Chips mentions the many clubs where he lunches and dines. He never mentions what he eats and seldom mentions what is served at 5 Belgrave Square or Kelvedon.
Club food in the 1960s was a euphemism for rather poor cuisine. These days most London clubs have upped their game. Come with me into my club at lunchtime yesterday. My menu has prices, yours doesn’t.
STARTERS
Cream of Celeriac and Truffle Soup
Smoked Cod’s Roe
Home Made Potted Shrimps
Tomato, Avocado and Mozzarella Salad
6 Lindisfarne No 3 Oysters
Spicy Prawn and Avocado Omelette
Maldon Cured Smoked Salmon
Spicy Potted Shrimps
Bayonne Ham with Figs
Soused Mackerel with Potato Salad
Salmon Gravadlax with a Dill and Mustard Sauce
VEGETARIAN
Potato Gnocchi with Romano Peppers, Parmesan Cheese, Sage and Pine Nut Butter, and a Pea Shoot and Rocket Salad
FISH
Pan Roasted Fillet of John Dory with Snails, Tomato, Mushroom, Caper and Parsley Compôte and a Ricard Butter Sauce
Deep Fried Goujons of Plaice with Lemon and Tartare Sauce
16 oz Dover Sole Grilled or Meunière
MEAT AND GRILLS
Roasted Leg of Lamb with Madeira Sauce, Roasted Potatoes and Hispi Cabbage
Breast of Corn Fed Chicken Wrapped in Bayonne Ham with Celeriac Fondant, Hispi Cabbage, and a Madeira Sauce
Devilled Veal Kidneys with a Café au Lait Sauce, Mashed Potatoes and Buttered Spinach
Roast Rump of Lamb with Baby Fennel, Malmsey Sauce and Salsa Verde
Sausages and Bacon
Lamb’s Kidneys and Bacon
Calf’s Liver and Bacon with Black Pudding
Selection of Cold Cuts
Grilled Lamb Cutlets – Two/Three
Aged Scotch Rib Eye Steak with Grilled Tomatoes and Straw Potatoes
VEGETABLES AND SALADS
Buttered Leaf Spinach
Braised Red Cabbage
Buttered Minted Peas
Mixed Salad or Green Salad
Gratin Dauphinois
Buttered Ratte Potatoes
Sauté Potatoes
Fat Cut Chips
It is robustly masculine with only a nod to vegetarians; and if you are a pedant the mixture of French and English may upset you. As you are polite you may be anxious lest unwittingly your choices are expensive. There is a wide price range. Starters min/max £5.95/£17.50; fish £19.50/£36.25; meat and grills £8.25/£32.00. When I am a guest at a club I diplomatically ask my host or hostess to recommend something but you are my guest, so ask me what might be good. I parry by asking if you’d like red or white (of course I mean with our main courses, it’s understood that you will drink white with the starters). If you say white I invariably recommend sharing a Dover Sole; if red I will let you choose. Bon appétit.