I'd been hearing a lot about a new underground bar in Soho called Coal Vaults that happens to also do fantastic food as well as great drinks.
After walking all the way up Wardour Street, wondering if we'd missed it, we saw a little entrance welcoming us with a skeleton on a throne. Cue posing.
Then it was time to get looking at the menu. Seated in a little candle lit cave we needed all the table space we could get for this was going to be a feast!
Starting with drinks, I had the Mercuary, a little gin number infused with sage, homemade greengage sorbet, lemon and prosecco. E took a Coxone, golden rum with Carpano Antica and spiced green apple. Very Autumnal don't you think?! All drinks are £9 or under, so it won't break the bank if you order a couple.
Yes, there are three drinks here. The lovely waiter brought us over another drink, which had been incorrectly made from a previous order.
Then on to food. Very difficult to decide!
We chose the charred quail with pan fried chicken livers and quail. All delightful, especially the chicken livers with the warming lentils, however I always forget that quail is such a tricky bugger to eat. Luckily there were no boys around to impress! We got down and dirty.
Then, my favourite, the sherry braised beef cheek with onion, jam, sage and bread. Deliciously moist, hearty, juicy and tender, it was packed full of flavour, the sherry really coming through.
Next was the pulled rabbit with smoked black beans, sweetcorn and pineapple relish, avocado sour cream and flatbread. A gorgeous, fruity dish. The pineapple only served to complement, not compete, which I was afraid of!
Two desserts had to be ordered because they all sounded too good. The first had to be a salted flourless chocolate cake with a mint creme fraiche and toasted almond brittle. The cake was delicious, but for me the mint in the creme fraiche was a little too sharp and overpowering. The almond brittle was sweet and delicious, but there wasn't enough of it!
I am a crazy chocolate lover, so it is very rare and obviously a fine dessert that beats out the cake....but this little beauty of a crumble here, a blackberry, greengage and cobnut crumble with the most incredible calvados custard blew the cake out of the water. Mouth watering delicious, steaming hot and incredibly fruity, but not too sweet. Usually I don't like hot custard (I'm a weirdo I know, nothing like cold vanilla custard in my opinion) but I smothered this baby with that calvados gold. It was heaven.
We were absolutely stuffed after this, we couldn't even finish the cake and I am not one to waste. The food is inexpensive and the sharing dishes of a good size, more sizable than, say, a tapas bar. We could have done with one less dish and still be extremely full.
I have already told all my friends it's a fantastic little haunt that we all need to go to. Best to book though, for even on a Monday night it was busy. As with all places in London, the secret underground haunt doesn't stay secret for long!
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