Mountain (Beak Street), London
My friends booked this place for lunch in the Easter Sunday, when many stores and restaurants were closed. The tapas place is located in the centre of London. However, I was confused because there is no clear sign for this restaurant. I spent a minute in the street and literally stood outside of the restaurant front door.
We got a table in the basement. The menu is very simple, containing a long list of all tapas split into five sections: light bites, starts, mains, sides and desserts. We ordered Smoked Sardines, White Asparagus, Cockles, Chickpea & Snails, Tripe, and Pork Collar Chop with Roasted Spring Vegetables.
Menu
After a nothing special “Smoked Sardines”, the coming “White Asparagus Courgette Fritto” was, in my opinion, very uninteresting, which was basically deep-fried mixed vegetables, including some white asparaguses. The only cuteness from this small bite was the coating, which I could taste slight sweetness, and was not greasy.
White Asparagus Courgette Fritto
The one dish I really enjoyed was “Tripe”. First of all, I just like the ingredient themselves, with a meaty base and chewy surface, though I can imagine some people find them weird. This tapa had, I guessed, a bean paste base, with a very warm, light spicy taste. It overall created an interesting creamy-and-pasty, and the tripe grabbed the sauce very well. The tripe was actually tasted more like a special cut of beef meat rather than the often “annoying” skin-liked texture. This dish gave me a feeling of sitting next to a nice fire in a small cabin in a cold winter.
Tripe
The main dish/tapa “Tamworth Pork Collar Chop” was very disappointed to me. Pork collar was supposed to be tender and juicy, while here it was just dry in the muscle part with a lot inedible fat. The portion looks nice for three persons, though what was the point of a rather boring £70 pork that only half of the plate is edible? Maybe lower the price and cut the portion so we can order another main tapa or just delete it from the menu.
Tamworth Pork Collar Chop
Only halfway I realised this is a Michelin one-star (2025) restaurant, which shocked me. There were some fun tapas, yet I doubt the restaurant really met the one-star level. This is probably the problem of London; too many starred restaurants are disappointing.
🐼 Score: 2/5
