Jackson & Rye

I’ve been meaning to make a trip to Jackson and Rye for a few weeks now as I keep hearing such good things about it and today I finally made it there for lunch. Let’s just say those good things were justified. My mum and my brother were coming up to London for the day and I had a feeling they’d like it too, so off to Soho we went.

We rushed in, glad to get out of the cold and were soon sat at a table busying ourselves with studying the menu.

It took us a while to decide as everything just looked so tempting and there was a lot of too-ing and fro-ing but eventually we did manage to make a decision. All that was left to do was wait (and salivate over the table next door’s food). This gave us a chance to have a little look around the interior. It sounds a little odd but it felt almost like a Parisian brasserie with an american twist, it was very relaxed and cosy, the kind of place i could happily curl up with a book and munch away the afternoon.

Luckily though, before too long, our starters arrived. Beetroot, kale and pecan salad with horseradish for me

It may not look like anything particularly special but it seriously delivered on flavour, the caramelised pecans added a delicious crunch and there was a real kick from the horseradish that I loved.

Mum went for the crab and avocado which she happily declared she could eat all day

and Thierry (my brother) went for the truffled macaroni cheese which also disappeared rather quickly.

We then were offered the dessert menu by 2 separate waiters which was slightly bizarre given that we hadn’t had our main courses yet but luckily that was our only little hiccough and our mains swiftly followed.

This time it was beef and veal meatballs in a roasted tomato sauce for me, with a side of grilled baby gem lettuce

The meatballs were great, light and soft and full of flavour. I wasn’t quite so taken with the grilled baby gem however, there was a taste in there that i definitely didn’t love (I’m pretty sure it was a fennel seed or two knocking around).

Mum went for the grilled sea bass with a caper sauce which was delicate but with plenty of punch from the capers and the most shoestringiest of shoestring fries

Thierry went for one of the specials, this rather spectacular looking hot dog.

Whilst we probably should have resisted looking at the dessert menu, everything else had been so yummy that we just couldn’t. I’m SO glad we didn’t resist, the desserts were possibly the best part of the whole meal.

Mum had the cheesecake (her standard) but which came with a tart fruit compote that offset the richness nicely

I was torn between the pecan pie and the apple fritters, eventually settling on the fritters as i figured they’d be a little lighter. Man alive were they delicious. Tart apple encased in a light batter and dusted with cinnamon sugar, with a little pot of sour cream to dunk them in. Totally and utterly heavenly.

Thierry had the most delicious smelling blueberry cobbler with warm vanilla custard which I’m assured tasted every bit as good as it smelled. Something I think the boyfriend will definitely be after when I take him there.

However he also ordered the bourbon pretzel shake which was distinctly less good, it was essentially a salty milk with whiskey. Probably won’t be going for that one again in a hurry.

All in all we had a great lunch, obviously the company was great but the food matched it and i feel that it won’t be long until I’m finding an excuse to return.