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Been there #22 Tas

15/20

Tas
33 The Cut, Waterloo, London, SE1 8LF

Tas is one of these places that you hear from word of mouth and rightly so because a friend of mine took us there last Wednesday.

The evening was quite warm and thunderstorms were coming our way. The restaurant located not far away from Waterloo and minutes away from the famous Old Vic theater, was almost packed with people inside and outside on the terrace.

The place looked very lively and you could feel a strong team spirit behind the operations. Open kitchen, many waiters and nice food coming in and out around you. The food takes its origin from Turkey. Starters vary from Humus, Aubergine Puree, Smoked Salmon with Parsley (Tutsulu Samon) and more. I took for a main course a delicious steak of lamb with hot couscous. The lamb was cooked to perfection and the meat was really tender and nicely flavored with oregano. For drinks, we experienced a new world Malbec wine from Argentina priced at £25 a bottle. The staff is quick and very helpful when you ask questions regarding the menu. After two hours, our party of four was very satisfied with a bill of £25 per head. Definitely a restaurant to try if you are around Waterloo.

Been there #21 Le Cercle

 08/20

Le Cercle
1 Wibraham Place, London, SW1X 9AE

Le Cercle is one of the sister restaurant of Club Gascon. Located in the privileged district of Sloane Square in London, the restaurant is quite hard to find and the entrance is very discreet.

When you enter, a receptionist is here to take your through your table and take your coat. You walk down the stairs and you find on your right a sitting - waiting area very nicely decorated and intimate. Then further down, you discover the main restaurant room with 3 semi-private boxes below the wine cellar. The décor of the restaurant is really thought through and the cellar quite magnificent. Music background (taken from Hotel Costes CDs) makes the room a place to enjoy your food with your partner or friends.

What about the food then?

The menu is based on small portions that you usually share in the middle of the table – similar to tapas – but you can also take 3 portions for yourself (which is what we did). The inspiration of the menu is very much French…rightly so because the founders of the restaurant are from South West of France (ah, le Sud Ouest! I miss you). You have a selection of 30 dishes to choose from. All very much original and tempting. But is it all good?

Before we make our choice, the waitress gives us some bread and butter. Bread is so hard that my friend almost broke her knife. For a French restaurant, I expect good quality and fresh bread. This time, the bread was definitely frozen and clearly of not good quality. I tell the waitress and she replaces by another set of bread. Same problem with the exception it’s just coming out the oven…Bless her.

I decide to go for red mullet with lemon, slowly cooked lamb and John Dory. The lamb is absolutely delicious and served in a little pot with vegetables and herbs giving out all the flavours mixed together. The meat is tender and nicely cooked. But fish is a total disappointment. Both fishes are complimented with this wasteful and horrible lemon curd (turd) that spoils the whole freshness and unique flavour of expensive fish like John Dory. I am so surprised that at this level of cooking, you can ruin fresh ingredients with an overwhelming dressing. Then my friends start to complain about the size of their dishes (besides the fact they are known small portions) because each dish still costs between £7 and £16. The foie gras apparently should have been left alone with bread (with a bigger portion). We drink a couple of good French red wine from Sud Ouest (bien sur) overly priced (compared to French retail prices).

Then we decide to finish the meal on a more positive note, the French Cheese board otherly called "Le Tour de France". We first ask the waitress what cheese selection do we get. She responds immediately that she doesn’t know and it is up to the chef to decide. What did you just say? I am sorry, who is the bloody customer here? You, the chef or me? I give up and let the chef decides…Luckily, the cheese board is really nice with some quality breads coming up with it (again, how can you fail to deliver good bread in the beginning and succeed in the end of the meal).

Time to go back home. We ask the bill and the truth is hard to take. The meal costs us around £75 per head. What a rip off…For the same price, I will come back to Club Gascon but certainly not to Le Cercle, unless they slash their prices or come up with better portions. Having said that, I am not sure they will discount their menu pricing, considering the restaurant was full on a Wednesday evening!

Interested more of my restaurants reviews? They are all here.

Been There #20 Galvin Bistro de Luxe

16/20

Galvin Bistrot de Luxe
66 Baker Street, London, W1U 7DJ

Last weekend, I was invited by a friend of mine to try a French restaurant called Galvin Bistrot de Luxe on Baker Street managed by the Galvin Brothers.

It's always a bit difficult to be objective about what you eat on a Sunday lunch if you had a a rather late night on Saturday.But I was really looking forward to eat some French food. So I gave it a try with the Fish Soup with its garlic red creamy sauce called "Rouille" and its croutons. The Fish Soup was really one of the best I have eaten in a restaurant. Plenty of flavour and the texture was perfect (in between soup and consommé). Then have indulge myself with a classic - the famous Duck Confit with its salad and mash potatoes. Again , Duck Confit was of good quality and cooked very nicely. Mashed Potatoes was so delicious. Last time I have tasted mashed potatoes like that was at l'Atelier de Robuchon in Paris (the inspiration comes from la Purée Robuchon for sure). Finally, my stomach couldn't handle a dessert so I finished my meal with ice cream sorbets. The meal cost us aroudn £40 per person with a a bottle of red wine. I will come back again to try other dishes. I highly recommend this Bistrot on the evening to taste some inspired French classic courses (have a try at the Calf Liver of Roasted Veal Brains).

Been There #19 Cha Cha Moon

14/20

Cha Cha Moon
15 - 21 Ganton Street, London, W1F 9BN

Cha Cha Moon is an Asian restaurant in Central London closed to Carnaby Street. This is the latest invention from the serial restaurant entrepreneur Alan Yau, founder of Wagamama, Busaba Eathai and Michelin star restaurants Hakkasan and Yautcha.

Cha Cha Moon was opened only last month and you can see by the queue to get in that the buzz has been strong with Londoners and tourists around the word. The restaurant is very much like Wagamama seating plan style where waiters sit you down on your bench on a shared long table with other people. Don't expect to eat there for hours but in less than 30min - 1 hour. The kitchen is semi open protected by glass windows and you can see how the food is preparing whilst you are waiting to have seats available. The menu has some classics like crispy duck and Singapore Noodles. I have tried the excellent crispy duck with noodles + the spicy Cod noodles. All courses are priced at £3.5 which is a real bargain for London. I am not sure if this pricing is here to stay but I will definitely encourage you you try Cha Cha. I was not very inspired by the menu though. I think there is nothing much to discover. But you are there for the food you already know and enjoy a quick meal with your friends or on your own with a book.

Been there #18 Royal China Fulham

14/20

Royal China
805 Fulham Road, London, SW6 5HE

If you fancy some Chinese food in a full service restaurant with original dishes, Royal China on Fulham Road is a place to go. This restaurant is fairly new and has quite a number of seats to accommodate quiet week days and busy weekends. The service is good, fast and helpful. The a la carte menu is rather complex but organized in a way that you can find what you want.

Last week, I have tried as a starter the soft shell crab which was delicious with some chili sauce. As a main course, I couldn’t resist to try the Royal Fish pictured on the menu. This is basically fillets of Dover sole with celery and asparagus with the whole fish (without fillets) standing on your plate. This was very nice indeed. Good portion and nice flavors.

The meal with one bottle of water, one glass of wine and one beer came to a price of £35 per person. Not bad considering how pricey the Dover sole is in restaurants nowadays.

Been there #17 Yauatcha

17/20

Yauatcha
15 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 0DL

Last night, I had another nice dinner at the famous Asian London eatery Yauatcha (opened in 2004 by Alan Yau, the owner of Busaba and Hakkasan). The restaurant earned a 1  Michelin * in 2005.

The food is still superb with exquisite dim sums from pork buns, spare ribs, mango rolls, crispy duck rolls, Singapore Noodles, Mini Pak Choi and so on.
This time, I was innovative enough to try a new dim sum - the chicken feet - quite strange texture in your mouth. Didn't like those feet to be honest.

Service is still very quick, efficient and friendly. The damage per head came at £30 per head.

I would recommend to go on Sunday evening as it is less crowded. Lower ground floor is still my favourite.

Fancy a dinner in London ?

...if you have the appropriate wallet of course and if you got a big bonus. The restaurant is in Farringdon - London, more info here.

Been there #16

15/20

The Only Running Footman
5 Charles Street, London, W1J 5DE

I have tried a pub / restaurant in Mayfair on Friday. The place is quite famous: it is called "The Only Running Footman, part of the Meredith Group. The restaurant room is on the 1st floor so you could enjoy a bit of quietness and privacy away from the crowd of the pub on the ground floor.

We have eaten some good quality food there. I had for a starter snails "Neathercleave farm snails, laver-bread and duck fat toast" which was delicious and quite surprising for an English pub. I have always thought English couldn't stand snails and frogs. I was wrong then.

To start off with, I had some weird cocktail of Martini Bianco, Vodka with Olive jus which was absolutely awful. Don't know why I have followed my friend to taste this. 3 of these cocktails cost us £24 !!!
For a main course, I had the dish of the day which was a superb duck confit with a yummy mashed potatoe and spinash. We had a bottle of Bordeaux "2004 Château Pey de la Tour, Bordeaux Supérieur" with a reasonable price of £30 (which you can find in Waitrose for £8). We didn't have anough space for dessert but I have finished my meal with an expresso and a digestive drink "Mirabelle".

I thought the service was good even though it took a while to get my cocktail in the beginning. The décor of the room was simple and neutral.

The bill came to £45 per head with 4 people but we drank cocktails, wine and digestive. So not surprise here. Alcohol is always expensive in London. All in all, a good gastro pub in Mayfair.

Interested to read more of my  restaurant reviews, have a look here.

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Been there #15...

17/20

Yauatcha
15 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 0DL

I have tried Yauatcha on Tuesday for the 3^rd time since the opening. Yauatcha is the sister restaurant of the overtyped and expensive restaurant Hakkassan. The owner of both restaurants is also the master creator of Wagamama restaurant chain.I was able to get a table booked for 4 people the same day for the evening. I wasn’t excited by the friendliness of the staff. I think the restaurant is so popular and trendy that the reception staff doesn’t really care about giving the extra smile to you but the people who were serving our food were friendly and helpful.

Overall, the food is still very very good. And this is why you are coming back to this restaurant. We had some seabass and prawns steamed dim sums, followed by some excellent Mongolian lamb (looks similar to the crispy duck but with lamb) and also some Singapore noodles. The service is quick and efficient. But it’d better be because when you have the table at 8.15pm, you are told to leave by 10pm for the next reservation. Having said that, at 10.30pm, we were still at the table with our drinks with no pressure from the staff to get us out from the restaurant.

The bill came out to £32 each with 6 beers and 3 glasses of Chardonnay. Strangely enough, they serve the wine in some canteen type glasses, which was quite odd for me being a Frenchman. I will come back again for sure for the excellent food they serve there. I didn’t have enough space in my stomach to try the desserts exhibited on the ground floor. Next time maybe…

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Been there #14...

15/20

Stef's
3 Berners Street, London, W1T 3LD

London is full of Italian restaurants and pizzerias in every corner of the city. Stef’s is one these places which stands out of being just a local Italian restaurant. The staff is very amicable and introduces themselves as soon as you arrive at the restaurant. The décor of the restaurant is modern and clean. The restaurant has been opened for about 3months. The owner used to have the…

The menu is simple and fulfill everyone expectations (anti-pasti, spaghetti, gnocchi, tortellini, pizzas). I have started with a Tricolore salad (avocado+tomato+buffalo mozzarella with a basil oil dressing) followed by a Piccante pizza (pepperoni, mozzarella, tomato) while my other friends took the crespine (pancakes) and gnocchi.

The bill came up to £23 each with 2 glasses of wine and one beer plus 3 coffees. This is very value for money for a restaurant in the heart of London nearby Oxford Circus.

I will definitely come back again.

Gaucho
89 Sloane Avenue, London, SW3 3DX

 

That was my second experience in a Gaucho Grill in London. My first one was in Piccadilly Circus. This time, 3 of my friends and I decided to eat at the Gaucho Grill nearby Sloane Square.

As usual, the ambiance and décor is quite intimate and dark with the famous cow patterns chairs covers.Before we order, we had the explanation of all the different meats presented to us on a big dish (Sirloin, Rib Eye,…). This is good way to see how is the meat raw before it is being cooked. The 4 of us were delighted with the quality of the meat and how tender it was. I opted for the rib eye steak with some blue cheese sauce and thin fries. The meat was melting in my mouth. I could have eaten a ½ k but decided to take only 300g. We had a bottle of red wine and some desserts.

Service was quick and efficient. I also appreciate that the room was not too loud when people speak. So we could definitely speak to each others without shouting. The bill came up to £40 per head with service charge included. Again, you are going there for the meat because it is one of the best quality you would find in the city. Therefore, you pay for this quality and I go again and again just for that.

If you want to read more of my restaurants reviews, this is here. So far I have reviewed 23 restaurants in London.

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