by Vivienne Pratfall takes a late dinner on Burleigh Street and discovers why some restaurants survive by being exactly themselves
Joe Allen Covent Garden: The New York-Style Supper Club That Has Outlasted Every Trend Around It
There are restaurants in London that outlast trends by refusing to participate in them, that build their identity on something so specific and so consistently delivered that no amount of fashion can make them seem either dated or current because they exist in their own category entirely. Joe Allen on Burleigh Street is this kind of restaurant. It has been a New York-style supper club in the theatre district since 1977, it has theatrical memorabilia on its walls and a certain kind of energy in its room, and it serves the food that its format demands without apology or deviation. This is, at this point, a kind of integrity.
I went on a Thursday evening after a show, at half past ten, when the room was full of people who had clearly just come from the same territory: post-theatre, animated, ready to eat and drink and discuss the evening. The room at Joe Allen is the correct room for this: low-lit, intimate enough to feel like a party but not so intimate that you feel you are imposing on other people’s parties, with the energy that comes from a space that has seen enough good evenings to know how they work.
The Food
The burger at Joe Allen is one of the things the restaurant is known for, partly because it was originally not on the menu and had to be ordered as an off-menu item, which gave it a certain mystique. The mystique has been formalised and the burger is now officially available and it is very good: the patty is properly made and properly cooked, the bun holds together, the toppings are applied with the confidence of a kitchen that has made the same burger thousands of times and knows exactly how it should be.
The Caesar salad is another signature. The dressing is made with anchovies and egg yolk and Parmesan in the proportions that produce the correct balance of salt and richness and acidity. The romaine is properly dressed rather than merely tossed. The croutons have the garlic butter flavour and the crispness that make them worth having rather than merely present. This is a properly made Caesar and it is a better Caesar than most of the restaurants that charge significantly more for the experience of eating one.
The steak is properly sourced and properly cooked. The chips are excellent. The service keeps pace with the room’s energy: efficient, friendly, attentive without being precious about it. The wine is poured generously and the cocktails are made with the confidence of a bar that has been making them for decades.
The Late Night Proposition
The late opening hours at Joe Allen are perhaps its most practically valuable quality in the theatre district context. The post-show supper is one of the genuine pleasures of London theatre-going and Joe Allen provides it better than almost anything else in the immediate area. Visit Joe Allen after a show and order the burger. The London Prat loves London theatre. Bohiney has the wider cultural frame.
SOURCE: http://www.joeallen.co.uk/
