Roast

Roast is a classic example of somebody seeing a unique opportunity, grabbing it with both hands, and then making it work. The last bit of course is almost invariably the toughest call.

The man who has done this is no ordinary 'somebody'. Iqbal Wahhab made an early start by moving from Bangladesh at the age of 8 months. In 2001 he launched the award winning Cinnamon Club, the Westminster restaurant where politicians, lobbyists and curries blend successfully together. Four years later came Roast, a wonderful opportunity to be at the hub of the rejuvenated Borough Market, one of the largest fruit markets in the world. Not for nothing was Iqbal voted into the Top 10 Restaurateurs in Britain by an Independent on Sunday survey.

Located in the elegant glass and stone portico on the first floor, the restaurant looks down into the Floral Hall of the market itself and out through tall arched glass windows over the surrounding townscape. As one leading newspaper recorded, 'restaurant locations don't come much better than this'. The atmosphere is one of excitement and buzz, sentiments wonderfully evoked by Prince Charles, (whose Prince's Trust has a Table at Roast to support their work in the neighbourhood), when he and the Duchess of Cornwall dropped in on the Market in November 2005.

As with most markets, whose business is by its very nature an early starter, Roast starts the day with a full-on breakfast menu. Strewn with such evocative words as Ayrshire bacon, large eggs Benedict, grilled Orkney kippers, Cumberland sausages, Scott's porridge oats, smoked Loch Etive trout and Ramsay of Carluke black pudding, I commend to you The Full Borough, or should you be returning from the hospital where your wife has just successfully given birth, The Roast Champagne Breakfast. Any old occasion will do.

You will already have detected a note of Britishness about Roast. This celebration of our national culinary awareness moves easily to the main menu where Market soup of the day, half a dozen Maldon rock oysters or perhaps a Market spring salad precede pan fried lamb's kidneys, or lemon sole, in competition with grilled new season lamb cutlets with Jersey Royals in season, or Welsh black sirloin steak, with options on roast potatoes in Britannia beef dripping and buttered Lincolnshire spring greens.

A profusion of puddings - would chocolate whiskey trifle tickle the buds? - is only surpassed by the seven or so cheeses always on offer, reading rather like a roll of honour to those afflicted by this persuasive, and yes, sometimes pervasive too, form of gourmet pleasure. Markets are places where the human frame may benefit not only from wonderful uncomplicated top class food but also some decent wine to go with it. It is no exaggeration to say that the wine list at Roast would be the envy of many a top London hotel or restaurant. Lots come by the glass, some come from these islands, notably Chapel Down Pinot Reserve and Balfour Brute Rosé, and the breadth of the list is truly astounding.

If you detect more than a little enthusiasm about Roast you are of course free to check out the reality. My guess is that you will be in raptures when you do. Check on their Website for seasonal changes of menu - a mainly spring menu has been used here, but all achieve the same high standard.