The 10 Cases
Covent Garden, London
The 10 Cases is so named because owners Will Palmer and Ian Campbell buy just 10 cases of each listed wine on their 23-bin list – all offered by the glass, carafe and bottle (from around £33) – then don’t stock it again when it's all sold. However, this is no spot for cult producer fanciers chasing the rarest Burgundy or for those who just want to glug cheap plonk; it's somewhere for those who want to drink well for not too much money and embrace quality wines slightly outside the norm – we sampled a bottle of 2014 Morgon Les Charmes from Château Grange Cochard, a richer, modern style of Beaujolais. All in all, it’s a crowd puller. The place is also billed as a neighbourhood Bistrot à Vin, with a menu of simple, affordable French classics – perhaps smoked duck breast with rémoulade and candied walnuts or steak frites with peppercorn sauce – all served against a pitch-perfect backdrop of small tables, warm, low lighting and white walls covered with blackboards listing wine and food. We kicked off with a trio of small plates: blistered Padrón peppers hot from the fryer and dusted in rosemary salt; cod cheeks in a light, crisp tempura-style batter sprinkled with chilli and spring onion and served with a sweet, smoky, spicy vadouvan mayo; and a bowl of bacon-rich, creamy rillettes topped with cornichons. Next up, a whole roasted pork T-bone chop (for two to share). This was carved into slices alongside the bone and served with a wonderfully intense meat sauce, light and creamy celeriac purée and two halves of roasted apple – plus two huge slabs of confit-style potatoes layered with roasted onions on the side. To finish? Panna cotta with pistachios, and treacle tart with crème fraîche. Next door is the Cave à Vin wine bar, which is for walk-ins only.
