The Duck 110 Battersea Rise, Clapham London SW11 1EJ
The Duck
Inside...
TV scren for those into sports
We have noticed the Duck on our way to the excellent Japanese restaurant Tokiya. Actually, it is hard to miss the huge fire of their oven through the windows, especially in the evening. Inside, it is quite large and they have different rooms at different levels. It is basically decorated and it can feel even a little empty. There are tv screens for watching sports. The Duck is more a “real” pub than a gastropub. You go there for drinking mostly and food is essentially wraps (from £3.95 to £4.95), pasta, salads and pizzas (from £6.25 to £8.50 for 12″, they also have 6″ pizzas) which is fine since we were wanting to try their pizzas.
They have many different kinds of pizzas and beyond the regular Margherita or Quattro Formaggio some were more unusual, like the pizza Carne Fuego (salami, chorizo, Parma ham, pepperoni, spicy meatballs, mozzarella, fresh green chillies – £8.75), pizza Pesci ed Oliva (tuna, black olives, anchovies, red onion and mozzarella – 6.95), pizza Fajita Chicken (chicken, roasted peppers, fajita spice, red onions and mozzarella -£7.50), pizza BBQ Chicken (roasted chicken with red onion, mozzarella and BBQ sauce – £7.50), and pizza Formaggio di Capre (goats cheese, pesto, black olives, mozzarella, finished with rocket leaves – £7.25).
Their pizzas are stone baked and the dough is homemade and hand stretched as we could see from the cook making them in front of the fire. It is possible to have any of their 12″ pizzas served ‘calzone’ in a calzone way (folded) by just asking them when you place your order.
We ordered the classical pizza Romana (mozzarella, mascarpone cheese, Parma ham and red onion – £7.75) and a less classical pizza Crispy duck (with hoi sin sauce, mozzarella and finished with spring onions – £8.50) for curiosity. As drink we had a pint of Stella and a glass of grapefruit juice.
The two pizzas
Pizza Romana
The pizza Romana was basic but good. Nothing spectacular but nothing wrong either too. The pasta was thin and crispy. One thing that surprised me was the pizza arrived already sliced. I guess it is more convenient for the guests watching sport. The spicy olive oil was unfortunately missing but they had garlic oil which was ok.
Sharing the pizza crispy duck with the pizza romana
The pizza crispy duck was a bit strange, and rather too sweet with its hoi sin sauce. Well, it was always going to be an experiment, but its not one that I’ll repeat. Even with a different topping, this pizza base was a bit hard for my liking, clearly the pizza dough had not been left to rise for many hours prior to cooking. Overall, adequate but uninspiring.
Cost and conclusion: it was about £20 something. It is ok for watching sport with friends and beer but we would not go back just for the food, especially with Tokiya a few metres away and Pizza Metro 5 minutes walk away if you are into pizza.
Gazette 1 Ramsden road, Balham SW12 8QX London
Gazette
Inside
Gazette is a French restaurant located in Balham, between Waitrose and Sainsbury. It has two levels: the ground floor and the basement. As the ground floor was quite full we went to the basement which was already half full at just mid day. It is decorated a little strangely with a flat screen tv showing videos of beautiful areas of France, the tables vary in style, there are several couches, and large racks of wine stored against the walls.
The main courses
The menu at Gazette varies daily, and we ordered the roast duck breast with green cabbage and foie gras sauce (magret de canard rôti au choux vert et sauce foie gras – £14), and the roast fillet of cod, chervil root meat jus (filet de cabillaud rôti, racine de cerfeuil au jus – £14). The staff are mainly French-speaking – as we found when ordering, as our waiter seemed rather relieved to be asked if he spoke French: in fact he had only been working there for a short time.
Later, we had a waitress who spoke only English, and who took our dessert order of little chocolate pots and freshly cooked Madeleines (petits pots de chocolat et Madeleine cuite maintenant – £4.50) and thin apple tart cooked upside down, vanilla ice cream (tarte fine aux pommes cuite à l’envers, glace vanille – £4.50).
As drinks we had a glass of red wine Cabernet Sauvignon Les Perles vin de pays d’Oc 2006 (£4.20) and a glass of squeezed grapefruit juice (2.50). The grapefruit juice was indeed freshly squeezed (made to order), and was excellent. It came with just a little ice, so after a small wait, was just right to drink.
Other interesting meals were the pan fried foie gras with apple, lime and chestnuts (£11.50), the tomato and mustard tart (£9.50) and the côte de boeuf for 2, dauphinoise gratin and béarnaise sauce (£19.50 per person).
Fillet of cod
The fillet of cod was quite nicely cooked, though I found (unusually for a French restaurant) that it completely lacked any seasoning. It is rare for me to reach for the salt pot, but on this occassion, it was needed. With that small addition, the dish was very good and nicely set off by the chervil root (a vegetable a bit like a parsnip or turnip). I would make a bit of a complaint about the dish it was served in though, which was a small-but-deep metal pan (a bit like a milk pan), which made it difficult to use a knife and fork correctly (I had a similar complaint about Terroirs – but fortunately, in this case the complaint is only about the serving dish, not the food as well).
Roast duck breast with green cabbage and foie gras sauce
The magret was excellent. Very well cooked and with the foie gras sauce it was delicious. The green cabbage were also perfectly cooked and crispy. It was served on a fry pan rather than a plate, but as it was quite flat it was not a problem.
The desserts
Thin apple tart cooked upside down
The apple tart had its good and bad points. On the upside, it was made with naturally sweet apples and had no need of sugar added. The downside was that it was a bit overcooked, and the pastry had lost that lovely puffiness and lightness that it would have had if rescued from the oven a few minutes sooner.
Little chocolate pots and freshly cooked Madeleines
The pots of chocolate were quite dense, not bad but I was happy the pots were small. Fortunately the little madeleines were warm and light, counterbalancing the chocolate.
Cost and conclusion: it was £49 including the 12.5% discretionary service charge. Very friendly staff and a quite decent lunch. It was a nice discovery. As for the price, it is not cheap but then I find Balham to be on the expensive side, and often with not-so-great food (Harrison’s, Hop & Spice, the Devonshire) or bad value for money (Lamberts) compared to Clapham or Wandsworth Common (Bellevue Rendez-vous & Cafe du village) with the decor being privileged compared to food.
Restaurant Le Martin Pêcheur 100 Boulevard Brand Whitlock Woluwé-Saint-Lambert, Brussels 1200 Open 7 days a week from 12:00 to midnight
Le Martin Pêcheur (king fisher) is a restaurant located in Brussels not far from the Parc du Cinquantenaire. It has a large terrasse which must be quite pleasant in a better weather. Inside it is nicely decorated with wood and plants. The menu is fairly varied and covers all kind of dishes, from pasta to fish, meat, mussels, salads… You have to be difficult not to find a meal that suits you.
We were four people. As main meals we ordered two gambas “vallée de Bekaa” (€34), one brochette d’agneau au thym (lamb on a skew with thyme – €19), one rôti de chevreuil aux champignons des bois (venison with mushrooms – €23). We all took the dessert of the month which was the trio de desserts (€32). As drinks we had 1/2 litre of water (€4.50) and three blanche 25cl (great Belgian beer – €9).
Interesting meals were the fondus au parmesan (parmesan cheese), the scampis frits (fried scampis), the chèvre chaud bardé de lard et au caramel vanillé (hot goat cheese with bacon and caramel with vanilla), the escargots à l’ail (snails with garlic), the vegetarian lasagna, scampi with pesto, tuna tartare and taboulé, the assiette de foie gras, the dos de cabillaud rôti crème à l’échalote citronnée et à la blanche de Haacht (grilled cod with with cream of shallop with lemon and blanche de Haacht beer).
Gambas "vallée de Bekaa"
Brochette d'agneau au thym
Rôti de chevreuil aux champignons des bois
Close-up of the venison
Everyone was pleased by their dish. I had the venison which was quite good. The meat was tender and not too overpowering, thanks to the good mushroom sauce and the mixed berries. Not exactly the light refined meal but it was very welcome after spending the day out.
Trio de desserts
Cost and conclusion: it was €121.50 in all. It is a little on the expensive side but the food, dessert included, was quite decent and the staff are very friendly. I would gladly go back. If you are in the area (in short, in the European quarter of Brussels) and into vintage cars, you should visit the AutoWorld Museum!
Samourai Japanese restaurant 28 rue Fossé-aux-loups 1000 Brussels, Belgium Open from 12:00 to 14:00 and from 19:00 to 21:00 Closed on Sunday lunch time and on Tuesday.
Good green tea
Samourai is a Japanese restaurant located at 28 Fossé-aux-loups in Brussels. It is about 5 minutes walk from the Grand Place and the nearest metro station is de Brouckère. It is rated 16/20 and a heart at Gault Millau restaurant guide and has a good reputation amongst the Japanese community here. Well, Samourai has been here since 1975 so it is pretty well known. I had eaten there several times when I lived in Brussels so this is a kind of revisit after many years.
Bento box
The decor inside has not really changed, everything is minimalist, sober but quite nice too. We ordered two Bento boxes with some green tea. The bento box was quite complete with sushi, sashimi, tempura, teriyaki chicken. It was nicely presented and the food was tasteful.
Cost and conclusion: it was 60 euros for two people. We enjoyed the meals which were excellent but I still feel it was overpriced despite the good quality. Could be because I got used to the good value for money in Japanese restaurants in London. Recommended if you are in the area and really want to eat Japanese food. If not, eat Japanese in London at Tokiya or Hazuki for example.
Eurostar Business Premier food
Eurostar claims on its website “Travelling Business Premier affords you the efficiency and flexibility to make the most of your time on board, and in such a premier service you can expect the food and drink to reach the same high standards. That’s why when you travel Business Premier you’ll enjoy delicious meals suited to your time of travel.”
Delicious meals? I travel quite frequently on Eurostar – and make a point of trying to reach the station early enough to be able to eat something in the lounge before the journey. Because the food onboard is so incredibly awful. Think of the worst of economy class airline food 20 years ago (they’ve improved enormously since then) and you’ve about matched Eurostar business class meals. I honestly don’t know how they do it. How can a train that travels to/from France multiple times a day still serve up stale and previously frozen (apt to crumble) bread? It is especially horrid on the Brussels route… How do they do it?
Airlines (whose food is rarely this bad) at least have the excuse of altitude, highly restricted space and time/distance from places where the food is produced. But a train that makes just a 2-hour journey? What follows is pretty typical Eurostar fare. And tasted about as good as it looks 😉
Eurostar meal
Minced meat
Closer...
What we have here is some wilted salad (that means salad most likely made yesterday, but in any case old and drooping), some minced lamb (I think – it really isn’t certain), and some (powdered?) mashed potato. No flavour, no seasoning. Honestly, unless you’re starving, do yourself a favour and either eat first or wait for the nearest McDonalds on arrival. Your stomach will thank you for it… The dessert was an apricot pastry accompanied by some canned apricots. Again, old and dry. Probably made in the morning (this was an evening train) and left out or refrigerated uncovered since that time. If you really want an apricot pastry, I recommend trying them in the St Pancras lounge before departure in the morning – at which time they are actually fresh.
Cost and conclusion: the meal is appalling for a business class. Take advantage of the lounge before departure if you missed your lunch/dinner! It is really too bad since the trip on Eurostar is much more comfortable than flying to Brussels/Paris where we waste time with all the security.
