28°-50° Marylebone

Pleasant place to be

This is my second time here and, likely, not the last.
The restaurant is uniformly pleasant, professional and well-run. Food is tasty and well-cooked (menu is brief, but not challenging), service is friendly and prompt and and prices user-friendly. It is the wine list, however, that takes it to the next level: one would not expect to find a bottle of Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici 1997 on the menu at all, let alone of around 60 pounds! Brilliant!

Excellent in all respects

We visited for the first time this past Saturday night. Ate lunch at the Fetter Lane restaurant a while back and found it very good, very business-y. This one (at night, at least) has a much more sophisticated atmosphere, warm and welcoming and nicely energized. Our server commented that things were quiet, which leads us to think it can be pretty boisterous during the week when the after-work crowd is in force. That struck us as one of the nice things about the place, reflecting the sensitivity and taste with which it's been put together — equally good for groups or couples (both were in evidence on Saturday).

She and I are reasonably educated and fairly demanding when it comes to wine, though hardly expert. We know enough to distinguish different grapes and regions so as to be able to guess at what we're likely to enjoy and describe our preferences to someone who is truly knowledgeable — but we're mostly clueless when it comes to vintages and producers. And my taste in wine is very different from Hers. So we ordered by the glass and sampled half a dozen different wines on the recommendation of our server — all were excellent. We also had a glass of the house champagne — too dry for Her, but I found it delicious. The sweet wine paired on the menu with our dessert was very good.

The food is really not meant to be the star of the show here, so can't be given very highest marks (if it's inventive cuisine you want, go to Texture). But the menu is thoughtful and varied, and everything we ate was well-executed and delicious and nicely presented. Oysters were excellent, as were our starters (beetroot salad with horseradish yogurt, aubergine and peppers with goats curd, and salmon confit with marinated vegetables). For mains we shared the spatchcock chicken, utterly simple but practically perfect, crisp and moist and properly seasoned, with a tasty Bernaise alongside. Accompanied by a well dressed green salad — what more could you ask? We had a cinnamon creme brulee for dessert, which was very satisfying, at the firm and creamy end of the brulee texture spectrum. Coffee was also good.

The service was very good, in a manner appropriate to the type of restaurant this is, both professional and warm — the staff was clearly working hard to please. Our primary server was friendly and attentive and knowledgeable about the wine list — as noted above, her wine recommendations were spot on in response to our requests. Two other staff members appeared to be keeping tabs on us as well: someone appeared from behind the bar almost instantly when our wine glasses ran empty; someone else whisked away our plates before we had time to wish they would, then immediately brought us dessert menus. The meal was well paced and we were given the bill and permitted to pay promptly after we asked.

All in all a lovely evening — we will certainly return.

Pretentious staff aren't very helpful. Decent brasserie style food – basic menu done well aside from the non-stellar puddings. Atmosphere was nice enough – it can seem small if the table next to you is having a bit too much fun and sloshing wine about but otherwise a very attractive area. Wine list was pretty interesting – we enjoyed the Priorat. Hence the poor value for money – the “discretionary” 12.5% plus a “donation” and extra charges for additional bread… To be fair, I can't fault the food – but as this is the second time I've been in the last month and they were extremely unhelpful (my vegan friend asked for recommendations or if something could be made without cheese and waitress just pulled a face and didn't suggest a thing), I won't be back anytime soon. This last time – they were very clipped, were unavailable despite us asking to order more and I can't remember the last time a place made me feel unwelcome despite our group of 3 being friendly, appropriately dressed and sober.

It was a pity that I chose to review 28:50 on this occasion. This was my fourth visit to the restaurant (twice previously for lunch and once for drinks in the evening) and each previous time I had liked it sufficiently to want to come back and indeed recommend it to friends. Today was a disappointment in several respects, but not sufficiently so to prevent returnning in the future. On the positive side, there is much to like. The design of the venue is superb, giving the sensation of being airy and spacious with light coming in on from three sides. Despite being busy, the acoustics also work well and one can easily make oneself heard. The wine list is also an absolute joy with a fascinating and eclectic range, priced reasonably and in 75ml measures upwards. We enjoyed a Fino, a Chilean Viognier and a Cote du Rhone Villages, all of which showed great typicity. On previous occasions, wines as diverse as Austrian Gruner Veltliner and reds from Rueda have also been enjoyed. The staff are also friendly and effusive, with an appropriate waiting time between courses. Two things were disappointing on this occasion: first, being sat at the table right by the door. It seems an ill-thought-through idea to have a table seating four (we were three) so close to the front of the restaurant, resulting in a constant and disruptive traffic of people. Second, while one cannot fault a two-course set lunch for £14.95, the main was truly appalling. Billed as “pork collar with hispy cabbage and Madeira jus”, it came to the table cold and reminded me of late-night kebab experiences from yestertear, with the hispy cabbage much closer in form to soggy lettuce. Food and drink merit five out of ten based on the wine selection and the fact that previous mains from the a la carte have been executed much better. Conclusion: do go, but ask for a table away from the door, drink lots of wine and choose your food carefully.

I stumbled across 28-50 in Fetter Lane a couple of years ago just after it opened, as it is a stone's throw from my office. It has become a sort of second office for me now, a place to take clients or just to pop in after work, to make the commute home on the Central Line a little more bearable.

Being a shrewd fellow, Xavier (who co-owns the place with Agi, the chef at their other marvellous joint, Texture) realised that if he truly wanted to take every penny I have, he should open his next venture at the other end of my commute. So he has. My natural wend home means that (unless I take a detour) I have to pass this new venture every night. I've been three times in the first week. This is not a good sign for my wallet.

Although the new branch has the same moniker as the original (denoting the degrees of latitude between which, at least until global warming really kicks in, the majority of the world's grapes are grown), it is hard to call it a chain, as the feel and style is so very different. Fetter Lane has a small, blink-and-you-miss-it entrance that takes you down into an Aladdin’s Cave of a restaurant/wine bar. The Marylebone branch is light and open, with two of the walls of the wedge shaped bar off Wigmore Street being glass, and the whole dominated by a V shaped, zinc topped bar. The third wall is an array of wooden wine boxes, that turn out to be used for storage.

Downstairs there’s an open kitchen and a few more tables. The only disappointing thing upstairs is that Westminster Council has not seen fit to allow tables outside: the sooner it sees the error of its ways the better.

As with the Fetter Lane branch, there is an excellent selection of wines by the glass, carafe or bottle as well as the “collectors list” of top notch wines at just over retail prices, allowing you to taste some great wines with restaurant food at little more than you would pay to sample at home.

To ensure that things run smoothly, a number of the Fetter Lane crew have been shipped in to oversee operations, and the service is excellent: friendly, efficient and knowledgeable.

As a restaurant, the place is already full; as for bar snacks, including burger on the list alongside charcuterie and cheese is genius, and the triple cooked chips get a ten out of ten. OK, so the burger round the corner at Meatliquor might be better, but the version at 28-50 is lovely, you don’t have to queue in the cold and damp, don’t have to peer through the gloom to see the menu, get much better chips, far, far better wine and service that is streets ahead.

So if you want to be trendy, want to catch cold for your food, go to Meatliquor. If you want good food and fantastic wine in a friendly atmosphere whilst watching the world go by, go to 28-50.

REVIEW: 28:50, Marylebone Lane, Marylebone
28:50 which after its huge success at its Fetter Lane branch has decided to open up in Marylebone Lane, which I am not surprised about, as this road seems to be the place to open up on at the moment, and keeping near its renowned Texture restaurant, which I still have not been too! It’s also just round the corner from my work, which I know is going to be dangerously addictive.

The menu at 28:50 Marylebone is short but sweet, I was torn by nearly every dish as what to have so asked the waitress to help me out, who may I add was extremely attentive and was always around if I needed anything. And with the offering of Champagne upon arrival, what more could I ask for. The interior has been finished to a very high standard, light, airy and modern. By looking closer some if its furniture has that aged worn look which adds to the atmosphere and shows attention to details has gone into this place. It almost reminds me of some of the modern Spanish Tapas places opening up around town, clean tiled areas and spacious, with the back wall adorning wooden wine boxes, there is a strong focus on wine at this place and a great bar area in the centre.

First out swiftly to the table was the Foie Gras terrine with Rhubarb chutney and toast, an unusual combination with the Rhubarb, which kind of worked. The Rhubarbs acidity definitely made the terrine feel lighter and fresher but I like my Foie Gras terrine to taste of just that, as it’s so rich you don’t always need an accompaniment, but the terrine itself was delicious and the Rhubarb had a lovely creaminess to it. The other great thing about their menu is that most of the dishes can be ordered as a small/large size, which is great if sharing with friends or you just want to pop in for a lighter lunch, and a glass of wine, of course.

The Tomato Salad with boccaccini mozzarella and roquette was so refreshing, the tomatoes beautifully sweet and succulent and the mozzarella was so creamy and fell apart in the bowl. The vinaigrette dressing really lifted the dish and added that extra zing of acidity. The roquette (which is the fancy French word for rocket) was so fresh and flavoursome I don’t think I have ever encountered it with such a potency before. A lovely refreshing starter, or main course if you prefer. Both of these dishes were accompanied by a glass of Primus Ribera del Duero, which may not have matched perfectly was still a delicious wine.

Next out was by far my favourite dish of all, Pork Cutlet grilled, with wild garlic polenta and Madeira Sauce. The piece of Pork itself was stunning! I have never had such a tender Cutlet, cutting through it was like cutting into a piece of rare beef i.e.; very easy. It was succulent and juicy and topped off with some breadcrumbs, it think. Accompanying it was some tender stem broccoli and the delicious garlic polenta, which I really enjoyed, so much I went and bought some polenta the following day.

The Confit Duck leg with pok choi, carrots and mouli was much more Asian inspired then I expected, but lovely and the skin was beautifully crisped, but also a bit sticky from its glaze. Been sprouts and other vegetables accompanied it while I tried mouli for the first time which tasted a bit like a radish and something I’ll be having again.

After all this food could I possibly squeeze in a desert, of course! Lemon tart with yoghurt sorbet, was so good, not infused with fake lemon essence (which I have had plenty of times before believe it or not) and the creaminess of the Sorbet was lovely. Crumbly, light pastry and the top is finished off in the style of a crème brulé, blow-torched! If I had room for more I would have ordered another one.

The Vanilla Crème Brulé that was ordered was also good, with peach compote as the base. This could have been ever so slightly larger in portion size and more caramelized on the top. I matched the deserts with a glass of Riesling Auslese, Fuder 5, Merkelbach, which was not overly sweet and full of citrus which was well matched as was not heavy or overpowering.

The wine list here is great, so much choice by the glass, small/large, carafe, bottle and all at reasonable prices, with a ‘Collectors list’ for those wanting to indulge in some fine claret or Burgundy's and small but well executed menu selection. I definitely recommend this place and can promise you won’t be disappointed. I’ll be back very soon.

8/10