Hush Brasserie

Hush Brasserie
8 Lancashire Court
Brook Street
London
W1S 1EY
www.hush.co.uk
Date visited: Saturday 9^th April 2011
Attendees: Myself, The Quiff and Apple Geek
Price of meal: approx £18 per person for 3 courses with 50% off cocktails are £9 each

After a lazy brunch at Smith of Smithfields we had a lazy walkabout, a wander around the Saatchi Gallery and the V&A, and a bit of shopping although le Quiff and Apple Geek swore they would not shop. Soon it was dinner time and we were wondering down New Bond St looking for Hush. Apple Geek was sent off on a reconnaissance mission and as he leapt and bounded like a gazelle peering into alleyways and possible mews entrances, le Quiff and I watched. Soon after he turned back, waved manically for us to come – he had found it!

Not a very good view out of the window we sat next to

Hush is located off the main road in a beautiful cobbled mews which is quiet, clean and surrounded by pretty historic looking buildings. You can dine alfresco at Hush on a nice day. Our table was inside the restaurant which is really beautiful too; hints of many French themes; think quaint Provence, think ostentatious Louis XIV baroque, think modern slick French restaurant. We are in the main dinning room on the ground floor but there is a private hire room and bar upstairs where the toilets are – the toilet makes me think of large homely luxury cottage in Provence with l’occitane products. We are given the special offer menu which is a pared down a la carte.

Starter:
Myself: Organic salmon tartare with lemon oil and chilli with toasted slices of sour dough bread, tap water
The Quiff: Spring pea soup with Welsh rarebit toast, Bond 75 cocktail – has gin, mint and lychee juice amongst other things
Apple Geek: Salt and pepper squid with tartare sauce, Mayfair cosmo – Absolut Citron Vodka, Grand Marnier, Cranberry Juice, Fresh Raspberries

The Bond 75 cocktail standing behind well weighted salt and pepper dispensers

The Mayfair cosmo in 1920 style champagne glass, is this what makes it 'Mayfair'?

The food came really quickly and we assumed this was because we were eating early and the restaurant was quiet. The drinks came not long after we started eating and both the Quiff and Apple Geek enjoyed them. The Bond 75 was sweet but refreshing and the Mayfair cosmo was nice but we couldn’t work out what about it made it a ‘Mayfair’ cosmo – answers on the back of a postcard if you can tell me!

Sourdough toast and salmon tartare

A radioactive green pea soup with Welsh rarebit on the left

Calamari and tartare sauce in background

The first thing to say about our starters was that they were big portions. Le Quiff had a huge bowl of soup with a generous slice of rarebit which would have sufficed as a lunch on its own. I tried some of the rarebit which had good flavour and le Quiff said the soup was very good. Apple Geek said his squid was ok. I tried some and I don’t know why they battered the squid rings and the batter was a little too thick, so it was calamari really. Neither was it salt and pepper but the batter was a sort of mild curry flavour so other than the fact that it wasn’t really what it claimed to be apart from squid it tasted quite nice and the squid wasn’t over cooked. My salmon was very nice and well seasoned, the capers were good and there wasn’t too much raw onion in the mix (as with my complaint with SOS, if you are going to put raw onion in something you have to say no matter how little you put in!) and it was very finely diced as was the chilli which wasn’t too strong. The toast was thin, crispy and tasted very nice. I enjoyed the salmon but couldn’t finish it; I was already feeling full and didn’t know how I would tackle the main course.

Our plates were cleared away quickly and our mains came just as fast, I still had the taste of salmon in me mouth!

Main Course:
Myself: whole roast sea bass with lemon and thyme
The Quiff: slow roast belly pork with Mayfair cassoulet
Apple Geek: Hush hamburger with cheese
To share: Aspen chips (parmesan and black truffle) and green beans with garlic and shallot

The sea bass

Pork belly and Mayfair cassoulet

Hush burger with ketchup

Chips and beans

Waitress was sure to let us know that our mains didn’t come with anything on the plate other than what was stated so we decided to get the side dishes. Appearance wise we liked the fact that there plates were individual and different – nice touch. Apple Geek said his burger was very good and liked the thought put into the placing of the burger’s garnish. Le Quiff enjoyed his pork belly and was impressed with the crackling on it and though he liked his cassoulet couldn’t see what made it a ‘Mayfair’ cassoulet rather than a regular cassoulet. Neither were there any vegetables in it as the waitress had said. My sea bass very nice – moist and I don’t recall getting any stray bones in it. I liked the fact that you get half a lemon wrapped in muslin to stop the pips falling on to the fish.  I couldn’t finish the fish, especially with the side dishes which we shared. The chips had great flavour and I really liked the black truffle with it but they were a bit soggy and not crisp enough. The green beans also had great flavour and were nicely al a dente but could have been fresher, they were a bit limp.

Our plates were cleared away quickly again, the dessert menu handed out. We had been served by the same waitress throughout and she now came speeding round for our order dessert but as our first two dishes were so big we asked if we could have a 10 minute breather before ordering. After about 15 minutes we were ready to get dessert but the previously super attentive waitress kept speeding pass as if we weren’t there. And here I have to do justice to Apple Geek – the waitress was walking pass our table and he SAID to her ‘we’d like to order please?’ and she ignores him! How rude, how rude, how rude? Service was quite good up until that point but that is terrible – we’re all disgusted-repulsed-offended-outraged-insulted and in shock! After we recover (we’re not dramatic at all) the Quiff gets the attention of another waitress and we order.

Dessert:
Myself: salted fudge ice cream
The Quiff: warm valrhona chocolate pot
Apple Geek: sticky toffee pudding with crème fraiche

Delicious salted fudge ice cream

Warm chocolate pot with biscuits

Sticky toffee pudding

The restaurant was busy now but the dessert came with lightening quick speed and we wondered how they did it all so quickly? Anyway overall the desserts were very good and we all enjoyed them. I really enjoyed my ice cream which tasted just as described you could make out both fudge and salt it came with stick of honeycomb dipped in chocolate which was also very nice. Dessert was cleared away quickly and the Quiff got an espresso and after a while we get the bill, visit the toilet and leave – no tip for the waitress other than be consistently attentive.

The espresso

Summary: Hush is in a great location and setting and the service would have been very good if the waitress had not been so bad at the end. The food was certainly worth it with 50% off, it was tasty and the portions were generous. It wasn’t quite fine dinning which is what it seemed to be aiming for but I felt it was more like good homely food – a bit like the decor that seemed to be aiming for one thing but wasn’t quite one thing or another but worked well.

Kettner’s Restaurant and Champagne Bar

Kettner’s Restaurant and Champagne bar
29 Romilly Street
Soho
London
W1D 5HP
http://www.kettners.com/
Date visited: Friday 22nd October 2010
Attendees: Myself and the girls
Price of meal: 3 courses for £18.50 pre-theatre deal about £21.50 including service not including drinks

I had wanted to try Kettners for a while as it has a nice history (opened by Auguste Kettner chef to Napoleon III in 1867 and boast a who’s who of celebs diners through the ages) it also has a fun website that really helps to sell it. So I was very pleased when my main girl chooses it for a dinner meet up.

We arrived on time but the table isn’t ready so we are asked to wait in the champagne bar which sells a large and extensive list of champagne and not much else. We were finally seated 30 minutes later, it was about 7pm but as it wasn’t our fault we could still get the pre theatre menu. Some of the girls were running late but our very camp and friendly waiter was very good about it. Here I must tell you why there will be no photos of the food – the lighting is very very low. There are small lamps around the side and these are on the lowest possible setting glowing a dark orange-brown colour and as we were sitting on the large table in the middle of the room we had a candelabra (with real candles – eek!) in the middle of the table as our only source of light so everything was very dark.  The flash on my camera phone is too powerful so things were either bleached white or pitch dark, thus no photos.  The interior of the restaurant was lovely though. Like it was stuck in a 1920s time bubble – fun and atmospheric and you expect the Charleston girls to jump out dancing at any moment.

Starter:
Myself: Mackerel with picked vegetable salad

The mackerel was generously drizzled with oil but tasted nice and was well cooked. The pickled vegetables were far too strong, the vinegar really over powered everything and hurt my throat to eat it. Whatever the other dish was that the girls had they really seemed to enjoy it (sorry can’t even remember what it might have been).

I popped to the toilet after the starters and as I walked back through the other rooms I noticed a great looking dessert bar and just how big the restaurant is. There were 3 rooms, each with their own name, on the ground floor and the champagne bar. The toilets are on the first floor which also has several smaller private dinning rooms. I pick up a card later on and notice that there is a second floor that has more private dinning rooms – the ground floor dinning rooms can hold 250 people so the entire building must be able to hold loads of people! The toilets are a bit shabby (needs a paint job and a few bits need replacing) but there is a large anteroom with comfortable seats and mirrors for you to do your make-up and adjust dresses etc. The hand wash and hand cream are Molten Brown.

Ladies powder anteroom

Main course:
Myself: Grilled red snapper with black olive mash, rocket and tomato confit
Other dish: steak with horseradish mash and Tabasco onions

The fish was well cooked, moist but I did get a bone and scale in a fork full which isn’t great. The black olive mash was a revelation to me, it was very good. The mash was smooth but had bite (I hate it when mash it almost like a puree), it was well seasoned and the olives really did give it an extra something. One small comment I would make is that they put large chucks of olives in and I think it would have been a bit more refined if the olives pieces were smaller. The rocket salad was over seasoned and you could barely taste rocket, it felt like a mouth full of salty leaves. The tomato confit suffered the same problem, I could not taste tomato it was all salt.

The girls having the steak all said it was great and some even felt it was the best steak they had tasted making me think I had gone for the wrong choice.

Dessert:
Myself: Mango mousse
Other dish: Carrot cake

The mousse came in a nice martini glass and had the right colour but that is about as good as I can say about it. It was tasteless heavy cream, so the colour was just e-numbers. I tried some of the carrot cake which was a little dry but the icing was nice so generally the carrot cake was better.

Summary: The service was great, our camp and friendly waiter was patient and efficient. The interior and setting was really nice although it was a bit dark so not a place I would recommend to anyone who had any kind of slight impairment as you wouldn’t be able to read the menu. The food was edible, I certainly would not pay full price if that is the quality of the food for the a la carte. I think for a fun and decadent setting for a private party where your main concern is not the food Kettners would be great. Also not sure what genre of cuisine – it certainly isn’t just French anymore.

Cafe Luc

Cafe Luc
50 Marylebone High Street
London
W1U 5HN
http://www.cafeluc.com
Date visited: Thursday 7^th October 2010
Attendees: Myself, Chan and Secret Macau
Price of meal: Set menu 3 courses for £15.50 with service at 12.5% on top

It was the London restaurant festival so we decided to take advantage of it and after a bit of this and that we eventually chose Cafe Luc which had good reviews and a very reasonably prices set menu. It is a new (opened earlier this year) French –Belgium brasserie. The decor resembled something that could have been on a busy street in Paris. The dinning room is dark grey in colour with large orange light bulb things decorating the top of the bar, retro lamp shades and a thin mirror winding round the wall. The tables are spacious and bare of tablecloth.

The bar with the orange light bulbs

We are seated and given menus. Chan ponders over whether or not to get a glass of wine (he does). I catch the waiter’s eye so we can order having waited for a bit then I pop to the loo for the inspection. The male toilets are designates with a large gold moustache and the ladies with a large gold pair of lips – all quite fun. Once through the first door you are greeted by a dark thin passageway and then you notice there are three doors. I pick one and go inside. Now I can’t think there are many places where I would describe the toilet as ‘fun’ and a bit ‘retro-psychedelic’ but this one was. It was dark gloss blue with walls covered in small polished metal discs. It was self contained so a small white sink was next to the door. The cubical was spacious and dimly lit although there was a switch if you wanted more light. The hand wipes were of the fabric sort and the hand wash and hand cream were from Diptyque which I appreciated.

Back to the table and a basket of bread had arrived with a disc of butter in what Chan described as an [retro] ashtray and I totally agree. It was a cheap looking small white square with an circular cut out that contained a disc of butter. Not in keeping with the grey and metallic of the restaurant at all and they don’t have side plates for your bread. There was a slice of brown and white bread for each diner. There is bottled tap water on the table and this is replaced each time we finish it – tres bein!

Starter:
Myself: Celeriac veloute with truffle oil
Miss Macus and Chan: Terrine of Jambon Persillé, mushrooms a la grecque, grain mustard dressing

Celeriac veloute with truffle oil

Ham terrine slice

 

 

 

 

 

 

We nearly all order exactly the same thing so just before the waiter leaves I change my starter. When the food arrives I was expecting the veloute to be more like a sauce but it is a thick creamy soup with a drizzle of truffle oil. It is a good warm temperature and tasted nice although I really couldn’t tell the oil was from truffle. Miss Macau and Chan both liked the terrine which came with toast. I tried a bit of Chan’s terrine which tasted good with nice jelly. Both Miss Macau and Chan enjoyed their starter but both agreed that the mustard had absolutely no taste, had it had taste it would have improved the dish we reckon.

Dishes were removed and the main course followed swiftly after as we chatted about work, my eating habits, books and generally had a good laugh.

Main Course:
Myself, Miss Macau and Chan: Medium rare steak with peppercorn sauce and pommes frites

L-R: Peppercorn sauce in jug, watercress garnish, steak

That's how I like my steak

Pommes frites

I would describe the steak size as polite, I didn’t have the peppercorn sauce but Miss Macau and Chan both really liked it and the pommes frites to me resembled those you get in Macdonald’s – thin, a bit greasy but tasty enough. The steak was cooked just perfect for me – well seared and sealed on the outside and deep red on the inside with red juice when you press on it. It was well seasoned and had good flavour. I thoroughly enjoyed and savoured it.

The plates were cleared, the waitress gave the table the once over with a cloth for crumbs and we chose dessert.

Dessert:
Myself, Miss Macau, Chan: Apple Crumble with vanilla ice cream

Apple crumble with scoop of vanilla ice cream

The ice cream was very nice – creamy and not too sweet and the crumble was good but was thinly spread on top and of a very fine texture, I would have preferred it if there was more bite to it. The apple seemed like it was cooked in syrup to me and a little too sweet for my taste (Chan pointed out that I should have eaten it with the ice cream instead of polishing the ice cream off first, I don’t think this would have made a difference) but it wasn’t bad.

We declined tea and coffee and chatted and laughed away for a bit longer before getting the bill. This bit disappoints me a bit. Chan paid with cash and Miss Macau and I paid with card. As Chan was a little sort on cash I took his money and said I would pay for me and him on my card and Miss Macau would pay her share by card which should have been about £18. We told the waitress two of us were paying by card, she returns with the machine and we tell her its £18 on Miss Macau’s card. The waitress doesn’t listen and just splits the bill in half and puts about £28 on Miss Macau’s card! Luckily the difference was £10 and I could give Miss Macau this otherwise it would have been so confusing.

Summary: The restaurant has a great atmosphere and a nice buzz about it. The set menu is excellent value for money and the food taste nice although I think it certainly needs refining and more thought. For this reason I wouldn’t eat a la carte there until it had improved. The waiters and waitresses certainly seem to enjoy themselves but they really need to be far more attentive to their customers, both times we ordered we had to get their attention. I asked for scores and Chan gave it 7/10 ‘excellent value for money’ he says, Miss Macau gave it 6.5/10 and I agree with her.

 

Coq d’Argent

Coq d’Argent
No. 1 Poultry
London
EC2R 8EJ
www.coqdargent.co.uk
Date of visit: Friday 23^rd July 2010
Attendees: Myself, Cheesemonger and MBB
Price of meal: approximately £35 pp (3 course set lunch and a glass of wine)

As a kid, I felt that if I ate here, I had made it.

A lady stands next to a lift on the ground floor in the open area. There is a lift on the other side of a set of doors without a lady standing in attendance. Both lifts look the same – a glow of red and blue emitting from them. The sign Coq d’Argent hovers somewhere which signals to me that these lifts will take me to the restaurant. I hesitate for a split second and go for the unmanned lift. I press the call button and wait. A blond man approaches and stands next to me. I notice the lady at the other lift smile and motion with her hands for us to go over. “oh, there’s a lift over there” I say to the blond man. “oh!” the blond man replies and we walk over where there is a lift ready and waiting for us. The lady tells us what to do, I didn’t catch it but this doesn’t matter there are only 3 buttons and the middle one is labelled Coq d’Argent. I press it, the doors close and we start to pull up.

The blond guy comments that I must know my way around this restaurant. I ask if he has been here before. Yes, about 6 months ago – it’s very nice. Have I been here before? No, this is my first time, I’m attempting to eat at all the good restaurants with a view in London this summer I tell him realising as the words leave my mouth that this was not a conscious truth. He asks if I have eaten at Babylon in Kensington, not yet but I will next month. He informs me he has been there and it was nice. We arrive, step out and head towards the queue of people waiting to be shown to their seats.

The maitre’d made me think of a Russian casino owner. A three digit number is announced when I give him the booking name and I am led away to a table where Cheesemonger and MBB are seated.  The weather was overcast so we are glad we are not on the terrace, nor did the view seem that great – too many high buildings in the City to say it is beautiful. We greeted each. The conversation that followed was usual of friends who meet up for lunch. My skills of observation alerted me to Cheesemonger drinking a glass of Piper Heidsieck and MBB a pint of beer. The few seconds it took me to assess the pint glass, colour of the beer and combine it with my knowledge of the restaurant and of MBB, I guessed the beer correctly to be Cusquena, a Peruvian beer.

We knew we would be ordering from the set lunch menu so it didn’t take long to make our decisions. Service took a while to come. A restaurant like Coq d’Argent have categories of waiting staff and you are ignored by staff who are not meant to deal with what you want at that moment i.e. the wine waiter will ignore you if you want to order food.  These restaurants are backwards.

Starter:
Myself and Cheesemonger: Lightly smoked salmon with crispy rye bread, mini capers and horseradish cream
MBB: Mushroom parfait, port jelly, spring vegetable salad and light truffle dressing and a glass of white wine

The smoked salmon

The mushroom parfait

Butter is placed on the table, bread did not follow. We wait. A decision is made – we alert the staff. A small square of bread is plonked down on each of our bread plates – we are not impressed.

I enjoyed my salmon which had lemon juice already squeezed on it. The horseradish cream was more bland than I expected but the rye bread was ‘crispy’ as described. Cheesemonger confirmed she enjoyed her salmon dish too. MBB informed us the mushroom parfait could be more ’mushroom’ in taste but it was fine otherwise.

I noticed early on during our lunch a man who was seated behind Cheesemonger and MBB, in my line of site. Dark hair, light beige suit, brogues that looked liked more like badly faded black than grey, twitchy and playing with his blackberry. I don’t think Cheesemonger or MBB noticed him but they are professional and would not have given any clues if they did.

Main Course:
Myself and MBB: Confit Dombes duck leg with pickled cherries, soft almonds in milk, glazed baby turnips and fennel
Cheesemonger: Thin Provencal vegetable tart with goats’ cheese and basil
To share: French beans

A ‘good’ French restaurant has bread abundantly supplied on the table. MBB is not pleased he had to ask for more bread.

Messy buttered french beans

The duck was very flavoursome. It worked well with everything put on the dish. I especially liked the cherry sauce but couldn’t taste any fennel.  There is no flavor to the turnips. MBB was most complimentary about the duck. Cheesemonger informed us, in a soft voice, the vegetable tart is very good. The French beans were very buttery and over cooked.

The duck

The tart

An older man in a navy blue pin stripe suit joins the man in the beige suit. The man in the beige suit is too happy to see him. My experience told me deception was at play. They have a one course lunch. The man in the pin striped suit does not look too impressed with his company. Their lunch is quickly over. The man in the pin striped suit leaves. The man in the beige suit looks happy.  Was a deal made? Who do they work for?

Dessert:
Myself and MBB: French shortbread with poached plums, vanilla cream and plum jelly

The shortbread and poached plum pudding

Cheesemonger declined dessert. She is full.  The plum jelly didn’t have much taste, the vanilla cream could have had more flavor, the French shortbread and poached plum is very nice. Did MBB concur? He certainly enjoyed it.

The toilets are pleasant, the sinks look like large round dents in the marble work. Was the meal worth it? On a deal – yes, the view and location – 6 out of 10, service – needs improving, the food – 6 out of 10.

Report ends.

Brasserie Roux

Brasserie Roux
Sofitel , Haymarket
6 Waterloo Place
London
SW1Y 4AN
www.brasserieroux.com
Date of visit: Sunday 18^th July 2010
Attendees: Myself, The Quiff and Apple Geek
Price of meal: approximately £14 each

So after a lovely dinner the night before we were to meet for brunch before the Quiff and Apple Geek were due to leave me and return to their roosts.  I particularly wanted to try here as I would love to dine at La Gavroche but have not been able to as yet so this is the cheaper and more available choice. On their website it says Albert Roux ‘inspired’ this brasserie – not too sure what that means but hope it meant I got to try some sort of Roux magic.

I was running a little late and so the Quiff and Apple Geek were both seated and supping OJ by the time I arrived. The first thing I noticed was a wonderfully friendly matire’d. There was already a basket on the table with an assortment of breads and mini pastries, a slab of butter on a square of slate and a selection of different mini jams and honey, most made in Scotland for Albert Roux – nice touches. All these and the tea, coffee and OJ were complimentary to breakfast – I was impressed, not sure that the Quiff and Apple Geek were though.

The bread and pastry basket

The Albert Roux jam selection

There is the choice of having a 3 course set breakfast menu which is £15 or ordering a la carte, we went for the latter after munching from the bread basket. Whilst waiting for brunch to come I popped to the toilet which the matrie’d helpfully told me were hard to find, as they were on the side of the hotel foyer, but she gave clear directions. The toilets were busily decorated which reminded me of a busy French brasserie (there seems to be a theme to the weekend’s dinning) but very nice and clean.

Breakfast
Myself:  Egg white omelette with asparagus, mushroom and tomato and coffee
The Quiff: Full English breakfast (eggs sunny side up) and English breakfast tea
Apple Geek: Eggs Benedict with bacon and Earl Grey tea

The egg white omelette

Eggs benedict

Now a slightly odd thing happened…one of the waiters came along and asked which of our party was having coffee, I replied I was. He comes back a little later mumbles something and takes our bright yellow cups away. He then comes back apologies and gives us our cups back. We didn’t have knives for the bread side plate so I asked for one when I began eating my main as I didn’t want to contaminate the jam. This same waiter thought I wanted more bread there was a bit of confusion all round. It was all sorted out in the end but not after Apple Geek make a sharp remark about the service!

The full English

Toast with crust cut off

The omelette was very nice but the seasoning seemed to be concentrated at the end of the omelette. The Quiff enjoyed his breakfast though would have preferred his bacon to be a little crisper. I think they could have given him more, his plate seemed a bit sparse (well I guess it’s a fancy restaurant and not your local greasy spoon) and then I felt bad for advising him not to eat too much from the bread basket in case he would be too full for his cooked breakfast. Apple Geek liked his eggs benedict and told me they were the best he had had to date.

We ate leisurely, chatted politics, money, work amongst other things. It was a relaxed affair. I thought the brasserie’s decor was fine, bright and comfortable but it did not seem trendy enough for my fellow diners ? There were very few other diners, I suppose the rest of them were hotel guest. When we asked for the billed I mentioned that it was a very nice touch that the jam was made for Albert Roux and the matire’d immediately said that she would give me our favourite pots, looked at the ones we were eating from and brought over the honey (which I gave to Apple Geek), the strawberry and black current jam – how nice, I was well chuffed. One last comment which Apple Geek requested I mention; our booking was not on their system even though I called and spoke to someone. This wasn’t a problem as they were fairly empty but what if we were going for dinner and it was busy?  Anyway I really enjoyed brunch there, I thought it was very reasonable for the location, service and setting and would not hesitate to recommend it and return myself.

Incognito restaurant

Incognito
117 Shaftesbury Avenue
Cambridge Circus
London
WC2H 8AD
www.incognico.com
Date of visit: Saturday 17^th July 2010
Attendees: Myself, The Quiff and (drum roll please… I would like to introduce the debut of…) Apple Geek – The Quiff’s  “Special Friend”
Price of meal: approximately £120 in total (2 of us on a special set menu, 1 of us ordering a 2 course a la carte, a bottle of wine and coffee for all 3 of us)

The Quiff and Apple Geek pop to London periodically and we always attempt to find a nice restaurant with a deal on for dinner – one of our small indulgences. Apple Geek booked Incognito where we could have a set menu of £20 for 3 courses.

We arrived in good time and the restaurant was not very busy for a Saturday evening but there was a buzz, the large window frontage and the minimal and wooden décor helped to give it the brasserie feel. We were given both the a la carte menu and the set menu. On looking through both of them I have to say the set menu was very good with a wide choice and comparing the prices showed it was a very good deal. Apple Geek and myself went with the set menu, the Quiff went a la carte.

Starters
Myself: Grilled marinated mackerel with new potato salad
Apple Geek: Minestrone “verde”
The Quiff: Scallops with Pea Shoots, Balsamic Dressing

Mackerel and crushed potato salad

Minestrone 'verde' - lots of green

Scallops with salad piled on top

My mackerel portion was a decent size and tasted very nice although a little too oily for me I didn’t think the generous drizzy of oil was needed for a already oily fish. The potato salad was a simple seasoned crushed new potatoes which was a nice compliment as the mackerel was fairly salty. The skin came off easily although the other side was quite tough but overall I enjoyed it and appreciated the fact that the waiter told me when I ordered that the mackerel wasn’t fresh but smoked – small but important details which help to make great restaurants better and it’s what counts when there are so many restaurants serving good food – I know of many awarded restaurants who should take note, some of which appear in this blog. The Quiff seemed to enjoy his scallops and finished them fairly quickly and with gusto. Apple Geek’s minestrone ‘verde’ was basically a green vegetable (broccoli, peas, courgette and mint) soup with a lump of cheese at the bottom in a broth. Even though he is not a big vegetable fan he enjoyed it and on tasting a little I have to say it did taste good and seemed very healthy. Round one a success!

The bottle of Borg!

I didn’t have wine but the Quiff and Apple Geek shared a bottle of Borge family shiraz stellenbosch, South Africa, 2006 and couldn’t stop praising it (especially as it went straight to their heads!). We also had tap water on the table, which came in a pretty green jug that looked like it came from Provence.

Main course
Myself: Whiting fillet with olives, capers and tomato
Apple Geek: Roast sea bass, with cannellini bean salad
The Quiff: Honey Roasted Breast of Duck with Pommes Duchesse

Whiting filet which hides some wilted spinach underneath

Sea bass - if it wasn't dead, decapitated and cooked I would be worried about the green blob

A beautifully presented and tasting duck

Now, when I first ordered I went for the sea bass but then changed my mind as Apple Geek also went for it so I got the Whiting instead. When the main courses came I got the suckling pig porchetta. I told them it wasn’t what I ordered and I must commend the waiter who took it back immediately with the other mains and said he would get it fixed straight away. The mains came out again about 2 minutes later (I must confess it was so quick I didn’t notice a wait at all). We all tried a bit of each other’s main course – the duck was very tender and flavoursome the sauce that went with it was a lovely accompaniment. The sea bass was a decent sized portion and well cooked and my whiting filet was very good, the olives, capers and tomatoes made it a lovely fresh and light dish for a summer evening. We were all very pleased with our choices but I think the Quiff had the best of the bunch. On another note all the dishes were a good size, we felt fed but not conquered by it.

The dishes were cleared away quickly and dessert was offered. The Quiff declined and had an espresso, Apple Geek and myself went for our sweets along with 2 regular coffees.

Dessert
Myself: Sorbets – raspberry, passion fruit and lemon
Apple Geek: Grand Marnier crème caramel

Sorbets, french marcaron and glass of prosecco

Creme caramel and glass of prosecco

With the coffees came hot milk, we got little cubes of sugar rather than satchels, which I much prefer. Apple Geek and myself had a regular cup filled with coffee but the Quiff’s tiny espresso cup was only half filled. When he put a sugar cube in I don’t think the liquid even covered it. The desserts came out promptly. The sorbets were lovely and refreshing, not too sweet and the flavours were defined, what I mean is you could tell which coloured scoop was which flavour and not, as you get sometimes, a generic tangy sweet where all the scoops taste about the same. From my taste of the crème caramel you could taste the orange of the Grand Mariner but Apple Geek felt it was lacking in sweetness which, on reflection, I think I agree with or perhaps we are just used to the crème caramel brought from the supermarkets loaded with sugar? Whilst we were eating dessert the waiter brought over a glass of complimentary prosecco for each of us – I assume because of the mix up with the main course. I was most impressed with this detail.

Un espresso bebe

A regular coffee

We sat in the restaurant for a bit chatting about things I don’t care to mention but lets just say the company was a bit light headed and enjoyed rubbing salt into wounds. There was no pressure to leave quickly as the restaurant wasn’t that busy. I would particularly like to praise the staff in the restaurant who I felt I could always get the attention of without much difficulty, we never felt intruded upon and service was prompt – a very good balance. The one very small but it is a criticism I must make, nay protest against, is the waiter kept calling me “Madam”. Pour quoi monsieur? Puis je regarder ce vieux? Que je n’ai pas un anneau sur le doigt, c’est ce que la conversation etait au sujet!

I noted the toilets were pleasant and clean.

All in all it is a very good restaurant. I felt the food was well cooked and tasted very nice. It feels like you are in a local upmarket provincial French brasserie, a very nice feeling when some London restaurants can try too hard to be trendy. I would certainly dine at Incognito again, especially as the set menu deals are very good value – in fact I will be dining there again and this time I am taking a group of 11 other diners! I will blog again if I feel there are any significant changes to the food or service so they should not rest on their laurels when noodle notes is about…

Sauterelle

Sauterelle
The Royal Exchange
Bank
London
EC3V 3LR

www.restaurantsauterelle.com

Date of visit: Friday 5^th February 2010, lunch

Attendees: myself, MBB and The Cheesemonger

Price of meal: £25 set lunch offer of 3 courses and a glass of champers

Having never been in the Royal Exchange before, upon entering it was an impressive affair, full to the brim with expensive jewellers and suited city workers quaffing in the cafe area. Sauterelle was easy to find so I didn’t feel like a yokel trying to locate it. The waiter who greeted me was sweet and asked me how my day was whilst taking my coat – ‘I’ve had enough’ I announced ‘Thank god it’s Friday!’ ‘I know how you feel’ he answered like an old chum – good beginnings.

MBB was already seated at the table and had ordered 3 glasses of tap water for us. ‘Ah! Greeting’ MBB salutated, ‘Greetings greeting’ I salutated in return. I saw The Cheesemonger arrive as I sat down, ‘good-o, we are all arrived’ I thought. Before ordering I nipped to the toilet and checked it out (you can tell a lot about an establishment by its toilets). They weren’t in the restaurant and served the entire building.  Made it feel a bit like a shopping centre loo but they were clean, functional and smelt citrusy.

The set menu was already on the table. The champers arrived promptly and we all got down to a relaxed and happy lunch with much laughter, conversation drifting between dynamic words, Christianity, Russian literature and exhibitions. It wasn’t so loud in the restaurant (even with the cafe and shops downstairs) that we had to shout. The furniture and decor was comfortable and modern without making you feel you were sitting in an art student’s installation.

First course:

Myself – braised ox cheek, pickled vegetables, horseradish and king oyster mushroom

MBB and The Cheesemonger – smoked haddock, poached hen egg, Alsace bacon potato, parsley

The ox cheek was lovely and cooked just right so it fell apart easily and was soft to eat. Pickled vegetable were good too and not too over powering, possible the best course I had of the 3. There was a pretty green lump of foam which I have no idea what it was but it tasted good too. Was advised by MBB and The Cheesemonger the haddock was very good, if a little salty for MBB but good none the less.

Main Course:

Myself – Loch Duart Salmon, cauliflower cous cous, toasted nuts, sea greens, citrus dressing

MBB and The Cheesemonger – Devonshire lamb, butter beans, kalamata olives, smoked aubergine, salsa verde with a side dish of potatoes

The salmon came with a huge beetroot smear on the side of the dish – interesting … was it supposed to be there? The dish was good and the salmon fell apart easily, the beetroot thing didn’t really add much flavour, the citrus dressing was hardly noticeable and if it wasn’t for the samphire it may have ended up quite bland. Was advised the lamb was very tasty – indeed it looked tasty too!

A healthy selection of bread was offered by cute French waiter just before the arrival of the starter and we were given 2 types of butter, plain and one with herbs (nice touch without being costly). MBB got a water refill without needing to ask and extra bread was offered to him which shows good attention to the diners (yet although he was asked twice the bread was a little slow in coming – I’m not being picky, just something we all noticed!). Each course came promptly and the finished dishes were removed promptly – the physical removed was with some speed and I worried that my head might collide with a dish at times. I like the cutlery though; they had the knives which could be placed so the blade balanced the table.

Dessert:

Myself – Rhubarb, walnut crunch, vanilla, mint, ginger (yes I decided to go for a list of ingredients and hoped it would be a pudding and not a basket of shopping)

MBB and The Cheesemonger – Star anise crème brulée, mandarin, ginger tulie and a coffee for The Cheesemonger

To my relief the list of ingredients turned out to be a poached rhubarb dessert with blobs of iced creamed things which all tasted quite good and didn’t hurt my sensitive teeth. Was advised the crème brulée was yummy too, no complaints there!

The male waiters were easy on the eye, there was one particular waiter who’s false stretched smile worried me a little into thinking we were being served be a tanned and well programmed mannequin. The waitresses on the other hand swanned like Bond girl wannabes and seemed a little hacked off, perhaps this was down to the fact that their hair was pulled so tight it hurt?

All in all lunch was good, tasty and decent for the price. On the restaurant website it names it’s cuisine ‘French contemporary’ – was it really? – anyway … a delightful way to spend a Friday afternoon.
The timing at Sauterelle is very impressive and well practiced. Our order was taken without having to wait too long and we never felt like we had a long wait for any of our courses – yes service was pleasantly attentive and not intrusive.