Texture

Texture Restaurant Review:

Chef Agnar Sverrisson from Iceland and sommelier and co-owner Xavier Rousset from France have created a dynamic restaurant. The setting is suitably pale, colored with blond wood floors, offset by some highly individual landscape paintings on the walls. The excitement comes in the cooking, in dishes like Icelandic salted cod with cold water barley and a shellfish jus and Icelandic skyr, a soft cheese served ice cold with rhubarb and a crunchy muesli. It’s done with skill, which shows in the dishes that are more familiar to western Europeans. Try the signature chargrilled Anjou quail with sweetcorn, shallot and bacon popcorn, then move on to Pyrenees lamb with Icelandic herbs and mustard giving it an extra punch. The wine list includes Champagne listings that put other restaurants to shame---five by the glass and 88 different selections, including some real niche producers. The list also takes in interesting Rieslings, including one from Luxembourg, and surfs the world for a mix of well known and small producers. There’s a good range of sweet wines as well. Set 2-course lunch £19.90, 3 courses £24; Tasting menu (whole tables only) £76 per person, additional cheese course £9.80.