17th July 2008
Thoroughly enjoyable night out
Came here last Friday night for dinner with my good friend Giselle. Really didn’t know what to expect as I’d been to the bar many a time on a Friday night after a hard slog in the City but never tried the food. I guess the saying back then was “Eating’s cheating!” so no wonder I cannot recall many memories of Cantaloupe.
Anyway I digress…..on a very wet Friday evening, Giselle and I turned up for a civilised meal at Cantaloupe. It was somewhere that we would never had chosen but since Cantaloupe very kindly, via Trusted Places had given us the opportunity to sample their food and drink free of charge, we thought why not? The interior was just as I had remembered it – kind of the shabby chic that Shoreditch is famous for. It wasn’t packed at the bar but with the DJ warming up you could tell it was going to be a busy night. We headed straight to the restaurant at the rear of the bar. This section was portioned off with comfortable booths on one side and tables on the other. With the skylight giving the restaurant a sense of light and space, it was quite a pleasant area. At 7pm, we were the second table to be seated but it didn’t take long to become busy, with plenty of groups of young professionals and couples arriving. One nice thing about Cantaloupe was the lively atmosphere – it was like the atmosphere of the bar was somewhat transferred to the restaurant in a positive way– you could hear the tunes but it wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t hear what each other was saying. So we got the “Friday feeling” without actually being in the bar.
Giselle and I got stuck into the cocktails whilst making our minds up about what to order from the Brazillian menu. My mojito was superb – perhaps one of the best I’ve tasted – and I’ve tasted many in my time – the consistency of the mint to the rum was spot on. We then ordered. It was difficult to decide as there were many delicious dishes and the exotic dishes sounded most appealing. Giselle had the croquetas de jamon, (salt cured Serrano ham and parsley cakes) which were perfectly creamy inside with the parsley and ham making good combination. I ordered La Bomba – mixed seafood in a spicy sauce, apparently this is what Brazillian’s eat before they go out clubbing to give them energy. This starter came in a sundae glass– and I could smell the Tabasco a mile off. However I loved it – it’s not really for the faint-hearted, but the spicy sauce went brilliantly with the sweetness of the prawns and the squid was cooked perfectly so tender.
For the mains we both chose beef, but Giselle was a little more adventurous than I was. She had the “Carbonada Criolla” Argentinean beef casserole braised in Malbec with pumpkin, apricots and oregano with sweet potato mash, whereas I chose the fillet steak – for which I had a craving all day. Their steaks apparently come from a cross of Hereford and Aberdeen Angus cattle that have roamed on the lush, rich grass of the Uruguayan pampas. As the journey from the wild open pastures to the table allows the meat to age for five to six weeks, the steaks are even more tender. And tender it was – my knife sliced through the plump medium-rare fillet as if it was butter. It was perfectly cooked and had the intense flavour which is associated with prime beef. Along with the steak came french fries and chimmi-churri salsa which surprisingly went very well with the meat, deliberately subtle as to not disguise the flavour of the steak. Divine! Not too sure what Giselle’s casserole was like but despite it being a rather large portion of food she cleaned her plate with ease – a rare feat for Giselle so I came to the conclusion that it must have been good. The manager Paul recommended the Argentinian Malbec wine which excellently complimented our beef dishes.
Service was attentive and helpful but we didn’t feel as though we were rushed. Good thing as we had lots to catch up on. Very full but not wanting to miss out on desserts we chose the cheesecake and the cheeseboard to share. The cheesecake was dreamy –it had a rich depth of flavour without being too sour or sweet. Hmmm… Nice selection of cheese on the cheeseboard (sorry can’t remember what they were but were a great match with the second bottle of malbec!)
After we polished off the remainder of the Malbec, I asked Giselle the time, she rummaged in her phone for her bag….quarter past midnight, she shrieked and we ran off to catch the last tube! We were shocked that we had been there for 5 hours – sitting in the same place, eating, drinking, gossiping….Time flies when you’re having fun eh!
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