Côte Restaurant 17-21 Tavistock Street, London WC2E 7PA Tel: 020 7379 9991
Côte Restaurant is one of a small chain, and the Covent Garden outlet is on Tavistock Street. It is quite a nicely decorated restaurant, with a decent amount of space between tables and a pleasant surrounding. It has large windows that can be folded back to allow plenty of light and fresh air in. Actually that’s not such a great idea in this location, as the noise of traffic is quite disturbing to any conversation over lunch.
There were four of us for lunch. We didn’t have all that much time, so we decided to follow the fixed price lunch menu (also available pre-theatre) which was 11.95 for two courses, or 13.75 for three. With a meeting immediately after lunch, we chose just to take tap water which was provided slightly cooled in earthenware bottles. Nice touch, but I’d rather the water had been properly chilled. We started the meal with some bread, which was very good. Just as well, since I found at the end that it was not complementary but charged to our bill. It was only £1.50 so it is the principle I’m complaining about rather than the price – not only that simple things like bread are charged, but that the waiters don’t advise that there is a charge and how much it is before bringing the bread. A tiny sum, but still the sort of thing that can ruin your experience.
Lentils with a poached egg
Close-up
For the starter, I took lentils with a poached egg. It was OK, though I found the egg a bit bland. My companions took a pea, mint & courgette soup, which looked fairly decent.
Salad with smoked salmon
Steak frites
Poulet grillé
As a main course I chose a salad with smoked salmon. The salmon was pretty good, as was the dill sauce it came with but I wasn’t so impressed by the salad leaves. They were fresh enough, but all just a bit too “stalky” for my liking – that is, mainly stalk, not so much leaf. Two of my companions took steak frites – which was a “thinly beaten out rump steak with frites and garlic butter (served pink). These were reported to be “ok, but average” which I must say is how they looked. The last of us took a poulet grillé which was “chargrilled butterflied chicken breast with wild mushroom, crème fraiche and chive sauce, served with gratin potato”. It was a good sized bit of chicken but I don’t recall noticing a sauce…
Iced summer berries with warm white chocolate sauce
chocolate pot
For dessert, we chose two “chocolate pots” which were reported to be a bit weird by those who took them. There was some dark chocolate covered by a sort of crème fraiche. I took iced summer berries with warm white chocolate sauce – which turned out to be exactly as described, that is, frozen berries with a little pot of hot white chocolate. I found the white chocolate to be very sweet – and the berries very sour. A bit too much contrast there, and I believe I’d have preferred the berries not frozen. My last companion chose a lemon sorbet, which was also reported to be fine.
We ended the meal with assorted coffees. Mine was an espresso, which was very average and a bit weak.
Cost & conclusion: The bill came to £70.59 including service charge. For a three course meal plus coffee for four people in covent garden, its really hard to complain. The food was nothing to rave about, and you get what you pay for in terms of quality (it was far from top quality steak, for example) but there was nothing obnoxious or poorly cooked either. Overall, not bad for a cost effective lunch in a limited time frame and certainly better than many of the tourist traps in this area. Other restaurants reviewed in the Covent Garden area are the Italian Zizzi, the Japanese Hazuki, the Mexican Wahaca, Terroirs and the pub Marquess of Anglesey.
Pizzeria Zizzi 73-75 The Strand London WC2R 0DE
The entrance
View of the oven
Spacious room
You come through the stairs in the background
Sober but nice design
Back again at Zizzi for a quick lunch near the office. Why again a pizza place? Well first I like pizzas in general and second I want to get erase the awful pizza I had in Tooting Broadway from my memory! Last time we came here we had a pizza Trentino and a pizza Fiorentina with the rustica option for a “Bigger, thinner and crispier bases, which means more room for your favourite topping!” as they say. In short, with that option you supersize your pizza.
Today we ordered a pizza Sofia rustica (spicy chicken, pepperoni, oven roasted sausage, tomato, mozzarella, finished with green chilli and fresh rosemary – £10.90) and a pizza Cotto e funghi rustica (cotto ham, field mushrooms, mascarpone, tomato, mozzarella and thyme – £10.45) and a 66cl Peroni beer (£5.95).
The beer was cold. A good start.
The two large pizzas
Let's not forget the chilli oil!
Pizza Sofia rustica
The pizza Sofia rustica was decent. I did not think much of the spicy chicken bits that I found a little bland. The oven roasted sausage bits were too small to really have a taste. The green chilli slices were extremely hot. I am into spicy oil and food so usually I can handle hot stuff quite well but these were like dynamite. Still, not a bad pizza but the other one was much better.
Pizza Cotto e funghi rustica
The pizza Cotto e funghi rustica was delicious, extremely creamy and with a thin crispy base. The ham was perfect, not oversalty as often happens and the mushrooms were tasty. The creamy flavour comes from the mascarpone which is a very fatty cheese made of fresh cream.
2/3 Sofia, 1/3 Cotto e funghi rustica
Cost and conclusion: Zizzi is currently offering £1 main meals when you buy any other (go to zizzi.co.uk) so the lunch was less than £20 which is an excellent deal. Also, tips are discretionary here and not automatically included in the bill which is good. All restaurants should follow that rule! The service was fine, so they deserved the tip. With so many tourist traps around the Strand and Covent garden it is nice to have a decent Italian restaurant offering good value for money.
Pizzeria Fiorentina 115 Tooting High Street London SW17 0SY
Pizzeria Fiorentina
There is a telephone booth inside the restaurant
While going to a pet store for buying a flea bomb (never let a stray cat visit your house by the way…) I noticed the pizzeria Fiorentina at the corner of Tooting High St. It looked nice from outside with its nice mix of pale orange and strong green colours. Inside, it is not fancy but it is not bad either, with rustic tables. One curiosity was a red telephone booth in the room. I did not go closer to check if it was real or some kind of furniture or even a fridge, who knows?
We ordered two pizzas: the pizza D’Ischia made of mozzarella, tomato, ham, mushrooms and olivies (£6.95) and a pizza Calzone (mozzarella, tomato, salami, ham, egg and olivies – £6.95). For drinking, we had an Italian Moretti beer (£2.75) and an Italian sparkling Monteforte water (£1.75). While the beer was perfectly cold, the water was not and was served with a glass full of icecubes and a slice of lemon.
Moretti beer but Peroni glass!
The beer was fine, while we regretted the water was not cold
We waited a long time to get our pizzas. I have never waited that long for just a pizza in my life. The restaurant was hardly full (we were the only clients!) so it was a little strange. After about 40 minutes or so they eventually arrived. First, we were surprised by their size which was small compared to what we usually get in other pizzerias. They look big in the pictures below but the plates were on the small side. Also, they looked too burnt.
The pizzas
Pizza calzone
The pizza calzone was alright at the beginning, but the salt (coming from the ham probably) eventually got me. The mozzarella cheese did not have any flavour, same for the ham (bar the salt) and the base was like bread. I certainly did not enjoy it and it was probably the worst pizza I had for a while, challenging my last, and unique, experience at Pizza Hut near Wandsworth Town 5 years ago.
The calzone is supposed to have an egg
One thing really bothered me. I chose the calzone because the menu mentioned an egg and it has been a long time I did not have that kind of calzone pizza. Well, the egg was nowhere! I thought my friend had it because we shared half of the pizza so we could both get a taste of the pizzas but she did not get it either.
Pizza D'Ischia
The pizza D’Ischia was maybe better than the calzone because it was crispier. The base was very bland though and overall the pizza was quite salty too. We thought this one looked like some average frozen pizza you can get at the supermarket. Both pizzas were quite dense, with a very compact and heavy base and – despite not finishing the pizzas – we did not feel well on the way home.
Cost and conclusion: it was £18.40 service charge not included. While it is a small bill we did not enjoy our meals. The last experience at Franco Manca was not good with a very average pizza but it was still way ahead compared to these. If you are looking for pizzas near Tooting Broadway I recommend Limoncello and Sette Bello where the atmosphere is nice and the restaurants are run by Italians. Here, the atmosphere was zero. On the upside, the prices for the drinks were reasonable.
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
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.
