A few places in Paris

We struck lucky with several good places on a two night stay in Paris:

La Coupe D’Or in Rue St Honoré for lunch: we enjoyed sitting in the sun watching the world go by, while eating a salade perigourdine (duck breast, gizzard, foie gras and mounds of salad) and quiche Lorraine (very eggy with lots of crisp lettuce . Service was fine contrary to many TripAdvisor reviews.

Aux Vieux Paris D’Arcole, Rue Chanoinesse for dinner: an amazing place a stone’s throw from Notre Dame.  Very welcoming host and family, charming old-style dining room. We had the 5-course set menu at €39 – a courgette fritter, foie gras, scallops and duck followed by a tart of some kind. Other tables were in raptures over the chocolate pudding and crème brulée.

Chez Francis, Place d’Alma for lunch (twice): we’d been to this place several times before.  A classic brasserie in a super location overlooking the Eiffel Tower, stunning décor inside and plenty of terrace tables for full meals or snacks.  B had steak tartare (vg but pre-mixed) and I had tuna tatami (also raw), with chips and spinach (which even I thought was super).  Second visit was just a club sandwich - which was huge.

                    

Flottes in Rue Cambon near Concorde/Tuileries for dinner:  another classic brasserie in a good location. Interesting décor in the rear dining room (try to avoid the corridor).  B had the grilled prawns and I had suckling pig.  Very good.

Capucine, in Boulevard des Capucines (Madeleine/Opera).  Another old haunt. More Art Nouveau décor.  Seafood tagliatelle for B and escalope of veal for me. Slightly less exciting perhaps but pretty reliable.

Bistro on Tooley Street

We’re meting up with a small gang at Cecil’s, a “speakeasy” hidden away near the railway arches off Tooley Street.  The place has a good sense of style and specialises in cocktails. It is really a “performance venue”, but tonight there’s nothing on, so it’s fairly quiet and there’s little sense of the atmosphere which may accompany livelier evenings.  We arrive later than the other three who are well into their cocktails and whisky, and take-away Chinese nibbles from around the corner.  But as there’s no real food here, we soon decide to move on.


I’ve often passed Brigade and thought it looked interesting, so I lead the way there. Fortunately there is a table for 5 available immediately.  On closer inspection the menu is a little limited with a number of classic English dishes and a small number of more interesting ones on the specials board. A orders the wine from an extensive list – a Spy Valley NZ Sauvignon Blanc (£36) and St Hallett Garden of Eden Shiraz from Barossa Valley (£33). The waitress takes an age, and then arrives with the wrong red. A second attempt also goes wrong, but eventually a more senior waitress manages to come up with the right thing.  It’s only then we realise that this is a semi-charitable venture with a group called Beyond Food Foundation, giving apprentices to vulnerable young adults – so some inexperience is to be expected.

I have a ham and egg croquette off the specials menu – interesting if a little heavy. Other starters chosen are scotch eggs with beetroot picalilli, crackling Cornish mackerel with pomegranate seeds and maunka honey. All are very much enjoyed.

My main course is the slow cooked lamb rump with white haricot beans – delicious and very tender.  B has roast salmon and crushed potatoes (also good), while others had shepherd’s pie, beef carpaccio and liver and bacon. As you can see not exactly ground-breaking stuff, but all were well executed and tasty.

We share a couple of desserts between us.  A very interesting, sharp dandelion and burdock jelly with sherbet meringue and lime sorbet is a revelation while the bitter chocolate tart does what is says on the tin.

After the initial confusion on the wine, service has been fine. The décor is pretty basic and you probably wouldn’t consider it a suitable venue for a smart dinner. A  was celebrating and generously picked up the bill, so I don’t know how much it cost. Mains were in the range £16 to £20, so if you chose more reasonably priced wines (of which there were several) you could probably get away with a good value meal.

Smart Italian in Red Lion Street

I’d been to Bacco before just for a glass of wine, when they had been very helpful and provided a basket of interesting bread. B had also been with other friends, so when looking for somewhere for lunch with M&G, we thought this would be a good choice. As we were celebrating their birthdays, we began with a bottle of Prosecco (£36), and then settled into examining the menu.

We wondered aloud what “slightly deep fried squid” might mean, and the waitress hearing us laughingly suggested in her seductive Italian accent it might be that they were still alive when pulled out!  That didn’t work for the similarly described brie though, so she asked her manager. He, also with a strong accent that had M wilting, described how this meant briefly fried in very hot oil.

I don’t know much about Italian grape varieties – they always seem so individualistic – so we settled on the house white, a Trebbiano del Rubicone, from Abruzzo  at a very reasonable £18.90 (the wine list does have plenty of options below£30).  This seemed to go down well so we stayed with it throughout.

M liked the look of the set menu, so began with the soup – an extremely thick mushroom with pesto - it was more like a puree than a soup, but apart from feeling full, M thought it was good. G had mussels – a huge plate in white wine with chickpea cream – also a hit.  B had to try the squid and it was a good as the descriptions had suggested.  My avocado and crabmeat with chilli was a little delayed in coming, and when it did it was on thin, crispy toast rather than the milk rolls advertised.  But it was worth waiting for, a great combination of flavours, and probably all the better for being on toast.

M’s set menu main course was billed as “Chicken Roulade filled w asparagus, four cheese fondue, basil potato mash, gravy”.  In practice the cheese was a background sauce, and the overall effect seemed a little dry, though M said the chicken itself was moist and tasty.  G’s main was the seafood pasta, which came with a surprisingly light but zingy tomato and chilli sauce: there was plenty of seafood, including more mussels.  B had the monk fish medallions cooked excellently and served in a very fresh herby sauce. My cod wrapped in pancetta with red lentils was also very good.

G has a taste for ice cream and sorbet, he chose a selection including some unusual flavours, so I had to keep him company with a tiramisu. Wow, this was so light and melting that it felt like it must be losing you weight!

We had been lingering over lunch, while other tables had come and gone. Bacco is a pretty popular place, so booking is probably a good idea. The whole atmosphere had been relaxed and gentle, with lots of happy and appreciative noises from nearby tables, and the service had been charming and efficient, a fairly uncommon combination.

This excellent meal came to a not insubstantial £250 including service (with 3 bottles of house white, some water and coffee), but for a special occasion represented very good value.

Michelin starred restaurant lives up to its reputation

I’m meeting C for lunch at Chez Bruce, the Michelin-starred restaurant by Wandsworth Common, looking forward to it immensely as I’ve always fancied going there. It’s a lovely sunny day, and the place looks a picture with its pretty window-boxes and elegant design.  Inside it is light and airy, less than half-full at 12.30 on a Thursday.


We order from the set menu (£27.50 for three courses), though with 7 or 8 choices per course, it feels more like a full a la carte.  C isn’t drinking so I go for a carafe of the house white, a Vermentino, from  Pays d’Oc,  which at £11.50 a half bottle is pretty reasonable. As you might expect the wine list goes up to some serious heights but it also has several wines at £30 or less, so your wallet is not necessarily that challenged.

We’re offered a parmesan crisp and then some lovely bread – we both have walnut. The service is alert and attentive, friendly without being intrusive – all it should be.

Starters arrive in decent time – though as we were chatting so much I may not have been paying full attention to the timing.  C has an asparagus and pea parcel with herb vinaigrette and mascarpone. This is deemed to be very good, very fresh and springlike, the parcel being a light pancake.  My salmon sashimi comes with a couple of prawn dim sum and ginger – bright, fresh, sharp.
The restaurant is filling up more now – a good mix of age ranges, a young family, middle-aged ladies who lunch, an older couple and some business types. All seem relaxed and enjoying themselves, as are we.

C’s main course is cod with truffle mash, cabbage, mushrooms and bacon. Perfectly cooked and attractively presented, this is another seasonally appropriate dish –and much approved of.  I’ve chosen the lamb tagine and kofta. The presentation of this is something of a surprise. The tagine is a ring of meat served with harissa aubergine (super) on the main plate; the kofta and bulgar wheat arrive in a separate dish for some reason.  But regardless of this idiosyncrasy, it all tastes wonderful, a mix of textures and flavours that makes each mouthful interesting.

As always when it’s available I choose the crème brûlée. I’m challenged to define what makes an excellent crème brûlée – this seems to be it. First it’s in a wide shallow dish, rather than a ramekin, making the ratio of brûlée to crème much better. Second it’s piping hot. And third it has a good hit of vanilla – and no messy fruit.
C’s dessert seems to be the one less than perfect note -  coconut panna cotta with mango salad, lychee sorbet and lime. It’s a bit of a mess, both of style and flavours, nothing individually wrong of course, but not a great synthesis.  So thank goodness there’s room for improvement!

It’s been a super lunch, and at less than £80 for two excellent value. It’s the sort of place that makes you feel at one with the world, so when back out in the sunshine I take a leisurely and relaxed stroll around the common, watching the ducks. Must go back soon.

Hampton Court bistro – new incarnation

We’re meeting D for lunch in Hampton Court and have yet to decide exactly where.  So we take a look at the menu for the Mitre first (we went there back in July).  The riverside terrace is still closed after the floods and the restaurant menu doesn’t look that special. So we turn our attention to the Mute Swan, now occupying the space where Blubeckers used to be.

Their website describes it as 'English-dining-pub-meets-wine-bar', whatever that means.  We sit in the downstairs “bar” ( as opposed to the tablecloths upstairs), which is all stripped pine and eclectic chairs.  They’ve moved the bar to the other side of the room from before, but the central spiral staircase to the restaurant  and loos is still there.

There are specials on the board – mains, bar snacks (interesting-sounding, with black pudding scotch eggs),  wines and beers (a good range for real ale drinkers).  Service is very attentive, so we get “quick wine” – a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc at £18 – and have to send them away a couple of times before ordering food because we’re gossiping too much.

When I do go to the bar to order, I decide to move on to a French Marsanne Viognier at £19. For starters, D has the chicken liver pate with an odd-sounding rhubarb, apple and ginger chutney. This came as two good-sized slices of coarse pate,  and D thought the chutney was fine. B has seared  scallops with chorizo chips, with some mushy sauce – tasty, well-cooked scallops. My choice is the char sui pork belly which comes with pickled ginger salad. This is served as three attractively displayed chunks of meat surrounded by sauce and salad – very good.

The main course options are a combination of pub classics such as sausage and mash, steaks, and haddock and chips, and some more adventurous dishes like calves liver “saltimbocca”, spicy Vietnamese king prawn and rice noodle salad and open vegetable samosa.   D plays safe with smoked haddock and salmon fishcakes and a side order of mixed vegetables (a rather tedious standard selection).  OK but nothing special.  B goes for the prawn salad which comes with toasted cashew nuts, lime and chilli dressing – very nice, good-sized prawns, with some flavour, crispy noodles and interesting salad.  My five-spiced duck from the specials menu, also came with ginger (well, I like it) but was otherwise rather dry and uninteresting.

We finish off sharing a pudding plate of chocolate and hazelnut tart, salted caramel ice cream, lemon and passion fruit meringue and orange polenta cake, which was the highlight.  It seems we had 3 bottles of Viognier, taking the bill to a tad over £150. Service has been very friendly and attentive, so it was generally a pleasant lunch – maybe not one to win awards, but fine if you’re in the area. (It seems I said much the same about Blubeckers!).

Karaoke restaurant in Horseferry Road

We’d been looking for a good Chinese around Victoria for a while, and apart from the expensive options of Grand Imperial at the Grosvenor Hotel, and Ken Lo in Ebury Street, we’d only found A Wong in Wilton Road. So when Google came up with Firecracker in Horseferry Road I thought we’d give it a try.

A Friday night seems convenient, so we head down to the less interesting end of Horseferry Rd, populated mainly with government offices and the hospital. Firecracker is downstairs, and although we are a little early, I’m daunted by the fact there’s no other punters in there – just family.  We’re shown through towards the back and seated at a pleasant enough table. 

The menu is fairly extensive so while we peruse it, we get some edamame beans with sea salt and spicy Thai crackers to go with the bottle of Argentinian Merlot (£19.50) and some Jasmine tea. As you can tell already this is not strictly a Chinese restaurant, but more an oriental fusion place.

Gradually we begin to realise that behind the glass partitions around us are a number of private rooms, which begin to fill up.  In one is clearly a hen party, a second seems to be a birthday party, and a third room fills up with people in Japanese-style fancy dress.  There are display screens in each, and only slowly do I realise that these are not some evening working sessions, but in fact karaoke.  The rooms are well soundproofed, but occasionally as the doors are opened we get a blast of the music from inside – though not enough to make an X-factor judgement.
From the long list of “small plates” and “dim sum” as starters,  we have a scallop siu mai dumpling – which is tasty but a little sticky – and a chicken and kimchi (pickle) gyoza parcel, which is pretty good.   There are loads of other options that appealed too, so maybe going in a group would give you chance to sample more options.

The main restaurant is starting to fill up a bit now too, mainly with couples, but it never gets all that full.

First choice of mains is a ribeye beef in black pepper sauce served in a hot stone pot.  This is a lovely dish, presented so well; melting beef, spicy sauce, green beans and mushrooms. To go with that we have the garlic chilli prawns. These grilled king prawns with garlic and chilli flakes are a little flabby and tasteless, certainly not a match for the beef. To support these mains we have a duck crispy noodle with beansprouts – a reasonable amount of tasty duck in amongst the carbs.

Service is friendly and attentive and the food comes in good time, especially as we are being entertained by the karaoke rooms.  With a couple more glasses of Merlot, the bill comes to £88, perhaps a little high for the food, but fine if you factor in location and experience.