By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor
Nestled along Kingsway a few moments from High Holborn tube lies this well-kept secret. Rocket is a chain of high end and trendy restaurants with sites across the City, Docklands, the Holborn site of course and even one venue in Nottingham.
The restaurant is down a flight of stairs and the feel is sleek but also had a relaxed feel. For a Wednesday night it was pretty busy and we took a table towards the middle of the surprisingly large venue.
The service was excellent and Andrea the General Manager looked after us with excellent advice on which cocktails to choose – I opted for Lost in the Grass whilst Mrs TLE chose an Eastern Bliss. The Lost in the Grass was excellent but don’t order this if you don’t like Mezcal as the taste is distinctive. Mrs TLE seemed very pleased with her Eastern Bliss.
The food choice is really exciting with a modern take on classic Mediterranean dishes, Black pudding, Prawn and Pancetta Pizza or some inventive salads such as Surf & Turf or even Fishcake Salad.
We started with Lamb Kofta and Panko Crumb & Coconut King Prawns. Then moved onto Surf & Turf Salad of Black Tiger Prawns, Baby Squid & Seared Rare Beef with cucumber, green beans, radishes, cherry tomatoes, red onion & peppers with a lime, tomato & chilli salsa. Mrs TLE went for Pan Roasted Salmon Fillet served with a tiger prawn panzanella salad with a chilli, blood orange & honey dressing.
Never one to miss out on a side dish, we ordered Hand Cut Big Chips, Rocket & Parmesan Salad and a Mixed Leaf Salad with Tomato, Cucumber & Red Onion.
The menu is great and you will be spoilt for choice, but don’t worry whatever you order will be great, the food is fresh, flavoursome and the Chef uses really good quality ingredients, on top of this the portions are very generous so it’s a real win-win!
The sweet menu is just as impressive, we both had decided we were not going to have a dessert but on reviewing the menu (we’ll have a look) both changed our minds!
We were delighted by the time we left, this is usually the effect when the cocktails are strong, the food is good quality and the desserts were heavenly. I opted for the Brownie while Mrs TLE went for the stick toffee pudding with salted caramel ice cream, which considering how full we claimed to be, were finished in record time.
Next time you are passing Kingsway do yourself a favour and pop in to this fantastic restaurant.
Rocket can be found at 36-38 Kingsway, London, WC2B 6EY
