Restaurant notes
Feb. 26th, 2019 04:11 pmLast week involved lots of restaurants. On Tuesday I went to Arras with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
leonato to celebrate his birthday. It's opened fairly recently, and seems to have got off to an excellent start. I was particularly impressed that when we ordered one wine pairing, and asked what non-alcoholic drinks they did, they offered to make up a pairing on the spot. I was even more impressed that they then came up with five delicious drinks, all of them very distinct from one another, well matched to the food, and not once falling into the "this is just a mixture of fruit juices" trap that so many inferior non-alcoholic "cocktails" succumb to. I was frankly gobsmacked when the bill arrived, and they had charged a mere £15 for all five drinks.
( What about the food? )On the whole, it was an excellent meal; the high points were really really high, and I was absolutely delighted with my drinks pairing. Six courses and drinks for two came to £220 including service.
On Saturdayobandsoller & I went to 12:51 in Islington, which rather suffered in comparison to Arras. The best courses were decent, but most were merely okay, and a couple downright mediocre. The service was also a bit confusing and chaotic, and the ambience didn't quite gel for me. Not a terrible meal by any means, and I think perhaps it might work better for a laid back lunch, but I wouldn't leap to recommend it.
On Sunday I went withthemidnightgirl to Monsieur Le Duck near Liverpool Street. They serve duck, and frites. That's it*. We had "Le Grand Jeu", which gives you, to share, one duck burger, 200g of breast meat, half pan-roasted, half grilled over coals, and best of all, a leg of confit. It also includes a couple of sides, including truffle oil frites, which I think we will both be trying to replicate at home. Including a couple of drinks, cheese, and service, it came to around £70. Highly recommended.
*Technically there is a vegetarian option, which we didn't try. Jay Rayner describes it thus "The non-meat option is described as a grilled winter vegetable tart, but could just as easily be listed under “will this do?”. It is a dense platform of just undercooked puff pastry, ungenerously hidden under some flaccidly roasted vegetable. In the sense that it represents perfectly a Gallic shrug of disdain for non-meat eaters, it is just as authentic as everything else here. Look, I am merely the reporter."
leonato to celebrate his birthday. It's opened fairly recently, and seems to have got off to an excellent start. I was particularly impressed that when we ordered one wine pairing, and asked what non-alcoholic drinks they did, they offered to make up a pairing on the spot. I was even more impressed that they then came up with five delicious drinks, all of them very distinct from one another, well matched to the food, and not once falling into the "this is just a mixture of fruit juices" trap that so many inferior non-alcoholic "cocktails" succumb to. I was frankly gobsmacked when the bill arrived, and they had charged a mere £15 for all five drinks. ( What about the food? )On the whole, it was an excellent meal; the high points were really really high, and I was absolutely delighted with my drinks pairing. Six courses and drinks for two came to £220 including service.
On Saturday
obandsoller & I went to 12:51 in Islington, which rather suffered in comparison to Arras. The best courses were decent, but most were merely okay, and a couple downright mediocre. The service was also a bit confusing and chaotic, and the ambience didn't quite gel for me. Not a terrible meal by any means, and I think perhaps it might work better for a laid back lunch, but I wouldn't leap to recommend it.On Sunday I went with
themidnightgirl to Monsieur Le Duck near Liverpool Street. They serve duck, and frites. That's it*. We had "Le Grand Jeu", which gives you, to share, one duck burger, 200g of breast meat, half pan-roasted, half grilled over coals, and best of all, a leg of confit. It also includes a couple of sides, including truffle oil frites, which I think we will both be trying to replicate at home. Including a couple of drinks, cheese, and service, it came to around £70. Highly recommended.*Technically there is a vegetarian option, which we didn't try. Jay Rayner describes it thus "The non-meat option is described as a grilled winter vegetable tart, but could just as easily be listed under “will this do?”. It is a dense platform of just undercooked puff pastry, ungenerously hidden under some flaccidly roasted vegetable. In the sense that it represents perfectly a Gallic shrug of disdain for non-meat eaters, it is just as authentic as everything else here. Look, I am merely the reporter."
