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Macaron French pâtisserie and boulangerie bakery 22 The Pavement, Clapham Common, London SW4 0HY
Aug 6th, 2009 by Olivier

Macaron Boulangerie et Pâtisserie
22 The Pavement
London SW4 0HY

Macaron

Macaron

Macaron

Macaron is a French boulangerie (bakery) and patisserie located close to Clapham Common tube station. The staff is “mostly” French. I thought they were all French so I spoke in French – to someone who was probably the sole member of the staff unable to speak French. My luck :-)

The tea room is nicely decorated though in an unusual style with a painted ceilling (a blue pastel sky with some clouds) contrasting with the well used parquet floor and the wood panelled wall giving a kind of a rustic look. The well used parquet reminded me the one at Chez Lindsay. It is quite small inside with just a few tables at the left when you enter, the right side and the end being the counter displaying the sandwiches, baguettes, cakes, croissants, macarons etc. In the background behind the counter there is a small window through which you can see the kitchen.

Good tea, nice presentation

Good tea, nice presentation

It is possible to sit out on the pavement and then you will be facing the common which can be nice when the road in between isn’t too busy. We were lucky to find a free table inside when we arrived.
They did have appetising-looking sandwiches and tarts but we went for the cakes and tea this afternoon. The cakes, nicely presented, were delicious, light and fresh. The only complaint we would have is they are a little on the sweet side but it is a very minor complaint. The tea, which was quite good, counter balanced the sweetness well.

Delicious cake

Delicious cake

Sharing...

Sharing...

Cost and conclusion: it was about £13. Nice atmosphere, good patisserie and tea… What else to ask beside better weather for August 😉 It would be nice to have more of these salons de thé/tea salons in London especially since this is a country supposedly known for tea. There are far more salons de thé in Paris and Brussels.

Macaron on Urbanspoon

BBQ restaurant Bodean’s Clapham High Street, Clapham Common, London, SW4 7S
Aug 5th, 2009 by Olivier

Bodean’s Clapham
169 Clapham High Street
London, SW4 7S

Bodean’s Clapham

Bodean's

Bodean's

Eat Pigs

Eat Pigs

Bodean’s is an “American style” BBQ smoke house chain. We went to the Clapham branch which is located close to Clapham Common tube station. It has an interesting decor, including a large cow with a sign “eat pigs” on its belly. There are two large screen tvs and they were showing Flash Gordon while we were there… The layout is not bad with some separation between tables and the tables are large.

We ordered the “Pig out for £10” which was a full rack of baby back ribs served with fries, coleslaw and house beer, soft drink or glass of wine. You can get that offer 7 days a week but only between 12-3pm on Friday and Saturday.

A la carte I was interested by the clam chowder (£4.50), the pulled pork meal (pork shoulder smoked for 12 hours, off the bone and bite size shredded – £7.95) or the BBQ burnt ends and ribs (slow smoked chunks of beef brisket served in a BBQ sauce with fries and coleslaw – £11.95). They also have chargrilled steaks (10 oz ribeye for £16.95, 10 oz rump for £14.95) and hamburgers of course.

Towel & sauces

Towel & sauces

On the table, next to the sauces (ketchup plus some hot sauces which weren’t that hot, by the way) you have towels and hand cleaner to remind you to use your fingers.

Iced tea & Coors light

Iced tea & Coors light

Baby back ribs

Baby back ribs

A quite large meal

A quite large meal

Unfortunately the ribs were dry

Unfortunately the ribs were dry

Sadly, the ribs were very average. They were large but not very warm and somewhat on the dry and hard side. I think they were overcooked. The coleslaw was tasteless and the fries were on the low side of average too. The beer was a 330ml Coors light served in an icy glass. It was the first time I tried that beer and I thought it lacked some bubbles and was a little sweet. Still, served icy it was refreshing. The iced tea was good. It came without sugar as requested. Apparently they normally add a syrup for making it sweeter.

Cost and conclusion: it was £22 (including a 10% service charge automatically added to the bill) We were not very impressed by the ribs. Maybe with another meal things would be better? It is a pity as the surrounding is much better than at the Cattle Grid in Balham where the ribs were much better but served cold. The service was friendly.

In the same area we reviewed the Thai restaurant The Pepper Tree and the French restaurant Gastro.

Bodean's on Urbanspoon

Gastro French restaurant in 67 Venn Street, Clapham Common London SW4 0BD
Jul 10th, 2009 by Olivier

French restaurant Gastro
67 Venn Street, Clapham Common
London SW4 0BD

Gastro

Gastro

Gastro

Gastro is a French restaurant that was recommended to me by a French guy while I was eating at Bellevue Rendez-vous. It is located a minute’s walk from Clapham Common tube station, in front of Clapham Picturehouse Cinema. It is possible to eat on the terrace but we decided to eat inside. It is like an old French café du village. Seeing the old wooden table, the confiture Bonne Maman jars on the table and that kind of glass (see photos), it made me remember a holiday I spent as a child at la Bourboule in the Puy-de-Dôme in Auvergne, central France. If you have the nostalgia of France, this is the place to visit. All the staff are French and they were friendly. We talked in French naturellement.

As starters, we ordered steak tartare (£7.85) and gravalax (£9.95). For the main course, we ordered breaded veal with risotto (£15.50) and duck with pepper sauce and olive polenta (£16.80). The wine was a bottle of Clairières Merlot 2007 vin de pays d’Oc (£15.50 – you can get it for £5.12 at slurp.co.uk) which was good.

Clairières Merlot 2007

Clairières Merlot 2007

Tranches de baguette, avec du beurre

Tranches de baguette, avec du beurre

The two starters

The two starters

Nicely presented steak tartare

Nicely presented steak tartare

Close-up

Close-up

Steak tartare with the egg on

Steak tartare with the egg on

The steak tartare was something of a do-it-yourself affair – which is to say that the ground beef arrived in the centre of my plate, surrounded by 7 little bowls containing egg, diced shallots, anchovies, mustard, parsley, olive oil and capers. This allowed me to spice the meat to my own tastes. Overall, it wasn’t bad but I could have used a bit more shallot as overall it was just a little bland (which I had to remedy with mustard). Unfortunately, I discovered a couple of bits of fat in the meat half way through, that rather put me off (I don’t like beef fat). So overall, not a bad tartare, but nothing out of the ordinary either and far from the best I’ve tasted.

Gravalax

Gravalax

Close-up

Close-up

The gravalax was good. The slices of salmon marinated with dill and spices were quite large. The sour cream sauce was fine but I found the blintz to be a little dry.

Overview of the two main courses

Overview of the two main courses

Breaded veel

Breaded veel

The breaded veal was also a bit ordinary.  OK, choosing breaded veal with risotto (Italian style food) in a French restaurant possibly was not the best choice in the world. But whilst I can take or leave risotto, I do like breaded veal.  Except when it is swimming in oil. And unfortunately this was quite greasy, with not a lot of flavour – needing the addition of quite a lot of salt to relieve the blandness. Overall, a pretty ordinary meal and not an experiment I’m going to be in any hurry to repeat.

Magret de canard

Magret de canard

The magret de canard was quite good. The slices were tender, perfectly cooked. The pepper sauce was quite strong, which I like, but it was a little on the salty side. I was not impressed by the olive polenta, which I found to be bland. The sauce did help but I think it would have been better to have some pommes de terre sautées with vegetables instead. Or a gratin dauphinois.

Cost and conclusion: it was £73.80 and that included the “discretionary” service charge automatically added. You know I am against that and it should be left at the discretion of the client. The service was fine but there were some issues with the food. It was not bad but it was average and, at this cost, the value is not good compared to other French restaurants like Bellevue Rendez-vous in Wandsworth Common, La Bouchée in South Kensington or Chez Lindsay in Richmond, all restaurants with fully French staff. They do have cheap lunch/brunch menus and then the value for money can be pretty good.

Gastro on Urbanspoon


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