So Weng Wah House is no more. You know, the Chinese stalwart that’s forever occupied the spot opposite the Premier Inn on Haverstock Hill up near the Royal Free.
We admit it’s been years since we ate there, but back in the day it was pretty acclaimed, and wasn’t the karaoke room one of the capital’s first?
From this June the site becomes the Truscott Cellar, a new sixty-cover wine bar, with food cooked up by the former head chef at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Aidan McGee. It should definitely shake up the rather sleepy eating scene on the slope from Belsize Park to Hampstead, at any rate.
The Cellar is the second venture from Andrew and Mary Jane Fishwick, owners of The Truscott Arms – currently rated at #10 in the UK’s Top 50 Gastropubs (the Bull and Last is at 13) and the highest showing for a London pub in the awards this year.
So what’s the angle with the new joint? Set over two floors with “a sustainable British wood theme” and lashings of dark marble, as its name implies, it’s all about the wine list (probably a good thing round such wealthy parts): three hundred bottles, with 50 choices of wines by the glass, championing both small and rare producers.
The menu continues the ever-fashionable theme of small British plates and sharing dishes. Expect quirky and unusual takes on classics like mushroom Welsh rarebit, creamed haddock & spring onion, and slow braised beef cheek with smoked mash. There’ll also be British charcuterie, artisan British cheeses and a Billingsgate fish board featuring house potted shrimps, cured eel, whitebait and pepper crackers.
So far, so good. And don’t forget top pizza joint Franco Manca has just opened a second away too, so perhaps this hilly stretch – what with a revamped The Hill and NW3 Bar & Kitchen a little further down – is finally becoming a more interesting proposition.