Every day this week, our foreign correspondents will accept the challenge of finding the best meal possible in their city for the equivalent of €120. Today, Mark Paul gives us a special insight into his London working life.
The concept of “the best meal available” is flexible and adaptable. What is “best” depends on what you fancy at a given moment, where you are and who you’re with.
Thankfully, London is a kaleidoscope of global cuisine – whatever your stomach’s desire, it is always available somewhere.
For example, there is a woman, Maureen Tyne, who serves world-class Caribbean jerk chicken in her back yard in Brixton. If I was on Electric Avenue some sunny day and the hunger pangs struck, the best – by far – meal available would be down at Maureen’s Kitchen: a hearty feed for about £15 (€17). In that moment, nothing else would beat it.
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If it’s a Sunday afternoon during the football season and you’ve managed to get rid of the kids for a few hours, the best meal available is a British roast in a pub with a television and – this is crucial – dire mobile coverage (common in London). I never cared much for Yorkshire puddings until I moved here. I’ve since learned they make handy receptacles for gravy. Pour it in, dip your carrots, then wait for the pudding to burst.
For a reporter who spends more time in Westminster than any sane Irishman should, the “best meal available for €120 (£105)" usually means the best and most convenient political power lunch. For me, that is often to be found in Osteria dell’Angolo on Marsham Street, five minutes around the corner from Westminster Abbey.
Osteria dell’Angolo is a modern, fairly posh Italian restaurant across the street from the Home Office. It has white tablecloths and discreet staff. It is also packed full of politicos all week. It isn’t the best Italian restaurant in London, nor is it the poshest. But if you want to get an MP or political adviser talking in the middle of a work day (when you can’t get them too drunk), Osteria dell’Angolo’s all-round offering often does the trick.
The first thing you learn when meeting Westminster MPs for lunch is that most of them will never, ever pay for anything.
MPs as a species are still collectively scarred from the Daily Telegraph expenses scandal of more than 15 years ago. The thought of someone discovering they claimed from taxpayers for a posh meal with Prosecco on a work day is enough to put the fear of God in them. I pay just to stop them from falling into panic before my eyes.
That means I always have to be mindful of the cost. In an ideal world, we both order from Osteria dell’Angolo’s three-course set lunch (£31.50 each) and the cheapest bottle of wine (about £30). Factor in the 12.5 per cent discretionary service charge automatically lobbed on to every bill, and it comes to exactly £105. Perfect.
The set lunch menu might include classic Italian dishes such as zuppa di piselli (pea soup), polipetti (stewed baby octopus) and fegato alla piastre (fried calf’s liver).
One of the first politicians I took to Osteria dell’Angolo was Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former first minister who was once an MP. It was soon after Nicola Sturgeon, his one-time protege and later enemy, quit. I wanted someone who really knew Edinburgh politics to give me a view on what this all meant for the push for Scottish independence.
Salmond was generous with his knowledge and wit, a charming companion. But whatever else he was, he wasn’t really a man for a fixed-price set lunch. Salmond joyfully waltzed his way through the dearer a-la-carte menu. He also liked good wine. The rogue blew my budget, but I didn’t care. He was worth it. While I spoke to him many times afterwards, I never ate lunch with Salmond again – he died the following year.
Since then I have eaten at Osteria dell’Angolo with people from parties including Reform UK, Labour, the Tories and more. I have dined there with diplomats, lords, MPs and their advisers. There is cross-party consensus that Osteria dell’Angolo does a fine lunch. osteriadellangolo.co.uk
