Monday 16 January 2012

Although The Artful Diner is on the January health bandwagon, the promise of a gourmet foodie affair at the weekend was too tempting to miss. The event was a food bloggers’ lunch at The Ship, a lovely riverside pub by Wandsworth Bridge, and about 25 of London’s best food bloggers turned up to indulge.

The day began with a glass of prosecco and freshly made scotch eggs – The Ship recently held a scotch-egg making competition with renowned chefs from the area. After mingling with the crowd we sat down to a three-course sample menu where The Artful Diner had the pleasure of sampling 14 dishes in total! Needless to say, a food coma kicked in late afternoon.

The Ship’s new head chef, Shaun Harrington (from The Groucho Club), wowed the crowd with his food presentation. For starters we gorged on foie gras (pictured above), lamb cutlets with spiced tomato and yoghurt dressing, and scallops with fennel purée and garlic chives.

The mains involved a Ship classic – braised pork and cider pie – and a revamped beef burger, plus a decadent-looking guinea fowl dish with truffled mash and mushroom jus. A super-rich chocolate fondant and passionfruit pannacotta followed for dessert, and just when we thought it was over out came the cheese platter!

The Artful Diner is already looking forward to the next food blogging event of its kind and more visits to The Ship, but for now it’s back to the health kick…