Learn from the Academy

The ostrich I had for lunch at the Academy just after Christmas was the best big-bird steak I've ever eaten. I've eaten ostrich in Switzerland, South Africa, Australia and here, and every time I've been disappointed.

Not this time. I swore to return to this quiet pub in the backstreets of Holland Park. When I did I found an ex-boss from my waitressing days, Chelsea's favourite roué Michael Proudlock, having dinner with my colleague Edward Sullivan. These two have an eye for cheap, charismatic spots and they said they came here often.

It's a small room with a warm and simple interior. Despite the typical decorative motifs of a gastropub, it feels more like a wine bar, perhaps because most of the people in here are middle-aged to quite ancient. They have a small, light dining room out the back, but we ate in the bar, at a table that was as steeply pitched as an Alpine roof.

Prada Elaine and Supercilious P. joined me. I raved about the ostrich, only to be told, by the nice waitress who was attentive throughout, that the last ever portion was served at lunchtime and the new menu was now in place.

At £15.75, Picpoul de Pinet, from the Languedoc, was flowery, citrussy and offered more enjoyment than you normally get for that price in this area. Breaded prawns had a light, crumby coating and then some marvellously juicy, cookedjustso prawns inside, and the sauce was generic and sweet. Crab potato and coriander cakes divided us. I thought too much potato, Prada E. said delicious.

What an odd idea a duck burger is. It had the texture of cheap supermarket mince, but its flavour was spot on, and it had a moistness I hadn't expected. It looked a bit miserable alone on the plate in a pallid white bun, though. Prada E. had monkfish, again, moist, and wrapped in some rather dry-looking aubergine. Supercilious P. took the cod and chips with a tartare sauce that owed more to tzatziki in that it was more like yoghurt than mayonnaise. The batter was thick and crunchy. 'It's not a gourmet version, but I have no complaints.'

A chocolate mud cake had a dull, spongy texture and tasted too plain for something that's generally recognised as a substitute for sex. Then again, some sex is very dull, spongy and plain, so I won't hold it against them. This was plain, inexpensive food cooked with a little imaginative flair.

The Academy
57 Princedale Road, W11 4NP