I've been a fan of Neil Rankin since the early Pitt Cue Co. days in Soho. That was a long time ago and whereas I feel like PCC has stagnated at the Spitalfields branch (even though I have their cookbook), NR seems to have done well. John Salt wasn't my favourite but Temper Soho sounded like an excellent choice of meats, Sunday roast and mezcal. It's still on my list.
But for now I'm happy to have been to Temper City, particularly during their soft opening with 50% off food. That ended up being a £56 saving for 4 people, which is remarkable. It's nice to be able to eat at a well reputed place without having the wait and getting a discount. Funnily enough even during this early stage the large dining area was half empty on a Saturday night. I guess people don't go to this area much on the weekends. Bad luck to them then.
The seats are arranged around the square/rectangular open kitchen complete with hanging meats next to the charcoal grill to finish them off and propel to the heights of greatness. New Delhi Sour (cinnamon smoke, bourbon, cardamom, absinthe) £12 was an expensive offering but read like a dream. It wasn't as strong as it sounds with smoke, bourbon and absinthe but the overall flavour was surprisingly mild, a little tangy sour and easy to drink.
- Mutton roll £9.5 - it's rather a fried flat croquette rather than a roll as such, but the crisp crunchy coat belies a lovely soft mutton. It's quite expensive for what you get, but it's good;
- Crab beignet £8.5 - similar to scotch eggs but with indistinct crab. Probably the only dish I didn't appreciate much;
- Korean haggis £9 - the thought of heart, liver, stomach, kidney and co. would be enough to put many off, but not me. There is a slight liver aftertaste but nothing compared to foie gras or pate. The different organs have different textures so there's contrast in it. It would be better if extra lettuce was served with it, otherwise it ends up being eaten off the spoon.
The main meals are curry plates served with soft paratha, fresh salad leaves and herbs, jhal muri, potato chaat, turmeric pickles, yoghurt & chilli sauce, peshwari dust. This results in a series of textures and flavours to create a nice set of wraps to eat the meal. The chilli peppers are grilled and served whole with seeds and pith. Consequently they are quite fiery, not to the point of pain but definite hit of searing heat.
Dry goat £17 is the classic meat that an unexpected number of people steer away from. This was a very tender set of boneless meat. Fish head £15 was shredded pieces of fish in a watery slightly more tangy base. Both of these were excellent, full of flavour and made wonderful combinations with the other ingredients.
Finally the Red curry spiced duck £26 was a beautiful sight on the table. This was an exceptionally flavoured smoked duck served with a mild red curry (although this was an Indian curry rather than the potent distinct Thai version I would normally associate with the words red curry). The duck itself was incredibly soft with a red core and one of the best I've ever had, perhaps rivalling HKK from all those years ago (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/hkk-london-04-2013).
I'll definitely be planning for the Soho one to compare.