St Barts is an refined restaurant located near Farringdon and the Barbican, in the courtyard of the old church of St Bartholomew the Great. Most of the tables are located along the wall with panoramic windows overlooking this church. The interior of the restaurant is very calm, in beige tones, a lot of wood and stone, there is enough light inside the restaurant. The kitchen is open, with some seating nearby and the main tables set a little to the side. The appearance of the restaurant is gratifying, it is very pleasant to have lunch or dinner here.
The main emphasis in food is on local products, tastes and recipes, but the recipes, of course, are in the chef’s own interpretation. At St Barts you can choose between a tasting dinner (13 courses - £140), a short (8 courses - £70) and long (10 courses - £110) tasting lunch or a business lunch (4 courses - £55). We tried the long tasting menu for lunch with wine pairing (~£110).
For beginning there were several starters and bread and butter of course (I love this tradition, honestly) with a fine riesling as a pair.
Shellfish Bun
Rarebit Tart
Carrot XO
House Bread & Butter
Wine: Balthasar Ress, Riesling
Among snacks my favourite was carrot mousse with langoustine, because it was sweet, tasteful and silky. For the bun, I find that the seeds at the top steal all the attention. And rarebit tart at my taste was a little bit plain, I would expect brighter flavors from appetizer.
The following dish is only featured on the long menu. This is sea bass ceviche with additional notes of rhubarb and ginger. A very light, slightly sweet, very beautiful dish. In company - a glass of good orange wine.
Sea Bass, Rhubarb & Ginger
Heinrich, Graue Freyheit, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris
More small plates from the main short menu. Finally, I liked them both. Cheese and onion mousse with young onion shoots is a very classical and successful combination. Potatoes and truffles are actually a new take on risotto - tasty and interesting. The wine pairing was pleasant with a glass of chardonnay.
Cheese & Onion
Potato & Truffle
Domaine Overnoy, Vigne Derriere, Chardonnay
And we got to the main course. In fact, I see versions of this dish in almost every English restaurant. I won't say that I don't like it, but it has become a little boring. What do we have here? Pork loin, a piece of crispy pork fat, black pudding and some apples. Okay, but it's still pork loin.
Speaking of wine, I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never seen a wine preserving system like St. Barts has for some wines. The idea is to pierce the cork with a needle and then replace the poured wine with argon. Firstly, the original cork remains. Secondly, wine in a bottle never interacts with oxygen before it is ready to drink. Perfect preservation!
Mangalitza Pork
Enderle & Moll, Buntsandstein, Pinot Noir
The second course from the long menu is duck and a glass of Barolo. The duck was good as was the wine pairing.
BBQ Duck
Andrea Oberto, Barolo, Nebbiolo
That's all the differences between the long and short menu: sea bass ceviche and duck. Paired with wine, this addition costs almost £80. This is the same price as the entire short menu (except wine). In my opinion the signature dishes are presented on a short menu, the additions were good and tasty but didn't tell any new story. I'm not sure if a long lunch menu is a better choice than a short one, but at least the wines were good.
Dessert was apple tart with rhubarb and yogurt ice cream - sweet and sour, delicious and refreshing. This dessert was served with a glass of English bubbles. I love English bubbles, this was nice too.
Also the complementary smoked meringue tartlet was very good.
Rhubarb, Yoghurt & Apple Marigold
Hundred Hills, Signature Rose
Do I recommend this restaurant? Well, yes. This place is very beautiful, with a great atmosphere, food is good looking too, the wines are good. But I didn't see the story told through food - nothing new, nothing that could be remembered for a long time.
