First off NAC, love you long time but can we just talk about the cocktails? I ordered the Popcorn Sazerac and it tasted like popcorn, like vodka tastes like mashed potatoes. I was also so distracted by the word popcorn that I ordered it without reading the entire list of ingredients. For future reference, a ‘dash of absinthe’ is enough to have you at a nightclub 3 hours later describing the women as Instagram models and the men as Gollum.
Anyway, I was surprised hadn’t heard of NAC – or North Audley Cantine- before my friend Michelle decided to have her birthday dinner there. They apparently have a speak easy downstairs, although when I went to the bathroom all I found was an empty popcorn maker. The restaurant has a scene-y atmosphere and decent food; perfect for a party.
The only main we ordered: grilled cajun chicken,
We ordered several small plates to share because we were a bunch of girls wearing tight dresses. Full disclosure? I was really hungry when I got home and crushed the hubs leftover Thai. My favourite dish on the menu was probably the crispy squid. I really wanted the burrata but they had run out. Mayjah sad face.
Crispy squid (and yes, that’s how much aioli it comes with).
I also really liked the truffle mac and cheese (obvi), but there wasn’t actually any mac. i.e macaroni. The pasta they used was Mezze Maniche Rigate (ya, I had to look that up) and it was far too big for the small pot the mac and cheese came in. There was probably 4 or 5 pieces of pasta in the whole thing, which is a pain in the balls to split between girls. Four bites of truffle mac and cheese IS NEVER ENOUGH.
Truffle and cheese with a tiny bit of pasta.
The other fan favourite amongst the group was the torched cauliflower. Cauliflower is the new everything right now: cauliflower rice, cauliflower pizza crust and my friend Michelle told me that restaurants in New York are now serving cauliflower steak for vegans. What we had was super tasty, but I would have liked some kind of sauce to go with it.
Brains… I mean cauliflower.
The tuna was also fantastic and I would recommend it as a main meal if you aren’t that hungry, as it comes with avocado and quinoa. That’s what I actually wanted my meal to be, start with the burrata and the tuna as my main. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I know , I know. I need to get over it. Cheese shouldn’t control my life this way…. But it does.
Said tuna.
What to wear: I was dressed like a classy late 90s call girl in honour of the late, great Prince. But you can dress like a normal person if you want.
NAC
41 North Audley Street
Mayfair
London