Lockhart, Marylebone

Sometimes when I look at a menu, nothing really grabs me. Sometimes I'm right, and it's not that great and sometimes it's down to my pure ignorance of the food and I'm proven very very wrong. And I love to be proven wrong when it comes to food.

I heard a lot about Lockhart's new chef and menu, but knowing nothing about Southern food, I just wasn't grabbed by the menu so I didn't bother to come. Very very stupid. Then I read about the hype. And, jumping on the bandwagon yes I know, I knew I must have been in the wrong here.

I started with an incredible cocktail of vodka, CACTUS LIQUER (amazing), lime and cranberry.

Now, knowing nothing of Southern American food, I had to ask a lot of about what was on offer. To start we had chicken oysters in a mustard and bbq sauce (top in picture) and the incredibly named catfish gumbo.

The gumbo was delicious, however I can't remember exactly what a gumbo is anymore. But it was good.

This all came along with their house bread which had salty pork crackling dotted inside - so addictive - but we also ordered a side of corn bread, which is baked fresh to order.

It's more like cake than bread, with a sticky sugar glaze. It was so moist and an absolute delight.

My favourite dish of the night was the shrimp and grits. I could have eaten a vat of this. Fat, juicy prawns mixed with chilli and grits - a gorgeous cheesy polenta sauce.

Then we had the stuffed quail, stuffed so much with "dirty rice" - a mix of offal, it was looking like a baby chicken.

By this point I was way to full with porky bread and corn bread to fully appreciate the dessert of rice doughnuts with fennel icing sugar and chocolate sauce hidden underneath.

It was nice, but I think I may have enjoyed their other offering - a deconstructed lemon meringue pie - more. I hear it's very sweet and I have the sweetest of all teeth.

The bill came in this adorable old book. I love these kinds of touches!

Lockhart is expensive, but so so worth it. A crash course in incredible Southern dining, it's real, hearty, need to go to the gym tomorrow, incredible tasty food. They have recently started opening for brunch too, which I can't wait to tuck in to - maple, fried chicken and waffles, hello! 

I feel so foolish for not heading over to Lockhart sooner. I'm ashamed to say I knew nothing of Southern food before and was proven well and truly wrong.