Kingly Court’s new restaurant Goldies, named after the golden tone of their signature frites, is the place to visit in the area right now.
Goldies London is the latest restaurant concept by Maxime and Yannis Alary, the dynamic duo behind the acclaimed Soho bistro Blanchette.
Surrounded by mostly chain restaurants Goldies is the first step in revamping Kingly Court’s food scene which has a focus on inviting in more family owned and independent restaurants.
Centered around wood-fire cooking, Goldie’s menu is a mix of dishes taking inspiration from France, Morocco and Spain.
The plates are designed to be shared and split between snacking, grill, skewers and the frites with dips. We try to have a mix of everything, starting with hummus with challah bread.
The challah or hallah as also known was one of my favourite breads growing up. It was a large loaf sprinkled with poppy seeds sold in our local bakeries.
Goldies version is much smaller with a beautiful shine on the braids, no poppy seeds. But it’s delicious as it is.
Incredibly soft, bouncy and fluffy on the inside with a thin shiny golden finish. No crust, as challahs are not supposed to have crust.
We each pick braid after braid, it’s perfect on its own, no dips needed although hummus is surprisingly a good paring. Rich on garlic and so fresh it’s a great snack indeed.
We decide to order two more dishes from the snacking section courgette flower ricotta and beef shin croquettes.
The menu is quite a mixed selection of dishes but I think it’s a good thing ensuring everyone can find something they’ll enjoy.
The flower courgettes are devine, crispy coating with creamy melting ricotta in the middle. While the baby courgette remains al dente.
With the croquettes we get one each. Rich in deep beef flavour they mostly consist of pulled meat and very little potato puree.
Eager meat eaters would definitely appreciate them.
Next on the tasting is the skewers section, Goldies went for an extra long and graceful skewers for the wow factor.
Although pleasing on the eye with popping colour of bright green mint sauce, white yogurt and perfectly square cuts of meat, the lamb itself is a little bit fatty for us both.
The prawns and chorizo skewer on the other hand is great, strong charcoal tone is a good pairing for delicate prawn meat. While chorizo is on the picante side, with a decent kick.
Moving onto the barbecue section it’s mostly for carnivores here with larger cuts of meat, although there is a field mushroom on the menu too, which our waiter says is her favourite.
We opt for a 38 days aged sirloin, which prepared at high level, no faults here. It’s cooked the way steak should be – medium rare and very tender.
We pair it with an excellent heirloom beef heart tomato salad, simply sliced and lightly seasoned. Tomatoes season is almost over sadly in the UK, but the remaining few weeks still produce a flavoursome crop.
Last but not least are of course the frites. As I said before the restaurant is named after the frites. They pride themselves in the frites making using a special circulating fryer and beef dripping.
The result is perfectly golden crispy frites with fluffy creamy middle. It’s a generous portion too. Served with a selection of sauces from smoky Brazilian BBQ to spicy Samurai.
Other restaurants please take note. Why serve the standard condiments like ketchup and mayo when you can have all these dips with limitless flavours and possibilities.
We complete our evening by sharing a soft serve topped with generous amount of dark chocolate sauce and roasted hazelnuts.
Simple but a bullet proof combo of cream and bitter sweet goodness.
Goldies is a great destination for those seeking a tad bit more refined experience than casual Kingly Court normally has to offer.
With a dynamic list of wines by glass including a few oranges and plenty smaller plates to share it’s worth paying a visit to.
Goldies, 10 Kingly Ct, Carnaby, London W1B 5PW