delicately tandoori spiced (although I wonder whether Providores has an actual tandoori oven) and served on playfully ginger ale braised cabbage with black trompette jus, cooling banana raita (yoghurt) and lightly absorbent sumac lavosh (unleavened bread). This was matched with the classy Célèbre, a Bordeaux meets Rhône style red from Ata Rangi, Martinborough. Incidentally, to make ends meet in the early days, this producer sewed pumpkins between the vines to sell at market.
We finished with the dessert plate for two, an idea I am always willing to embrace. A miniature toasted coconut pannacotta, warm chocolate prune cake exaggerated by spectacularly sweet Pedro Ximinez sherry, and a ‘wee’ pear bavarois, mischievously melting.
Coffee, hailed by Giles Coren as ‘the best in England’ and served in mini Duralex beakers, was Monmouth in its revitalising strength and bitterly ravishing.
Did Jonathan and I succeed in finding somewhere bold and extraordinary? -Whilst we didn’t physically leave zone one, unshackled by adherence to local fodder, Gordon took us to far-flung climes through creative, visionary collages. Whilst some of the descriptions made as much sense on paper as serving Barsac and Colonial Goose, the actual plates were remarkably pretty, poised, startlingly provoking the palate with bright bases, careful textures and exotic spices. In short, it fused. This was therefore one of my most exciting meals this year.
As we began dinner, we noticed a couple nearby, miffed at the menu, clearly outside their comfort zone. The thought of a departure from the well-worn three course rut must have seemed as far from gastronomy as astronomy. Whilst I lost track of them after the first morsel arrived, I do hope that they succumbed to Gordon's enthralling craft...
1 found this helpful
I'd often seen a queue snaking out the door of the Providore's on Marylebone High St and was always curious, but I hate queues, I just can't do them, unless it's really worthwhile. I had heard good things, people I trust loved it, but could I do the queue? I just didn't know.
One bank holiday Sunday, an Antipodean friend and I were looking for somewhere to brunch and as luck would have it, there was no queue, save us, next in line for a table. She was a long time fan of the place, for me it was my first time. On offer is tapas style dining downstairs and fine dining upstairs. On this occasion we did the downstairs tapas.
On first impressions, it's a lovely room, high ceilings, counter seats and tables to the side. We got a table within a few minutes of waiting and ordered turkish eggs and sweetcorn and blueberry fritters with some coffees - a flat white & a latte.
So, we all know fritters, but what are the turkish eggs? It’s a dish that hails from Changa restaurant in Istanbul (which head chef Peter Gordon is also involved in) but served also in the Providores - two poached eggs with whipped yoghurt and hot chilli butter. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but for that reason, I knew it must, and spectacularly so, otherwise, why would it be on the menu? My first taste of that dish, was just wonderful, I can still recall. Perfectly poached eggs, sitting on a pillow of whipped yoghurt and wrapped in hot chilli butter, it’s just superb. The fritters were good, as fritters should be, but paled in significance compared to the eggs in my opinion. The coffees were great, a pleasure given how difficult it can be to get a good coffee in London.
So, I loved it, and I would even brave the queue now. Heartily recommended.
2 found this helpful
I don't go out for brunch often these days, but when a brunch was on the agenda I knew where I wanted to go - The Providores. This antipodean owned restaurant had been on the to-do list for a long while so we trekked into Marylebone High Street one Wednesday mid-morning, hoping we wouldn't have to wait long for a table as my pregnant companion had a need to eat frequently, at short notice.
We nabbed the last available table for 4 and were excited by the tasty sounding menu. Coffees arrived looking good - any place that serves a 'flat white' is ok by me.
We ordered the Bacon Fry-up; the Paprika roast potato, caramelised onion, feta & edamame tortilla with tomato and piquillo pepper salsa, Greek yoghurt and rocket; and the French toast stuffed with banana and pecans with grilled smoked streaky bacon and vanilla verjus syrup.
The food was good quality, and the Bacon Fry-up and the Tortilla got the thumbs up, though the boys were disappointed with their French toast which they found way too sweet.
Loved the look and feel of the place and am keen to come back one evening to sample some of their tapas accompanied by some always enjoyable New Zealand wine.
3 found this helpful
Ok so i've been beaten to it by other TP reviewers, but we all share in our enthusiasm for wonder of The Providores.
Sharp and sophisticated the bar area is ideal for a late sup. Sit on high benches without table cloths, amid low level lights and revel in the quality of the 'wine of the moment': On this occasion a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand (well where better?!).
The best tapas i've been treated to in AGES, elegantly laden plates with sun dries, anti-pasta and more than pleasing cheeses! I have it on good authority from my dining companion that the chef is a connoisier of fine wine and unique flavours and this was not lost on us! I remember the aroma of the cheeses and how our tomatoes were de-seeded and seasoned to perfection.
Too full for dessert I feel i missed out as the passionfruit ripple with hokey Pokey ice cream, umeshu vanilla rhubarb and nut biscotti was a radient plate of decadence.
Will i go back?... You bet! And on an empty stomach this time!
3 found this helpful
Perhaps this place is a victim of its own success. Outstanding food. The restaurant (upstairs) is expensive. I'm told it's good but haven't tried it. The tapas, bar area is at ground level. The menu consists of a dishes ranging from small bites, to soups, salads, to small mains. The ingredients are fresh, the choice of flavors unconventional but delightful. There's something of a new world/ fusion orientation to the menu and an emphasis on New Zealand wines.
The downside to all this joy is the service and the space. Unless you reach early, it gets crowded. And they have always been unfriendly, always. Granted some of this has to do with the tight space, but even then being coldly asked to wait outdoors till a table opens up could be done with more humour, charm, or good grace. It's enough of an issue for me that I tend to avoid the place unless I there's no choice, which happens from time to time when I'm looking for a place that services really good small bites, as this place does.
8 found this helpful
Hands down, the best brunch I've had in London. Went here yesterday around 1 and it was absolutely packed. After a ten minute wait (and we seemingly arrived at a good time because a line of about twelve people had formed behind us!) we were seated, and we started our meals with a coffee each, which were very good.
I had one of the three fry-ups they offered, but I don't know if I'm too comfortable calling it a fry up because that conjures up images of a greasy cafe, which is at complete odds with what I ate. My eggs were served any way I wanted them, on a piece of buttered sourdough toast, along with the traditional breakfast sides: lush smoked bacon and tomatoes and field mushrooms lightly fried in butter. It was absolutely delicious.
My partner had a cold sweet potato and feta tart which he enjoyed, but thoroughly regretted that he hadn't ordered the same dish as I did.
We finished our meals with a bloody mary, made with wasabi instead of the traditional horseradish (in North America, we put horseradish in our bloody marys!), which was a nice take on the original recipe.
The restaurant space is very, very tight, with a variety of banquette and bar stool seating. There is a space at the front of the restaurant for strollers - while we were there, 2 different couples came in and tucked the baby stroller under the table.
The food was fabulous; relatively simple but all really well-prepared and always with really fresh and high quality ingredients. I only wish I lived closer, because I would be here on a weekly basis.
3 found this helpful
The Providores, one of the many flavoursome fruits of Peter Gordon's culinary nous, is hands down, an excellent place for brunch.
Although, it's been a while since I was last there, I can still remember how fantastic the food was. Tea smoked salmon - the name says it all, and the grilled chorizo - superb.
One slight minus is the lack of room in the tapas room, although maybe it's changed now...hope so.
2 found this helpful
Definitely in my top 3 favourite brunch places in London. Best time to go is on a bank holiday weekend, as strangely it's always pretty easy to get a table and you can stay for ages.
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