Great Queen Street (yet again)

I know - you are beginning to get the impression that I only go to 3 restaurants. Which isn't really true... But there are only a few that I jump at the opportunity to go to. So when a friend said she was taking the week off work and would I be up for a lunch I said hell yes. And when she said she wanted to try GQS I said HELL YES and booked an afternoon off work. We were planning to head into Borough Market after lunch, so I didn't burden myself with a camera, hence dodgy phone pics.

To start with, we had glasses of fresh strawberry and prosecco fizz. I was conflicted with the menu. Not by the main - the Hereford beef burger (served pink) on dripping toast with parsley salad and pickled walnut was on the menu. But by the starter. Gazpacho? Crab on toast? A complicated but delicious sounding pressed tongue dish? I opted for duck ham with sour prunes. And it was a very good plan! The duck ham was delicious, and the jammy, vinegary prunes were perfect.

A brief pause and then we launched into pudding. I made Kim order the muscat caramel custard, because I had raved so much and I had gooseberries with rosewater and meringue. The gooseberries were perfect with a magnificent meringue, absolutely plain cream (what does possess some people to sweeten cream that is going with meringue?). No obvious rosewater but I think that is a good thing - if you can tell it is there I think you are doing it wrong.

All up, a fantastic lunch, but then we got a cab to the market and discovered that shopping when stuffed to the gills is as bad an idea as shopping hungry. So hard to get inspired. I bought some fresh green peppercorns and some samphire, but they are for another day's posting.