A trip down memory lane with a visit to the wonderful St. John in Smithfield. This is an old haunt for us as we used while away many a lunchtime with a sandwich and a pint, reading the paper and chatting to the bar staff.
The place hasn’t changed. With that distinctive smell of the bakery welcoming you as you enter the bar. As always the bar staff are ever attentive, ready to take your order the moment you arrive.
I plumped for the Kid and Barley Broth and a cheese and chutney sandwich and sat in anticipation with my beer. It arrived with a round of differing breads and their salty butter. The soup was steaming with a thin layer of oil floating on the surface, very inviting.
In the bowl were; leeks, onions, bits of crunchy celery, barley, thin slices of garlic, parsley and, of course, the lovely pieces of kid goat complete with skin. Most of the vegetables were soft with the crunch of the celery coming through. The goat was devine, especially the skin. The layer of oil obviously came from roasting the goat. If you shut your eyes the soup tasted a bit like the best lamb gravy made in the roasting tin. Dipping the bread in the oil as I finished the bowl.
St. John never fail. I’ve had many soups from here and this was just as good as the first one.
Words and pictures by @madgie