French restaurant Le P’tit Normand 185 Merton Road, Southfields, Wandsworth London SW18 5EF http://www.leptitnormand.co.uk
Nice traditional décor
More tables on the rear side
In our search for French restaurants in South London we discovered online Le P’tit Normand in Southfields. Living near Wandsworth Common, it is not exactly next door but the trip was really worth it! This place offers an unbelievable good value for money. I try many new restaurants and often the dining experience is quite disappointing so it feels great when a good one is found.
Le P’tit Normand is nicely decorated and there is a warm atmosphere, thanks to the excellent welcome by the hostess who speaks both English and French. There were some tricolour decorations on the ceilling – because of the approaching 14 Juillet.
The 3 courses set lunch menu at £12.95 gave the choice between la crème de fenouil et coco, le soufflé au fromage and la salade de melon et jambon for the first course. For the main course the choice was between le filet de bar and le poussin. Then you have the choice between dessert or cheese. We ordered one set menu with the soufflé au fromage (cheese soufflé) followed by the filet au bar (seabass) and à la carte I had the carpaccio de magret de canard fumé (thin slices of smoked duck) et avocat sauce mangue (£5.95) as first course followed by a confit de canard au jus de porto et figues (slowly cooked duck), pommes sarlardaises (£14.65). As drink we had a glass of red house wine (quite good) and a bottle of sparkling water (Badoit mineral water).
Excellent rillettes
The meal started with (complementary) rillettes with some toasted bread. Rillettes is similar to pâté. I am normally not a fan of rillettes but I have to say I loved them here. The texture was quite smooth and the taste nice. This was followed by bread (also complementary) and which was excellent. It was warm and crispy on the outside. We especially liked the one with nuts. From the bread I just knew this restaurant was going to be good. Too many places forget the importance of a good bread or it is just a detail to them, but details are important and quite often they do make the difference.
The two starters
Le soufflé au fromage
The cheese soufflé was excellent. It arrived piping hot and still bubbling. It had quite a bit of flavour. With its light and fluffy texture, it was an excellent light starter.
Carpaccio de magret de canard fumé et avocat sauce mangue
The Carpaccio de magret de canard fumé et avocat (avocado) sauce mangue was excellent. I am usually not into avocado but here it went so well with the mango and its sweet and acidulous flavour.
The main courses
Filet de bar
Close-up of the seabass
The sea bass was also excellent. It was beautifully cooked, with a nicely crispy skin. Unlike at Harrisons, it was not salted to death but instead perfectly seasoned. It was presented on a round of butternut squash which was also perfectly cooked and a nice contrast to the fish, and finished with a sort of pea and parsley coulis. The portion was fairly generous – being four fillets of fish – whilst still leaving plenty of room for dessert.
Magret de canard
Close-up
The confit de canard au jus de porto et figues was excellent, quite hot with a great crispy skin. The port and fig sauce was very good, being on the sweet side but not oversweet. The portion was quite big, probably one of the largest confit of duck I had in the UK. Both plates were hot too, which was a nice touch.
Cheese and dessert
The chocolate & banana pudding
The chocolate & banana pudding tiède (warm) was a sort of a chocolate and banana fondant, with a small liquid centre, and topped with banana rounds. It was very good – quite light and not too sweet. A good finish to an excellent meal. The cheese was fine, and you have the choice between a fairly large selection. The hostess’ knowledge with cheese was impressive; for example, she could quickly identify each cheese and whether or not it was unpasteurized. The espresso coffee was good too.
Espresso coffee
Cost and conclusion: it was about £56 optional service charge included. I am against the optional service charge being automatically added to the bill, I think it should be left to the appreciation of the customer but here they really deserved it. The service was extremely nice and friendly. The French chef came to say hello too. The lunch was great, with excellent meals and all that for only £56. What I really appreciated was the attention given to details: many restaurants manquent de rigueur (are lacking it) but it was certainly not the case here. The atmosphere was warm with some French music and songs in the background (Françoise Hardy), perfect for a relaxing lunch. It reminded me Le Vauban in the same style but located in Antibes. It was a pleasure to go to Le P’tit Normand and we will definitely be back for a revisit! Highly recommended.
French restaurant Gastro 67 Venn Street, Clapham Common London SW4 0BD
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
Tranches de baguette, avec du beurre
Nicely presented steak tartare
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
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
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.
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.
Japanese restaurant Miyajima 196 Lavender Hill, Battersea London SW11 1JA 0207 223 1144
Miyajima
Red!
More red...
Miyajima is a Japanese restaurant located near Clapham Junction. At night you can recognise the place quite well because of its red display. The door is solid wood and does not really look like the entrance so first you wonder how to get in. Inside, it is black and red. Black for the tables and the ceilling. The rest is red, and deeply red. Put a chamaleon on that red wall and I believe it will die… The tables are canteen-like which is fine as they are quite large. Like at Franco Manca you choose-your-own cuttlery (chopsticks here) from a wood tin in the centre of the table. It’s a bit classier than the recycled tin at Franco Manca of course, but the same principle. The menu is large and thick. Not like a phone book of course but there are many pages. I did not take the time to read everything.
As starters we ordered the salmon rolls (£3.60) and the California rolls (£4.10). They were followed by a tempura bento (£9.50) and a yakitori bento. As drinks we had two Miyajima juice (£2.50 each) and two Tiger beer (£3 each).
Miyajima juice
Good Tiger beer
Californian and salmon rolls
The salmon rolls and the California rolls were nicely presented and good, but not as good as at Tokiya which has better sushi. The wasabi was very fresh and quite strong.
Yakitori bento
Details of the yakitori
Tempura bento
Details of the tempura bento
The bento boxes were quite good, with generous servings. The tempura bento had 5 good size shrimp. Considering it cost less than £10 it was a very good value. The fried vegetables were good too. The only thing I did not like was some sweet confit stuff that was put into the salad. Also, the sauce provided here is not the usual tempura sauce. It was more like a lightly sweet soy sauce. The portion of rice was huge.
The yakitori bento was excellent too. There were three skewers with plenty of chicken bits. They were tender and well marinated. Same reserve about the salad: it is fresh but it could do well without the sweet stuff. Actually it is quite amazing how much food they managed to fit into the box. Everything is densely packed.
Cost and conclusion: it was £41.31 with a service charge of £3.76 included in the bill. Without the two beers and the starters it would be around £25 which is good value for money because the bento boxes are quite large. Friendly staff, reasonable prices and good food can resume Miyajima. I find it better than the other Japanese restaurant Ukai Sushi located accross Lavander Hill street but if you are into sushi mostly, Tokiya Sushi Bar not far on Battersea Rise is the best in this area and more authentic.
Italian restaurant Pizza Metro 64 Battersea Rise London SW11 1EQ
Pizza Metro
It has been over a month since we have been to Pizza Metro, not that we haven’t tried but it is often very busy. Tonight it looked good for a revisit. Last time we had the Ripieno which is a kind of calzone pizza with ricotta, parmesan, ham, basil, Napoli salame, tomatoes, and mozzarella (£9.95) and the Diego’s with mozzarella, buffalo ricotta, Napoli salame, rocket, basil, olive oil and parmesan (£9.95). This time we had again the Ripieno and I decided to try another pizza just to see if they were lucky previously or really good at cooking all kinds of pizzas 😉 The new pizza was the Panna pizza made of thick Italian cream, mushrooms, ham, Napoli salami, mozzarella, basil and parmesan (£9.95). We also ordered some sparkling water (£3.25) and a good Menabrea lager beer made with corn (£3.95). It is a little bitter in case you do not like bitter beer.
Good Menabrea beer
The two pizzas
Ripieno pizza
The Ripieno pizza was – as previously – very good. It is a pizza that holds its heat very well, so even if you take your time eating, is going to stay nice and hot and fresh to the end. It is not an especially crispy pizza, but has a nice mix of flavours. Definitely worth trying.
Panna pizza
The Panna pizza was also a good choice. Heavy cream on a pizza has the potential to be a bit sickly, but Pizza Metro get the balance right here. It is just enough cream to complement the rest of the toppings, but doesn’t overpower. Another good discovery.
Conclusion and cost: it was £31.11 with the 12.5% “optional” service charge included. As usual, I will complain about the service charge being automatically added to the bill. It should be fully left at the discretion of the clients. That said, in this case they deserved it as they were friendly and efficient. We really like the decor which is much better than at nearby Donna Margherita and the pizzas were better too this time. Highly recommended if you are near Clapham Junction!
Sri Lankan restaurant Hop & Spice 53 Bedford Hill, Balham London SW12 9EZ
Hop & Spice
Inside Hop & Spice
Hop & Spice introduces the tapas concept to Sri Lankan cuisine (which is not dissimilar to South Indian). The idea there is that you choose about 3 small dishes from their menu, and construct the rest of your meal by choosing bread, rice, etc. Or you can just take one (larger) main course which comes with basmati rice, bread, popadoms, chutney and a yoghurt raita already included. We opted for the latter (but now suspect it wasn’t the best choice).
As main courses we chose kandian scallops (medium) described as king scallops poached in a delicately spiced sauce (£16.85) ; and kerala coriander chicken (mild) described as off the bone, simmered in spices and finished with coconut cream and fresh coriander (£11.55) . We took two different types of bread: paratha – delicious rich bread made with ghee, and chapati – healthy wholemeal unleavened bread (these were inclusive, but if you were to choose from the tapas menu would be £1.45 each).
Good beers
We followed the menu suggestion and took Lion beer 4.8% Sri Lanka light and refreshing, brewed in Sri Lanka since the colonial days (£3.20), and Singha beer 33cl 6% Thailand a full bodied barley malt with a rounded long finish, made for spice (£3.30).
As desserts we tried wattilappam (pronounced vuchillupum) – described as our twist on this wonderful Sri Lankan pudding; a custard made with palm sugar, coconut and mango, topped with caramelised cashew nuts (£4.95), and banana tiramisu – a tropical twist on this amazing italian pudding; fresh banana cream layered with sponge, espresso and tia maria (£4.45).
A small remark about the seating in this restaurant – the chairs have varying heights. Mine, for example, was too low whilst my companion’s was normal height. I noticed that other tables also had a mix of chair types. Though I’d prefer not too, I can live with the low seats – but it needs to be uniform (i.e. it doesn’t feel right when your companion is sitting at a different height, and degrades the dining experience a bit). With that remark out of the way, on to the food!
Soup
Overview of the two meals
Kerala coriander chicken
The meal started with little bowls of vegetable soup. The soup was quite tasty, but I didn’t like the metal bowls it was served in. These were too hot to hold, and the bowl too small to tidily drink the soup with the serving (not soup) spoon provided.
The kerala coriander chicken was good, but after comparing it to the kandian scallops, it seemed a little bland. Still, a quite decent meal. The chicken was tender. I did not care much for the yoghurt and the chutney coming with it. More sauce to go with the rice would have been welcome.
Kandian scallops
The kandian scallops was an expensive dish for any sort of curry restaurant. Scallops aren’t exactly cheap – but the portions here aren’t exactly large either and £16.85 is a lot to pay for this type of cuisine. Fortunately, the dish was very good. It was nicely creamy and the scallops themselves were very nicely cooked. I wouldn’t give much for the paratha bread though, which was somewhat greasy and the rice which was rather dry. That last complaint takes on some significance in consideration of the small size of the dish overall (seemed a bit less than half of what you’d ‘normally’ get in a curry house), as there wasn’t enough sauce to flavour & moisten more than about 1/3 of the rice. And forget about dipping the bread in the sauce (unless you’re then prepared to eat your dry rice dry ;)). My suggestion with this dish would absolutely to take it as part of a tapas selection – and if you’re taking rice, make sure you get several dishes that all have some sauce (unless, of course, you like dry rice).
The desserts
Banana tiramisu
The banana tiramisu was surprisingly good. On first sight, I was worried as it was covered in a chocolate sauce (I hate most chocolate sauces, as they’re usually horribly sweet). I worried needlessly though, as the sauce was not over-sweet and not overpowering either. The tiramisu was nice and fresh, and I believe flavoured with real bananas. The tia maria was detectable, but also a gentle flavour that didn’t overpower the rest. A nice surprise
Wattilappam
Details of the Wattilappam dessert
The Wattilappam was surprising. I ordered it because I had no idea what it could be. It was ok but in very small doses because it is quite sweet. Its main flavour is mango but also cashew nuts. I liked the cashew nuts more than the custard. Fortunately it was not that big as it appears on the photos. Its plate is raised, so actually you get a thin layer of it and shallow bowl.
Cost and conclusion: it was £48.73 with the “optional service charge of 10%” automatically added. One again, I am against these “optional service’ charges automatically included. It should be up to the clients to decide if the service was worth a tip and then how much. Here, the service was friendly but not that efficient since we got our main courses before our drinks arrived. Not a big deal. Overall I would say the food is quite decent but on the expensive side compared to some other Asian restaurants. I prefer the Thai restaurant Banana Leaf in Clapham even if it is more canteen like.
