{"id":1618,"date":"2015-11-29T09:12:43","date_gmt":"2015-11-29T09:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leilappetit.com\/blog\/?p=1618"},"modified":"2015-11-29T09:14:43","modified_gmt":"2015-11-29T09:14:43","slug":"review-of-checkpoint-for-bite-magazine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/?p=1618","title":{"rendered":"Review of Checkpoint for Bite Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Checkpoint is the now-permanent incarnation of the space that previously existed as a festival a pop-up. Open all day, every day and situated in the heart of student-land, the team behind this massive dining space are clearly keeping their options open. Emily and I visited on a quiet Thursday evening, and found a place with potential as big as its square meterage.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The design is functional, utilitarian. The menu sections and choices <\/span>could<\/span><\/i> be described as eclectic. More truthfully, I\u2019d say lacking in focus. Having said that, our server\u2019s recommendation of a Negroni and an Old Fashioned made for a spot-on opener, as did the buttery nocellara olives.<\/span><\/p>\n

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We then shared a salad Ni\u00e7oise with beetroot cured salmon (\u00a35) from the \u2018Salads\u2019 section and pork & prawn spring rolls with garlic soy sauce (\u00a35) from the \u2018Extras\u2019 section. Despite finding the cured salmon itself a little too \u2018fishy\u2019, the rest of the Ni\u00e7oise was textbook. A soft-boiled egg with still runny yolk, crisp green beans, kalamatas and sweet red onions. The little spring rolls with their tangy dunking sauce were also a savoury delight; generously packed meat filling inside, super-crunchy outside.<\/span><\/p>\n

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From the \u2018Substantial Stuff\u2019 section we opted for Beech-smoked grouse breast with celeriac, chestnut & fine beans. For \u00a39, this was amazing value. The seared slices of seasonal bird were tender with that hint of iron, served with a particularly luscious jus, tender celeriac, candy-esque roast chestnut and crisp parsnip game chips. Sad, dried-out green beans an incongruous feature on an otherwise perfect bistro dish.<\/span><\/p>\n

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We also shared a whopping plate of risotto with winter chanterelles (\u00a39). This was an interesting riff on the oft-familiar rice dish, featuring creamy goat curd, fresh peppery watercress, aromatic onion seed and the golden chanterelles. A little less salt in the stock would have allowed for full marks. <\/span><\/p>\n

From the \u2018Treats\u2019 section I had an overly-jammy, underly-crunchy apple and plum crumble with vanilla ice cream, and Emily the Cr\u00e8me Br\u00fbl\u00e9e with very un-seasonal strawberries & shortbread (both \u00a36). The \u00a0br\u00fbl\u00e9e sported a sugar crust so overly thick and robust it was close to requiring an ice pick to pierce the hard surface. The thin layer of thick custard below was so-so.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Showing so much promise, I think a little more time is all that\u2019s needed for Checkpoint to find its feet. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Checkpoint<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Checkpoint is the now-permanent incarnation of the space that previously existed as a festival a pop-up. Open all day, every day and situated in the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[46,28],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1618"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1619,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618\/revisions\/1619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leilappetit.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}