The Sunday Times
For reasons clearly unconnected with keeping on top of the latest in dining, Charlotte Ivers headed to the Harrods hinterland to eat at a venture that describes itself as ‘London’s oldest Russian restaurant’ (est. 1965).
Most of its customers, the waiter, Bogdan, told her, were Russian or from former Soviet states. “We let you in because it was quiet,” he teased. The space was dark, all red velvet and an air of faded glamour – “like a child’s drawing of where you’d meet a spy”.
We did not learn much about the food apart from there being “a preponderance of pickles” and lots of potatoes, washed down by the inevitable lashings of vodka.
Charlotte’s one revelation was the “lagman: doughy stretched wheat noodles wok-fried with beef, pepper, yardlong bean (actually more like 30cm) and celery, finished with soy sauce and chives. Sichuan pepper gives it a kick. We’ve ordered it to share but I end up commandeering the plate.
Charlotte Ivers - 2024-06-30