wildeabandon | Restaurant notes

Last week involved lots of restaurants. On Tuesday I went to Arras with

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.

We started with a few canapes, which were a little unremarkable, but things soon picked up. The first course was a parsnip veloute with parsley and garlic cream, served with truffle crackers. The soup was rich and soothing, and the distinctive texture of the thick cream added an interesting note. But basically this course was all about the truffle. Someone who was less keen on the flavour than I am might think it was a bit too much, but I say bring it on.

The next two courses were fish, and were both amazing. First scallops with squid and home-cured bacon. The scallops were huge, the squid was cooked to perfection, and the creamy sauce was perfectly balanced between richness and lightness. It wasn't an adventurous dish, but it didn't need to be. Next was halibut, cooked and seasoned with a light touch, and served with pickled sea vegetables. I was slightly apprehensive that the pickling might be a bit much for the other flavours to stand up to, but the same light touch was deployed there, and gave the dish a wonderful contrast of flavours and textures.

This was quite a hard act to follow, and the next course of quail, whilst still nice, wasn't quite hitting the same heights. Following that we had sirloin steak, and I was wary that it might do the thing that quite often happens with the main course of a tasting menu of being a very nice bit of meat with some vegetables, but ending up a bit less exciting that many of the preceeding courses. I needn't have worried. It was, of course, a very nice piece of meat, but the nasturtium pesto it was served with was something else. Bittersweet and aromatic and absolutely gorgeous, and the addition of chervil root instead of potatoes was a masterful touch.

We were offered cheese, and it did look amazing, but even my prodigious appetite was struggling a bit by this point, so we decided to skip it this time, although not without resolving to come back another time, perhaps going a la carte, so that we would have space for it. The final course was a deconstructed black forest gateaux, and the only course that split opinions. Mark really liked it, but whilst I enjoyed the sour cherries element, the chocolate mousse felt a bit pedestrian, and it really needed a bit more textural variety in order to excite me. 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."