LA BRASSERIE FULHAM ROAD SOUTH KENSINGTON

As I walked into La Brasserie on Friday night, I felt like I was being transported to Paris. The French staff, the red banquettes, the busy atmosphere and the slight hint of garlic make the restaurant typically French. La Brasserie opened in South Ken in 1972 and claims to be the first brasserie to be open all day in London. It is in prime location for the museums such as the V&A, shopping on the Brompton road or Walton Street and is in perfect position to people watch….especially if it is sunny and you have a table outside….not at this time of year though!

We navigated our way through the busy bar and restaurant to our table and immediately ordered some drinks, olives, bread and butter whilst we perused the menu. The bread was warm, the butter was salty and the olives delicious.

The menu is characteristically French - for starter I was torn between the scallops with pea puree and crispy pancetta and the mussels cooked in cider and cream but we ended up ordering the salmon rillettes with pickled cucumber for me, half a dozen snails in garlic butter to share and Pascal had the coarse duck pate with onion marmalade.

All were delicious and I can easily say the garlic butter which accompanied the snails was one of the best I have ever had - we went through two bread baskets mopping it up! I adored the salmon rillettes and they went perfectly with the pickled cucumber and Pascal was a huge fan of his tasty duck pate.

There was plenty to choose from for mains such as different types of steaks, sole meuniere and beef bourguignon however we both ordered the confit de canard with gratin dauphinois and spinach. This was amazing, the duck was perfectly cooked as the meat just fell off the bone and I loved the crispy skin. The gratin dauphinois was more cheesy than creamy with very thin slivers of potato, the whole thing was extremely moreish.

Obviously there was room for pudding…

I went for the creme brûlée with rosemary and orange - I was a bit put off as I prefer a vanilla creme brûlée but in the end I was not disappointed, the pudding just had a hint of rosemary and orange and it was luscious. If only it had been double in size…..

Pascal had a selection of cheeses - a Roquefort, Corbier and a Camembert - a great assortment.

The bill came to £130 and that also included two glasses on wine and an aperitif. Service was efficient, quick and friendly. We left the restaurant stuffed and satisfied…..we will definitely be back, maybe for afternoon tea next time or for supper so I can order exactly the same all over again!

La Brasserie is open from 8am-11.30pm everyday. 

La Brasserie

272 Brompton Road,

London

SW3 2AW

Tel: 020 7768 1686

Email: enquiries@labrasserielondon.com

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BRASSERIE GUSTAVE CHELSEA

Pascal, being French, loves proper French food…..and I, being a piglet, l love it too. Therefore we decided to give Brasserie Gustave in Chelsea a try on Saturday night - I follow their instagram page which always posts delicious photos of food.

Obviously I had checked out the menu beforehand and it was filled with traditional french dishes.

We started with some super soft bread and butter while we decided what to eat.

I was really torn over what to order for starter as I wanted both the snails and the coarse game terrine. In the end we decided to order 6 snails to share and a starter each - I had the terrine and Pascal chose the bone marrow.

The garlic and parsley buttered snails were served with crunchy croutons and tiny pieces of tomatoes and a pastry snail. I have always been a massive fan of snails, even as a young child and like nothing more than mopping up ever drop of sauce with bread. 

Unfortunately the snails were really disappointing - too much parsley and not enough seasoning or garlic. I think it is the first time ever I didnt lick the bowl clean.

I also ordered the coarse game terrine with toasted sourdough, green salad and gherkins. This was OK - nothing special, as before it also lacked seasoning. Plus the gherkins were tiny slithers in the salad, it could have done with more.

Pascal ordered the roasted bone marrow with parsley and gherkin salad and a red wine sauce. Unfortunately this did not live up to his expectations either, I tried a bit and found it incredibly fatty….although I have to say bone marrow is not my cup of tea!

For mains I was torn between the veal escalope "Diane" or the mussels. As I am still carrying some holiday weight from half term, I chose the moules marineres with fries.

The mussels themselves were quite bland and tasteless however the white wine sauce was absolutely delicious - I ate it like a soup and devoured the lot! The fries were also very good.

Pascal order the venison with almond potatoes, honey parsnips and red cabbage. This had the wow factor of being finished off on front of us on a little cooking trolley (I am sure the French have a much better word for it)! Unfortunately once again he was not impressed as the venison was slightly overcooked, plus he was starting to feel unwell as the bone marrow had been so rich. He didnt even finish his plate which is something I rarely see!!

As a side he ordered flat garlic mushrooms which were in fact delicious.

We decided against cheese and instead just ordered the bill - both feeling rather disappointed as we had had such high hopes. The restaurant hasnt been open that long (since June 2014), so maybe it is still having teething problems with the food - who knows - the chef has great qualifications. 

One thing I do know is that we wont rush back which is a shame as the service was exceptional - so friendly and attentive. It has the makings of being somewhere special, it just isnt there yet. Although it is worth pointing out that the restaurant has a gorgeous lower ground bar which looks super cosy, perfect for these cold, winter nights.

Brasserie Gustave

4 Sydney Street,

London

SW3 6PP

Tel: 020 7352 1712

Email: info@brasserive-gustave.com

 

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HIGH ROAD BRASSERIE CHISWICK

Its been a while since I have had a good burger and so I made that my mission for this weekend - its good to have ambition right?! I wanted to try somewhere new but neither my daughter Arabella nor my husband Pascal wanted to venture too far - lazy bones! In the end we agreed on High Road Brasserie - an all day restaurant from the Soho House group. The relaxed art deco styled brasserie serves breakfast, brunch, lunch and supper with daily specials.

I had been here before but not for a while. We booked a table for lunch at 1pm and the outside terrace and half the restaurant were already packed. I felt quite uncomfortable when we were seated as it all felt very untidy and chaotic - lots of mess left on empty tables and everyone crowded onto too small tables practically on top of each other. I had seen that the restaurant didnt have the greatest reviews online but I had never had a bad meal here before so I tried to keep an open mind.

We perused the Saturday brunch menu although I already knew I was going for a cheeseburger with mac and cheese, Pascal went for the same and we decided to share escargots with garlic butter and burrata with heritage tomatoes to start. There is plenty to choose from though such as eggs Benedict, full English breakfast, steak and chips, aubergine parmigiana, duck confit….

Arabella chose from the childrens menu - mac and cheese. The waitress had suggested that she might be too old for the kids menu (she is 7) which I thought was a bit bizarre!!

Anyway Arabellas arrived with our starters much to her delight - it didnt look very impressive but she assured me it was delicious! I personally think it could have come with some greens such as peas or cucumber sticks…..Id say pizza express do a superior kids meal to this…Arabella disagreed!

Pascal and I split the starters and were very pleasantly surprised as they were both absolutely excellent. The burrata was creamy and the tomatoes so fresh and colourful.

The snails were served in a garlic and parsley butter and were also incredibly delicious - flavoursome but not rich and we all enjoyed dipping the bread in the sauce!

The cheeseburgers were served "au cheval" style which apparently means they come with an egg - I so didnt know this. They also had a triple patty - I wasnt expecting this either!

However the burgers were really really good - thin patties, lots of cheese, red onions, pickles and lettuce. Even though I had imagined a totally different type of burger - I very much enjoyed this and the fries were excellent - crispy and salty.

Like always we over ordered but I couldnt resist the mac and cheese. This was really cheesy with a crispy topping and truly irresistible.

We were all full to the brim and very satisfied. Despite my initial misgivings, we had a really good meal. The service was quick and efficient, the food very good and it was reasonably priced. 

On our way back to the car we passed The Outsider Tart, an authentic American bake shop with brownies, cupcakes and treats galore - another recommendation - we bought some goodies to take home and they were fabulous!!

High Road House & Brasserie

162-170 Chiswick High Road

London

W4 1PR

Tel: 020 8742 7474

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DARWIN BRASSERIE THE WALKIE TALKIE BUILDING THE CITY

My sister is vegan which means going out for meals isnt very easy. Most restaurants do a vegetarian option however that usually includes cheese which obviously my sister does not eat. When I booked to go to the Darwin Brasserie for my birthday, I didnt even give her dietary requirements one iota of thought - I was too busy thinking about the huge amounts I could eat!! 

Darwin Brasserie is one of the restaurants in the Sky Garden at the top of the Walkie Talkie building at 20 Fenchurch Street in the city. The space there is incredible - I love a view of London and I can easily say this is one of the best as the area is so immense - you dont have that crowded feeling like you do in the Shard or the London Eye - plus there is a gorgeous open air terrace. The garden part is "green" but I was expecting more flowers and foliage, it was disappointing in that respect, however the view more than makes up for it.

Anyway back to the food! The Darwin Brasserie is an all day restaurant serving the best of British food. The a la carte menu is full of great classic dishes such as steak tartar, goats cheese and red pepper ravioli, a pulled pork burger and fish and chips. However they recently launched an all day Sunday brunch which is what we enjoyed.

We started at the buffet table which was delightful. Thankfully there were a few vegan options - Kirsty tucked into a beautiful heritage tomato salad, quinoa with roasted vegetables, antipasti of olives, garlic and artichokes, asparagus, rocket and peas and freshly baked bread. All absolutely delicious, fresh and flavoursome. 

Arabella enjoyed the charcuterie platter of hams and salamis - in fact she went up three times just for salami - the goats cheese, tomato salad, olives, potato salad and fresh baked bread and butter. 

I obviously went to town and had the same as the others plus more! I had a prawn cocktail salad, beautiful blue cheese, quinoa with roasted vegetables, salami, heritage tomato salad, goats cheese, asparagus, cornichons, smoked salmon with red onion sour cream and freshly baked bread. It was hard to stop myself going up again and again it was all so good.

We also enjoyed some juices and the milkshake bar - I had a banana and caramel - fab combination.

For "mains" we ordered off the menu - you could choose from breakfast items such as a full English or an omelette or you could go for something more "lunch-like" for example roast leg of lamb or roast rib of beef. 

Arabella easily chose spinach and ricotta tortellini. The pasta shells were stuffed to the brim and had a hint of lemon and were extremely tasty.

Unfortunately there was not one vegan friendly item for my sister Kirsty to order so instead she had second helpings at the buffet and I ordered two dishes for myself (oink oink). My favourite is Eggs Benedict which I can never resist on a menu. This was very good - perfectly cooked eggs and a creamy hollandaise sauce. 

Even though I felt I could not eat another bite, I could not resist the pancake stack with bacon and maple syrup. A true American breakfast. These were good, however the bacon wasnt crispy enough - it was too British. If I had them again I would order them with chocolate and caramelised banana.

Next was the pudding buffet - I had been eyeing up the treats since we walked into the restaurant and even though I literally could not fit in another mouthful, I had to give it a go. There was so much to choose from. Kirsty had a mixed berry smoothie and fresh fruit….no wonder she is so skinny and healthy!

Arabella had the same but also a chocolate brownie which we decided was the best brownie we had ever eaten.

Being the piglet that I am, I had a donut and creme brûlée. The creme brûlée was a little disappointing - I guess because it hadnt been made there and then, but the donut was good!

There were many more puddings such as blueberry cheesecake, roast peach sundae and a selection of cheeses but we were too full - unfortunate but not surprising. 

My darling sister and daughter organised me a little birthday treat and then we literally rolled out of the restaurant.

A really fantastic meal. These types of buffet brunches are always popular overseas and I am pleased to see more of them over here - I think it is a great way to spend a Sunday with friends. However you need to have a big appetite - all this food is not for the faint hearted. The food cost £38 per head (£19 for children), which considering the amount and quality, is not a bad deal. Service was quick, friendly and efficient and the view was phenomenal. A great restaurant - I can not wait to come back again soon. 

Darwin Brasserie

Sky Garden
20 Fenchurch Street
London 
EC3M 3BY
Tel: 0333 772 0020 (option 4 or 5)
Email: restaurants@skygarden.london

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