Game on

IT'S increasingly hard not to stumble upon jingoistic nonsense about British produce be it beef or cheese, shellfish or spuds, that spouts the virtue of our native ingredients above all others. So although you might have been led to believe otherwise, there's nothing inferior about asparagus from elsewhere in Europe - unless of course you insist on eating it when British asparagus is in season.

Admittedly these days such proclamations are as much tempered by environmental politics and discussions involving food miles and carbon footprints as they are about simple misplaced culinary patriotism.

But if you ask any talented chef from abroad who has come to ply their trade on our shores about their favourite British ingredient most wouldn't skip a heartbeat before talking at length about the unrivalled quality of our game.

The traditional start of British game season is the so-called 'Glorious Twelfth' - the start of shooting season - that brings the first grouse. The fact that grouse is invariably better - not to mention cheaper - later in the season never puts off ever-competitive chefs racing to be amongst the first to get the game bird on their menus. Later in the season grouse tastes richer, its diet having changed from mostly heather to berries, and better fed - is plumper.
But no matter, the arrival of the first brace of grouse ushers in the arrival of all the rest of British game - winged game - in partridge, pheasant, wild duck - and ground game - in venison and hare.

Chefs get excited about game because it is wild and it is natural and tastes accordingly. Farmed meat can never compare to game in terms of texture and flavour - the quality of its flesh our reward for an animal that has had a high quality of life.
 
Although cooking game is still seen as somehow stuffy and unapologetically traditional, a glance at what London restaurants, from old fashioned English to modern French and from Italian to Indian, are doing with it this year shows that although you can’t beat roast grouse served with game chips and bread sauce, there’s plenty of other ways to proudly sample genuinely world class British game.

 
Where to eat Game in London

TRADITIONAL

Rules
Old School establishment dating back to 1798 that claims to be London's oldest restaurant and specialises in classic game dishes.
www.rules.co.uk

Blue Print Cafe
Jeremy Lee’s way with game is like his approach to everything else he cooks – painstakingly sourced produce, simply prepared to bring out its best flavour.
www.blueprintcafe.co.uk

Le Café Anglais
Chef Rowley Leigh loves his game and makes use of his rotisserie to spit roast his grouse whole and serve it with the traditional trimmings as well as offering a more modish preparation with grouse breasts wrapped in lardo and served on a bed of Swiss chard with a red wine sauce.
www.lecafeanglais.co.uk

Boisdale
The Scottish-themed restaurant with branches in Belgravia and Bishopsgate keeps its serving of game, from grouse to venison, hearty and traditional.
www.boisdale.co.uk

MODERN

Hibiscus
The ever-creative Claude Bosi will be putting Lancashire grouse on his menu from September, with a main course of roast grouse served with sourdough bread sauce, sweetcorn blinis, watercress and a light Thai curry purée.
www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk

The Greenhouse
Antonin Bonnet serves his grouse with pomegranate and liquorice, confits its legs, and makes a terrine from its giblets and liver with the addition of foie gras.
www.greenhouserestaurant.co.uk

The Square
Phil Howard is starting game season by serving a roast breast of grouse, with a croustillant of grouse with crushed celeriac, elderberries and apples.
www.squarerestaurant.org

INDIAN

The Cinnamon Club
Vivek Singh is offering regularly changing game menu, with pheasant, partridge, venison, deer and grouse on offer at various times throughout the season.
www.cinnamonclub.com

Indian Zing
Winning west London Indian is a hosting a Shikhari-Ka fiesta, serving a variety of traditional game dishes between September 29 and October 8. 
www.indianzing.co.uk

ITALIAN

Ristorante Semplice
Marco Torri serves a classic risotto of mixed mushrooms, fresh mint, grouse and red wine sauce.
www.ristorantesemplice.com