Temper
British
25 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 0DF
££
High-end Barbecue restaurant Temper is located just off the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street. A fun yet relaxed vibe - you can either sit on the counter, overlooking the kitchen where the magic happens, or on numerous surrounding tables.
I took my mum her for a Sunday Mother's Day lunch and opted for a table - I've eaten at the counter at Kiln and got far too hot. The staff here are extraordinarily friendly, so friendly, that at first I thought them a bit odd. It wasn't until I realised I was being a typical antisocial Londoner that I noticed they weren't odd at all, just absolutely effortlessly charming.
Temper specialises in Barbecued meats, and by specialises I mean just that. The meat here really is something special. As it was a Sunday, we had two options: The Roast (£18 each), which comes with cuts of Lamb, Pork and Beef, or the Special of the day which was Pork - for the two of us we could get some loin (£40 for two). As Pork is probably my least favourite meat out of the three, I opted for The Roast - as did Mum.
The meat was cooked to perfection: I am not exaggerating when I say you could literally taste the quality. My cut of pork at first I thought had a lot of fat on it, but when I cut into it I realised it was just an incredibly tender piece of white meat. The grilled and smoked cuts were accompanied by purple sprouting broccoli, burnt leeks, heritage carrots, cauliflower cheese, beef fat roast potatoes, smoked bone marrow, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. The selection of sides as you can see was substantial and varied. The sides were all delicious, the only teeny weeny negative was that our cauliflower cheese arrived cold. Admittedly, we could have very easily sent it back (I saw another table do this) and they would have warmed it up, but it was actually so tasty I didn't want to.
There is a lot of drinks to choose from, Mum and I went for a cocktail - her a De Pêche Mode and me a Sage Advice (both £10). I wouldn't get these again if I had the choice, I prefer my traditional cocktails - but this is not a criticism per se, more a case of personal preference. To finish with, we had Butterscotch kouign amann with Dulce de Leche ice cream (flaky pastry and the tastiest ice cream potentially on the earth - £6) and Deep dish brigadeiro cookie with condensed milk custard (basically a half baked cookie, layered with extra chocolate, always a winner - £5.50). Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I had deserts this good. I'm not usually one with a sweet tooth but these guys should specialise in deserts as well as cooked meats - I didn't want these dishes to end!
The staff, food, and overall experience at Temper is extremely good. I would thoroughly recommend coming here on a Sunday afternoon to enjoy the best roast of your life followed by some intensely tasty desserts.
OVERALL RATING: *****
http://temperrestaurant.com/
