Mountain

Social media hype works. This is the new way that you find about things that are great. You find people whose opinions you trust. When one of them raves about something you clock it and think ‘interesting…’. Then a few more people do the same and it becomes something that you think you have to participate in to see what all the fuss is about. This is why people spend money now on social media advertising and influencers to help spread the word about their wares. It works.

Mountain restaurant on Beak Street in Soho was one of those places for me. I was aware of its opening, it was part of the same group as Brat from east London, a darling of foodies and wine aficionados for several years ago. I’d seen post after post from friends (and people whom I’d aspire to be friends with) on social media about how great Mountain was, and the occasion of my best friend’s 40th birthday felt like a great opportunity to see what all the fuss was about.

The menu reminded me of Brat. Somewhat minimalist in its formation. It follows a format that will be familiar to many of you: snacks at the top – little morsels of deliciousness; starters next; slightly bigger plates; and then bigger dishes designed for sharing. I like this format – it allows you to order a range of different items and then not got the ‘oh, I ordered the wrong dish and now have plate envy’ thing! Mountain also follows a similar ethos to Brat – it eschews fancy trappings and flourishes with its cooking – this is largely about good simple dishes, cooked over fire, letting the quality of the ingredients speak for themselves.

The food!

We ordered a range of different things from across the menu. We were eating with some pescatarians so we concentrated on veggie and fish dishes. I did look with lust at some of the meaty dishes, but we’ve been trying to reduce our meat consumption too, so it wasn’t a bind at all to eschew the meat (although I may have to go back and give a few of the meat courses a try given some of the mouth-watering plates I saw making their way towards other diners…!).

First up we got some raw scallop and monkfish; pumpkin fritto; beetroot, mountain mint and sorrel; and some grilled sardines. To follow that we went for some fire-grilled langoustines. For our main course we opted to share a very impressive looking John Dory, which we got some winter vegetables with. One of the highlights was also some wild mushrooms, which came with an egg yolk in the middle that you could mix in with the beautiful mushrooms. The flavours were so rich and earthy – a real joy. The John Dory itself was just spectacular – there really is something special about serving whole fish. Yes, it comes with the added complexity of dealing with the bones, but that’s all part of the fun – isn’t it?! Alongside the fish we also had some wood roasted winter vegetables, which had a pleasing smoky element to them.

My overall impression of the food was that it was of the consistent high quality that you’d expect from a starred restaurant. What they didn’t do was try to make the dishes complicated. There was a brilliant simplicity and confidence in the food that just leapt off the plate. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the fancy, micro-plate style places too – there’s space for both in the world; but I loved the clarity of this menu.

The wine!

Now, one of the things that had most attracted me to the restaurant when I’d seen my friends posting from it was its evidently excellent wine list. It’s also a rare restaurant in that it doesn’t publish its wine list on the website – normally I would I have spent the days beforehand poring over the list, but I couldn’t do that in this case, so I was thrilled when I could look it over in the restaurant!

At the beginning of the meal we opted for a bottle of Eric Rodez NV Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru champagne. This was both a producer that I didn’t particularly know, but also a style of champagne that I’ve not drunk that often. There are plenty of Blanc de Blancs style champagnes / sparkling wines out there, but to find one that concentrates solely on Pinot Noir is comparatively rarer (note: I believe that you can also get 100% Pinot Meunier Blanc de Noirs style champagnes). This was a very structured and polished wine. It didn’t have the citrus fruit notes that you get from the Chardonnay in champagne blends, instead it had subtle flavour of red apple and a hint of fresh redcurrants. On the nose it was very expressive. It made for a great aperitif as we were perusing the menu.

Whilst I was looking through the menu I came across a name that I had seen being celebrated by like-minded Riesling fanatics as an up-and-coming star in the German wine scene: Eva Fricke. I hadn’t had any of her wines before and tonight was going to be the day that changed. We opted for her entry-level 2022 Rheingau Riesling Trocken. This was a typical wine from the Rheingau – it featured an electric-style splash of acidity and minerality that was just so satisfying, and exactly why so many somms just adore Riesling. It was perfectly clean and fresh, but whilst also possessing an elegance and texture that meant it didn’t fade into the background, rather insisting on your attention. A brilliant wine – I can’t wait to try more of Fricke’s wines.

As the John Dory was coming to the table I wanted something special to go alongside it. With the wood roasted vegetables and the beetroot dish sitting alongside it, I needed a wine that possessed weight and texture. I went for something that may seem a bit of a curveball – a 2012 Vina Tondonia Gran Reserva Rosado. For many people (myself included) this is considered the greatest rosé wine in the world. It has an oxidised quality to it that gives it more presence, as well as more flavour than other rosés. There is a time and place for the blush-style rosé wines where there isn’t an awful lot going on, but I like my wines to have a bit more to them – particularly when having them with good food. The wine exuded red fruit notes, but balanced with floral expressiveness, as well as a slightly saline backbone. Just a joy to drink. I have a couple of bottles of these in my cellar at home, I am already excited about the occasions where I will open these!

There you have it. A triumphant and long-overdue visit to this excellent addition to the London fine-dining scene. If you haven’t been yet, then go – consider this my attempt to add to that ‘influencing’ weight that I referred to at the outset of this post!