The Opera Terrace Chez Gérard The Market Covent Garden Piazza London WC2E 8RF
I had been to The Opera Terrace Chez Gerard in Covent Garden once before – which was not a great experience. Both food and cleanliness on that occasion were poor. So it was with some trepidation that I tried this restaurant again for a business lunch.
Sea bass fillets
On this occasion, things were very much better. The setting and location of this restaurant are very good. I can’t say that the food quite follows, but for a chain restaurant, the food this time was quite decent. I had the Filets de loup (Grilled sea bass fillets served with garlic & basil slow-baked plum tomatoes), which was served with olive oil which was quite a good match. The fish itself was nicely cooked, flesh firm and the skin nicely seasoned and crispy. It wasn’t the best rendition of this dish I’ve ever had, but was quite acceptable and a definite redemption on my last experience here.
Cost & conclusion: I was not the one paying the bill, but at around £16-17 per main seemed perhaps a little overpriced. Taking the covent garden location and surroundings into account, however, this would seem one of the safer and better value options around.
The French Café 16-18 Ritherdon Road, Balham SW17 8QD
The French Café
Decent space between the tables
It is easy to miss the French Café despite its location close to the busy Balham High Road. It is somewhat hidden by Locale restaurant located at the corner of the road. I think we would never have found it if Pablo (the owner and chef at Bellevue Rendez-vous) did not tell us about it when we asked for good restaurants recommendation. This fairly new restaurant (apparently they opened in August 2009) was a great discovery. We tried to go during the weekend but it was all booked. On our second try during the week at lunch time it was fine.
As starters we had the potage du jour (homemade vegetable soup of the day served with warm crusty bread – £3.90) and the friture de camembert (£5.75) and as main courses we ordered the filet de loup de mer (pan fried sea bass with butter sauce, crushed new potatoes and spinach – £12.95) and the saucisses de Toulouse avec sauce à l’échalote (Toulouse sausages – £9.95). As drinks, we had a bottle of water (£2.85) and a glass of red wine (Bergerie de la Bastide 2008 – £3.50) which was decent. The desserts were a croissant bread & butter pudding (£3.75) and a chocolate truffle (£3.95). The espresso was only £1.50.
The starters
Potage du jour
The soup was not the best I have had. In its favour, it was very hot and stayed that way to the end of the bowl. But its flavour was a bit bland, giving the impression that it was probably microwaved, and the texture was just a little rough. It could also have benefited from a bit of seasoning. The bread it was served with was not exactly the “crusty” sliced baguette I’d been imagining, and was served without butter (which is typically french, and fine – but then it needs to be bread with a bit more flavour, and seasoned soup to match). So overall, the soup was a bit disappointing, and not really up to restaurant quality, even if it was well priced.
Friture de camembert
The friture de camembert was quite good. The breadcrumb was nicely fried and the camembert was perfectly melting. I chose this starter because it came with plum tomato jam which is something I never had with camembert and I was curious about it. It was a little surprising but not bad at all although I would have prefered it with cranberry sauce.
The main courses
Filet de loup de mer
My criticism of the soup was forgotten with the main course of pan fried sea bass. This dish was superbly executed, perfectly cooked and seasoned, and served with perfectly cooked new potatoes and spinach. It was big, and it was hot – staying so right to the end. I’d return for this dish alone, and feel it was worth every cent of its £12.95 price tag.
Saucisses de Toulouse
The saucisses de Toulouse were good too with a sweet brown sauce. There were 3 of them displayed on a large portion of garlic creamed potatoes with shallot sauce. It was nice I had not only the possibility to have mustard to go with it, but also the choice between English and French mustard. I chose the French one and it was quite a strong one which I wanted. It was seriously a big meal, even for me! I think it was the first time I had 3 sausages, usually it is 2 when ordering in pubs etc. That said, it was a very welcome meal in this cold rainy winter time.
The desserts
Truffes au chocolat
The truffes au chocolat was also excellent. Again it was large, but not at all oversweet and very nicely presented with liquid cream and chocolate sauce, offset with fresh strawberry.
Croissant bread & butter pudding
The croissant bread & butter pudding was delicious. Actually I am not into bread pudding at all but since it was based on croissant bread I had to try it. It was buttery of course but not too sweet and it came with cream and strawberry sauce.
Good coffee but slightly burnt
Cost and conclusion: it was just over £48 service charge not included. No “optional” service charge already included in the total bill which is nice and should be the norm. Here at the French Café it is left at the discretion of the customers. We really like that and of course we tipped as the service was fine. Do not forget to bring some change for the service if you pay with a credit card as there was no possibility to add the service charge. With the exception of the soup, the meals were quite good, nicely presented and very well priced. You can have a 2 course set menu for £9.95 too which is an excellent value for money. Highly recommended!
Bellevue Rendez-vous 218 Trinity Road, Wandsworth Common SW17 7HP London
Bellevue Rendez-vous is my favourite local restaurant as I live just a few minutes walk away. It is located in front of Wandsworth Common which is a great place if you are into “urban wildlife” photography (parakeets, many kinds of ducks, geese, coots, swans, herons and foxes in the evening) like me.
As starters we ordered the assiette de charcuterie (£6.50) and the scallops with open ravioles and mushroom sauce (£8.50). As main courses we had the Mallard duck with artichoke mash and salsifi (£16) and a Venison fillet with pumpkin mash (was normally celeriac mash) and cep mushroom (£19). The desserts were a cooked pear with red wine (£5.50) and a chocolate fondant and vanilla ice cream (£6.50). The drinks were a glass of Pinot noir (£5.50) and half a litre of Badoit water (£2).
Scallops
The scallops were very nicely cooked, as is the usual experience at this restaurant. On this occassion, they came served in a creamy mushroom sauce that was a very nice accompaniment. A very pleasant dish that I would not hesitate to take again.
Assiette de charcuterie
The assiette de charcuterie was good, with some rillette, salami, ham and the cornichons to counter balance the taste. A good way to start dinner.
The duck
The mallard duck was the breast and a confit thigh, served with artichoke mash was excellent. The duck was beautifully cooked, just pink in the middle as requested, nicely tender and full of flavour. The mash and the parsnip strips it was served with were an excellent accompaniment that kept the meal nice and light. I could only have wished it was larger and would certainly order this meal again. The best duck I’ve had in a restaurant in the UK for quite some time.
Venison fillet
The venison fillet was a little on the small side but tender and good with an excellent sauce. The taste of the venison was not overpowering as it can happen sometimes with that type of meat.
Cooked pear with red wine
The cooked pear was very small, with an icecream on top of it. The taste of the wine was light but I did not find it mixed well with the icecream.
Chocolate fondant
And it is indeed fondant (melting)
The chocolate fondant was up to its usual standard – with a lightly crispy outside and liquid centre. What I especially like here is that it is not too sweet, which is always a risk with chocolate. A nice end to the meal.
Cost and conclusion: it was £69.50 and they do not add automatically the service charge which is welcome, and rare in London. A good dinner, as usual should I add! The only problem I have is the menu that does not change often so as a local restaurant for me this is a little annoying but for anyone else, do not hesitate to go there! For more reviews about this restaurant, please visit the page listing restaurants in alphabetical order.
Boulevard Brasserie 40 Wellington Street Covent Garden London WCX2E 7BD
Boulevard Brasserie is located next to Covent Garden Piazza so within easy reach of the theatres, the Royal Opera House, the London Transport Museum and incidentally from the office. It got some bad reviews on London Eating, especially for the service but actually the service was all right, and the food too. It reminds me also the bad reviews Le P’tit Normand got, which were absolutely not founded. At least it shows in these two cases the restaurants do not write fake positive reviews as we see too often.
We went for the prix fixe lunch/pre theatre at £11.95 for 2 courses which is available between 12 and 7pm. As starters you have the choice between the soupe du jour, the goat’s cheese and caramelised onion tarte, the duck parfait with toasted brioche and homemade fig chutney, the wild rocket and parmesan salad and the egg florentine, wilted spinach with poached egg and hollandaise sauce.
For the second course you get the choice between the Donald Russell minute steak with béarnaise sauce and fresh cut fries, the poached salmon with hollandaise and new potatoes, the classic chicken Kiew with pommes puree, the traditional salad Niçoise with tuna in extra virgin olive oil and the spinach and ricotta ravioli with a sage butter sauce.
We chose the egg florentine and the duck parfait, followed by the steak and the salad Niçoise. As drinks we had a glass of red wine (£4) and a glass of grapefruit juice (£1.95).
Duck parfait
The duck parfait was good. The slice was thinner than usual but actually it was fine. I am just mentioning it in case some big eaters are expecting a large slice of the parfait The toast was good and the fig chutney good too, not too sweet. Nothing like the weird chutney I had at The Prince Albert.
Egg florentine
The egg florentine was very good. It was perfectly cooked – firm white with a just-liquid yolk. It was served on hot steamed spinach (not at all salty, unlike my recent horrific experience with a very similar dish at Joe Allen) and a nice creamy hollandaise sauce.
Donald Russell minute steak with béarnaise sauce
Massive bowl of fries
The steak was good, nothing special but not bad either. It came with a HUGE bowl of fries, it could have fed two people easily! They were thin and crispy, as I like them. The béarnaise sauce was good and creamy but they could have been more generous with it.
Salade niçoise
The salade niçoise was quite good. It was not exactly the size you’d expect to get in France, but its ingredients were fresh and it was nicely seasoned. I would happily take this dish again.
Cost and conclusion: it was £33.58 including service. It was a decent lunch, especially when we know how things can go wrong in this Covent Garden area. And the service was fine.
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 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.
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.
