Dicing with Oysters at Bentleys - Dine with DH

Dos Hermanos, heard of them? Grandaddies of the London food blogging scene, they have been eating their way around London for many years now, raving and ranting in (almost) equal measure. DH was one of the first blogs I ever read and was one of the things that inspired me to start my own blog, a public diary so I could remember where I've been and what I have eaten.



So, this leads me onto my next installment of this public diary, Dine with Dos Hermanos. Every two months, Simon Majumdar of DH organises a get together for followers of the DH facebook. For a reasonable price, you get a tonne of food, a chance to meet and greet fellow food lovers and the now notorious goodie bag. Previous locations have included Vinoteca, Brindisa and the Bull and Last. Today's destination was Bentleys.



Primarily a seafood restaurant, we were treated an array of creatures from the deep. Six months ago, this would have struck fear all the way through me but my recent self education in food has proven to me that all I needed to do was try. So try I did. First oysters (which I managed to keep down) and then smoked fish of all kinds (ranging from the delicious eel to the rather strange sturgeon). I even brought myself to try smoked herring roe which was doused in a remarkable herb Bearnaise.




Mains were brought to the table in large family sized casserole dishes. A rich and luxurious fish pie and slow cooked beef cheeks in stout. I had the honour of dishing this up for the table and managed to dish most of it up equally and safely. The pie was packed with generous amounts of scallops, salmon and haddock, wallowing in a luxurious bechamel sauce and topped with a fantastic mash. The cheeks were so tender, they just fell apart and were accompanied by an array of roasted root vegetables and a horseradish mash.



By the time the dessert arrived, I was spent. The mounds of food had taken its toll on me but I couldn't afford to embarrass myself in front of my foodie contemporaries. Two massive dishes filled with sticky toffee pudding arrived, with a tub of clotted cream. This really was fantastic, probably the best example of sticky toffee pudding I have tried, but struggled so badly to polish off my portion. By the end of it all, I had to sit back in my chair and loosened the belt.

It was a fantastic event, and although the food was great, the real draw is the opportunity to meet people in real life that I have conversed with "digitally". I had the pleasure of sitting next to @thirstforwine, who I am pretty sure was horrified with my attitude and opinions on wine, and @bribedwithfood, a delightful young lady with a fear of carrots and an intent on poisoning me with anchovies.

There was fun, there was laughter and there was a hell of a lot of wine. At the end of the night, head chef Brendan Fyldes and owner Richard Corrigan made an appearance to rapturous applause. It had been a really enjoyable evening and I must take this opportunity to thank @SimonMajumdar for organising the whole event.

We grabbed the legendary goodie bags filled to to the brim with all sorts of goodies and after a few more drinks in the bar upstairs, we waddled off into the night, full, satisfied and very, very happy.

Bentleys (website) - 11-15 Swallow Street, London W1B 4DG