In my last post, I promised to write about meat next time. And what better meat to write about, than the one served at Smiths of Smithfields, straight from London's meat market opposite? I have been there a mere handful of times, and inevitably, I end up ordering the same 2 dishes. Admittedly, the chef's signature dishes, but how unadventurous is that? My only consolation comes every time my more adventurous husband tastes what I have ordered and - also inevitably- says 'What I ordered is really really good. But what you ordered is just unbelievably fantastic!'. And sure enough, last Tuesday, it didn't fail.

We were there to celebrate my cousin's birthday, as we have decided unilaterally to further his foodie education while he furthers his literary education here in London for a year. We'll see at the end of the year what he has learnt most...

Smiths of Smithfield (or SoS) is a great concept with a huge bar on the ground floor which serves scrumptious brunch on weekends, a champagne & cocktail bar on the 1^st floor, a 'casual' restaurant on the 2^nd floor and a very posh-nosh restaurant on the Top Floor with views over London. Or so they claim, I have not eaten there. Yet. Hint-hint.

So we started the evening with a cocktail or 2, before moving upstairs. Where I ordered my usual: lucky squid and crispy belly of pork with green sauce and mashed potatoes. The lucky squid is melt-in-the-mouth tender, and buried under a mound of fried garlic and chillies. Firy, yet light. The perfect starter. But the true star is the pork belly. How can such an unappealing name hide such glorious tastes and sensations? The meat is stringy and tender as butter, all the fat under the skin has melted away and the skin is the most lost-for-words crackling crackling (how else to describe it?) I have ever set teeth in. My cousin followed suit on the main course and was just as WOW'ed as I was. The green sauce (another fetching appellation, don't you find?) is a kind of salsa verde, but I can't quite place the exact herbs they use. And I won't even try, as I love the atmosphere in SoS and being able to recreate their dish in my own kitchen would rob me of the excuse of going there.

P.S. Yes, I take photos in restaurant. No, I don't know if my husband and cousin were embarassed.