Italian dinner at Montpeliano in London, England

For our last dinner in London, we ended up at Montpeliano. In fact, we were not planning on going there, but just found this place as we were going to Harrod's to see the Holidays' decorations. 

So here we are in this restaurant that had an old fashioned atmosphere rendered mainly by walls full of black and white photos of celebrities like Frank Sinatra.

The menu offers traditional Italian dishes. So, as it was after we had our treat at Fortnum and Mason, we decided to go light...

Jodi ordered some homemade tagliatelles with a butter and parmesan sauce.

The pasta were fantastic: soft and eggy. The sauce was to die for! Creamy and tasty.

On my side, I ordered my test dish: linguine a la Vongole.

What is funny is that I always ask for parmesan and the waiters always look at me as if I have 3 heads! The pasta were perfectly cooked, al dente. The clams tasted fresh and there was a nice quantity of it. Last was the broth: I always ask the white one, that is made with white wine. It was delicious and tasty, but I have to say that the best I ever had was at Morandi in NYC! But it was definitely good!

We skipped dessert, but I am sure they had some good ones there! It was definitely a good dinner. A bit overpriced though...By the way, they make you pay a cover charge...

Enjoy (I did)!

Fantastic Italian Dinner at Vasco and Piero's Pavilion in London, England

A friend of a friend (interesting) suggested that we go for an Italian dinner at Vasco and Piero's Pavilion in the heart of Soho.

This is a small restaurant that was packed all evening. I like the simple decor and the atmosphere that gave the impression we were in somebody's house!

After they sat us to our table, they graciously offered us some prosecco.

This was a nice gesture from them and a good sign that this whole experience would be fantastic!

We ordered some appetizers first. As soon as we saw that they had some burrata on the menu, we ordered it!!!

It was served with cherry tomatoes. The burrata was amazing! The shell was soft and the heart creamy. I could have eaten this all day! It tasted so fresh!

The second appetizer was a pear carpaccio.

That was fantastic! The pear was juicy and sweet and it complemented very well the sharpness of the parmesan. It was a great dish: simple, tasty with clean flavors.

Jodi ordered some tuna.

It was seared and served with lentils and spinach. This was delicious! The tuna was perfectly cooked and moist. The presentation was very appetizing. A great dish!

On my side, I ordered the homemade tagliatelles with beef ragu. I went for the small size as they proposed small or regular.

This was fantastic too! The tagliatelles were soft and eggy and the beef ragu was to die for! Thick and tasty with bold flavors. I think I could have licked the plate.

Last was dessert. As we were in an Italian restaurant, we went for the tiramisu.

It was a phenomenal way of finishing this fantastic dinner! It was very light and creamy. Not too sweet, it had good hints of coffee. Fabulous!

This is definitely a great place to dine in! I loved it and would certainly go back the next time I am in London!

Enjoy (I did)!

Horrible Fish & Chips at The Round Table in London, England

Over the week end we were in London, we were walking around Covent Garden, when we decided that it was time to entertain our stomachs! We decided to go to a Pub to enjoy some traditional food. We ended up at The Round Table located on St Martins Court. Nice traditional pub with a particular smell that clearly indicates that there is a lot of beer around...

So we go there and they told us that we have to order at the bar (the table next to us did not know and we had to tell them as they were wondering why nobody was taking care of them).

So I decided to order Fish & Chips. They had the traditional one made with cod and proposed a larger version called...the Cod Father!

After a long, long time, our food arrived!

The Fish & Chips I ordered was made with cod and was served with fries, peas and tartare sauce.

This was horrible! The peas had no taste; the fries were mushy and the fish was terrible! The batter was oily and not cooked all the way through and the fish was probably frozen. The tartare sauce not only looked weird, but also tasted weird. This was disgusting!

Jodi's sandwich was not better!

It was a cheddar and pickle sandwich. The pickle overpowered the cheese. I think I only enjoyed the bread. So bad.

That was so disappointing! Next time, I will pass my way! And by the way, the table I mentioned before that did not know you had to order at the bar was still waiting for the food when we left...

Enjoy (the photos)!

Fish & Chips at Seashell on Lisson Grove in London, England

If there was one dish I had to try in England, it was Fish & Chips. You can get some good ones in pubs in New York, but it is not the same! As I mentioned in the post to introduce the trip (My trip to Europe), although I went several times to London before coming to the US, I first tried this dish at...Epcot in Disney Florida! So we looked up on the internet for the best Fish & Chips places. We wanted first to go to the Golden Hind that was listed number 1 on one of the websites, but, believe or not, it was closed on Saturdays for lunch!!! We could not believe it! Why would you be closed for lunch on Saturdays??? So, as we were trying to find our way to the Imperial War Museum, we asked a very nice person in the street if she knew a good Fish & Chips place. She told us to go to Lisson Grove street and then ask people for a known place there. 

So, here we go, walking towards Lisson Grove street. When we arrived, we asked a guy at a bus stop if he knew a well known Fish & Chips place. He indicated Seashell on Lisson Grove. So that is how we ended up there.

It was a clean place with a modern decor: for sure, you would not go there for the ambience! By the way, you remember the guy at the bus stop who told us that this was the known place for Fish & Chips? We saw him walking in the restaurant few minutes after  and I caught him on the camera! We probably asked the owner! That was pretty funny!

So we looked at the menu and there were proposing a dozen of different ways to have the Fish & Chips: the traditional with cod, with salmon, filet of sole or even langoustines! I decided to go for the traditional one.

The food took time to come, although the restaurant was not that crowded. But when it came, I did not regret it! The piece of fish was big! It tasted very fresh and was flaky, cooked all the way through. The batter was crispy and not greasy at all. I appreciated the fact that there was no bone in it! It was a delicious dish! The fries though were not that great: too soft and undercooked.

Jodi went for a salad.

It was nice and simple.

The Fish & Chips was delicious, although a bit pricey and I would have preferred a place with more character!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to Eat!

Treats at Fortnum & Mason in London, England

Over the week end we were in London, we met with my cousins Catherine, Sarah and Flavien for a tea at Fortnum and Mason. In fact we heard about that place from friends who went there few years ago. The place is fantastic with all these never seen before items such as a music cookie box. But for sure, it was pricey! Pricey but crowded, I guess with people just looking around out of curiosity. Of course, as it was the Holidays, their windows were full of scenes such as the one below:

Fortnum and Mason has different restaurants, from the fancier to the more casual one. We ended up on the latter one, called The Gallery. It was a nice place with a nice causal atmosphere, surrounded by windows overlooking the street. We were lucky that my cousins arrived in advance and already had a table as the place was packed and there was a bit of wait (it was around 3pm). Of course, when we arrived, we could not miss the table full of cakes that I am sure was full of delicacies earlier that day! For sure it made us hungrier!

We could have done the full tea but it was too much food and we already had lunch. The "full" tea was composed of open sandwiches, scones, cupcakes and tea, for 22 GBP. 

So we had instead tea

A delicious hot chocolate (fortunately made with milk and not just water!!!)

And some pastries!!! We ordered a spectacular chocolate cake!

That is what I call a chocolate cake! The cake was moist and the icing really, really good. Not too sweet, it was a perfect choice. It has been a long time I did not have a nice chocolate cake like that!

We also tried the chocolate raspberry cupcakes.

This was also fantastic! The cake was also moist and the icing delicious. The pairing of the chocolate and raspberry was, not surprisingly, working! These 2 pastries are definitely recommended!

On the side, Sarah ordered as her lunch, the Goodwood Rosé Veal Burger topped with Fortnum’s Goose Foie Gras and Hand-cut Chips. 

They also provided some homemade mayonnaise. I never had a veal burger and I enjoyed it. Of course, the foie gras was a big plus! The meat was perfectly cooked and juicy. The taste was less stronger than beef for sure. The fries were crispy outside and soft inside. 

We really had a good time with my cousins and meeting there was a great idea. Fortnum and Mason's is the perfect place to meet family and friends for a relaxed afternoon! Just make sure you do not come too late as they close at 5pm...I thought tea was at 5pm!!!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Dinner at Bob Bob Ricard in London, England

Preparing the trip to London, we wanted to have a nice dinner and we found out this place called Bob Bob Ricard. I have to admit that at first we wanted to eat in one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants, but there was no reservation available. Reviews of Bob Bob Ricard were good and after looking at the menu, we decided that it would be the place to go. For sure, this restaurant is fancy and pricey, but it was our treat on our London trip. So we dressed up and ended up in Soho, in this art deco restaurant. The place was big for sure with an interesting decor. Downstairs, they had an impressive wine cellar.

We sat at a booth and immediately noticed the button to call for champagne. But no, I did not press it...

We looked at the mouth watering menu and saw that they served a beef Wellington for 2. We always wanted to try it, as it is always on the menu on Hell's Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey and we never had the opportunity to try. Well, this is a British dish and we were in a nice restaurant in London, so we were thinking that they probably made it well...They told us that it would take 45 minutes to cook, but we were ok with that!

So, they proposed to bring some bread.

It was very good and crispy, served with some French butter (beurre d'Isigny). In fact I mentioned the bread, because we discovered that it was not free...Pretty interesting as usually you do not pay for bread when you eat in a restaurant!!!

So, then came the beef Wellington!

The presentation was spectacular! They brought it to us on a wooden plank before slicing it. And I can tell you that we were right to skip the appetizers! It was huge!

They served us a nice slice and put some juice on it. The meat was cooked medium rare (the temperature of the meat depends on how long the puff pastry needs to cook). The crust was crispy and buttery and there was a phenomenal layer between the pastry and the meat, that was made of foie gras, mushroom and truffles. I could not taste the truffles, but it was delicious! And the meat was very tender (it was a 28 days aged filet of Aberdeenshire Scotch beef)! 

With the beef Wellington, we ordered some truffled mash potatoes (yes, again mash...):

The portion was definitely small and it was too bad as the mash was fantastic: the truffle taste really came through! It was a great side dish for the beef!

Of course, we could not leave without having dessert...We decided to go for the BBR signature Chocolate Glory.

It was a sphere made of chocolate Jivara mousse, chocolate brownie, meringue and passion fruit jelly. They poured some hot chocolate sauce on top of it...This was awesome! Not too sweet with lots of different flavors from the different components! It is definitely a dessert I would recommend!

This was a fantastic dinner and a great opportunity to try a beef Wellington. Although pricey, it is a great restaurant, with a great decor and service. A place to go to!

Enjoy (I did)!

My trip to Europe - December 2012

I was recently in Europe, in London and Paris! Needless to say that one of my interests was food, although England does have a bad reputation when it comes to cuisine. It has been years since I have been in London, the last time being December 2006! Going for the holidays is always exciting: there is a certain energy in the air, emphasized by the fantastic decorations that can only be found during this period of the year. I admit that I thought London did a fantastic job with all the lights and I was disappointed by the lights on the Champs Elysees in Paris! 

So, first stop was London! When we left, we definitely wanted to try some pub food, specifically Fish & Chips. Imagine that the first time I tried this dish was not in London, despite my multiple trips there. No, it was at...Disney - Epcot in Florida....I know: that sounds weird but it is true. I went there few years ago with Jodi and we decided to dine at the International pavillion where you have all types of restaurants from many countries: Japan, China, Canada, France, Mexico...And they have England with the Rose & Crown Pub. We had fantastic fish & chips there. Interestingly, the entire staff in the restaurants are from the country they represent, to add some authenticity.

Back to our trip: after checking in our hotel, we started our quest to find a pub. You would think that it was easy, but it was not as we were located in a business area. We ended up at the New Moon on Gracechurch street. This pub had a warm atmosphere and a phenomenal ceiling, all red! Supposedly, it has been featured in movies like James Bond or Tomb Raiders...

Well, this is where our experience stopped: they did not even acknowledged us!!! We were the only ones in the establishment and they did not say hello or check if we wanted anything!!! So we decided to leave as, if it was the way they were treating their customers, their service was probably slow and inefficient and their food not worth it. That is how we ended up at Mother Mash, located on Leadenhall street!

Mother Mash is a small restaurant that serves Pies and a traditional British dish: bangers and mash!

The place was pretty bright, modern, but quite small. We stayed on the first floor and at first, it was fine, as there were not that many people, but at some point, customers started to come in and it was very crowded. The restaurant opened few years ago and only started recently to propose food to go, explaining the wave of hungry business customers who stormed the place. Unfortunately, the staff focused on these customers, instead of us and our food took forever to come! After being ignored at the New Moon Pub, this trip started well...

The menu was simple and we decided to try the mash potatoes. The ordering was done in 3 steps:

First you pick your mash, then the type of sausage, then the gravy.

We both got the Cheesy Mash, made with milk, butter and cheddar. For sausages, Jodi got the vegetable and herb one with a vegetarian gravy (served on the side).

On my side, I ordered the lamb and mint sausage with the traditional gravy, made with the juice of the sausages and vegetables.

The food came barely hot (thanks to the slow service I guess...) and the portions were small. I was lucky that Jodi did not finish her plate...

The cheesy mash was fantastic! Dense but with some creaminess and with a nice mix of cheddar and butter taste! The sausages however were just ok: the vegetable and herb sausages had a weird taste; the lamb and mint sausages barely tasted lamb as the meat was overpowered by the mint. I also enjoyed the traditional gravy that was far better than the weird vegetable one! It was very comforting.

Even if the sausages were not that great, we loved the mash that was delicious! I would definitely just go back for this. Hopefully, the next time, the service will be better organized...

Anyway, it was good to have a light lunch as we went for a nice dinner at Bob Bob Ricard later that day. Stay tuned...

Enjoy (I did)!