London Round Up

So I was back in the UK for Christmas, and despite a bout of the sniffles meaning I had to cancel some plans, I did make it to a couple of places on my to do list, which is loooong, considering I've only been away for 9 months.

Bad Egg
Bel and I had lunch at Bad Egg.  It was still in soft opening which is always exciting, like restaurant roulette, but everything was brilliant.  In particular this burger (£11), beef, NDUJA CHEESE FONDUE, egg yolk, pickles, onion and mustard.  It was magnificent.

We also had a side of kimchi, which packed a solid punch and the pulled pork hash (£8.50) but the burger was the one.  Loved it.  Now they're open proper they have an amazing looking breakfast menu which I'd love to try.  Go, eat eggs or don't eat eggs, but go.

Toasted
This is one of those places that was long on my must visit list, but I never actually made it there ahead of moving to Canada.  Post move, when I made friends with Sar and learned that she used to live opposite and was something of a regualar we vowed to visit together at Xmas and that we did.  I was still poorly so not tasting 100% which is a horrible, horrible thing.  I still loved the place though and will definitely revisit one day for dinner.  I loved the artichokes with dukkah and curds (£8)

Followed by the pollock with dashi, fennel and ginger (£15) which was incredible.  We also drank some fizz in a bid to ward off the cold, didn't work, I continued to be ill for another 3 days, but testament to Toasted that I bloody loved it anyway.

So pretty and delicate.  The service is charming, the room is wonderfully rustic and the company was excellent.  Lucky EDers who get to have this as a local.  Amazing place.

The Ivy Market Grill
So the Ivy, that fancy pants celeb magnet in Covent Garden, have opened an all day brasserie on the ex Pizza Hut site on the south side of the piazza.  I was disappointed when I realised this was the location but in actual fact I thought the food was pretty decent considering.  I had the veggie breakfast (£11.50), at about 4 in the afternoon, it was the halloumi that swang it.

There were actual beans in the mini pan I assure you, not just juice.  Granted the idea of a hot poached egg and hollandaise on top of a halved, cold avocado is not one I'd entertained, nor shall I in future, but it's friend was on a mini bubble and squeak, which was delicious.

The service was a tad forgetful, we ordered a snack of arancini and bread to share pre meal as we'd not eaten yet, but they didn't materialise.  We asked after them, the arancini came, the bread never surfaced at all and by then we'd received everything else so it seemed silly to ask again.  The arancini were very good, truffle-y.  It was a strange time to dine perhaps, but the staff went through phases of constantly asking if we were ok, and others of aloofness.  Early days perhaps?  Glad I've been, probs won't go back, think there are nicer options available for the same type of stuff.  Strong branding though, and a nice Royale cocktail with rose and hibiscus.  Also, the Kid was ill all night, gah.

And that's all I managed, except for a fine meal at Chicken Shop NW5, where it's always lovely.  Back for more in June, London!

Bad Egg
1 Ropemaker Street
Moorgate
EC2Y
9/10



Toasted
38 Lordship Lane
East Dulwich
SE22
9/10



The Ivy Market Grill
1 Henrietta St
Covent Garden
WC2E
7/10

Joe Beef

This video introduced me to Joe Beef, thank you Anthony Bourdain.  Based on the places he visited during his 24 hours in Montreal I planned my first meal at Joe Beef when I initially visited in Feb. That didn't happen in the end, for numberous reasons and I didn't actually make it until Em came to visit in August.   I ended up going twice in one week (long story, won't bore you with it) and I'm planning my next visit in November.  I loved it.  It's my favourite restaurant here.  No contest.

On both evenings I sat in the beautiful garden, it's the perfect setting for a summer evening.   The menus are on large chalkboards by the entrance (so you can peruse while you wait to be seated), inside the restaurant and on boards in the garden, something they're missing at Liverpool House.  Em and I allowed the waitress to recommend what we should have, with a couple of must try dishes in mind, she was bang on with her suggestions.

First thing I should mention is the lobster spaghetti ($30).   It's one of their signature dishes, and Em and I were talking about it for days afterwards.  Available in 2 sizes, we had the small to share and ate every last bit.  There's a massively generous amount of lobster, I don't know how anyone manages the bigger portion, perfectly al dente spaghetti and the most amazing creamy sauce.  It's one of the finest plates of food I've ever eaten.

 

We also tried a small double down ($17).  This thing is insane.   2 chunks of deep fried foie gras with bacon, smoked feta and gravy mayo sandwiched in between.  We were so glad we had the small because it's small but intense, a large would leave you feeling like a right greasy scumbag.
 

 

On my other visit, Craig, Sar and I tried the smoked meat croquetas ($12) which were brilliant (still not a patch on Barrafina though, holy grail croquetas, will never be bettered).

 

Also tried the smoked salmon plate, which was different....I wouldn't have ordered this to be honest, but again it was recommended and didn't disappoint.   There was egg, I was immediately sold.  Probably the most interesting and least guilt inducing plate of food I've tried here, accompaniments included mustard, dill and toast.

  

Ok now, both visits have included the tournados de cheval with emmentaler ($38).  A massive horse steak and a cheesy sausage with horseradish.  This dish is something else. I had reservations about eating horse, as it's so rarely eaten in the UK, and the whole 2013 horse meat debacle recently highlighted the nations outrage at the prospect at being duped into eating horsemeat.  I liked it, I would probably rather eat a cow steak but I've had this twice and I'm not ashamed.  You have to try these things, right?

  

We offset the horse meat with a lighter main of panfried fillet of trout with new potatoes and mussels. Probably the least memorable of everything I've tried but only because everything else is so outstanding. 

 

The sides were also memorable, the simple green side salad with ham ($10) and the fries with aioli ($8) were both outstanding.  We didn't finish either of course, nor did we have bread as we didn't want to fill up and not have room for afters.

  

Onto puds and this marjolaine classique ($10).   A layered sponge with hazelnut cream and meringue. So so good.  We knew we'd be beaten by dessert but had to have it anyway.  Excuse the hideous photo, we'd retired to the outer garden by this point and were well into the wine.

  

Another dessert ordered was the pannacotta with prunes ($7).  This one well and truly got the better of us and we had to admit defeat.   Brilliantly creamy with a tartness from the fruit, everything you need in a sweet. 

 

Final dessert I've tried was this amazing thing, a sort of eton mess, meringue, berries and cream.   We'd asked to have the sorbet and eau de vie, daily changing flavours doused in a shot of your choice of booze.  They were just making up a fresh batch of sorbet so they made this specially for us and we got a berry flavoured liquer to accompany.   It was incredible, much better than a sorbet, so we really lucked out.

  

They have an incredible lengthy and pricey wine list, all the waiters are well versed in helping you select something good to pair with your food choices, the red we had wasn't great but the white was excellent.  I'm no wine buff clearly but there's definitely enough choice there to please everyone. Mostly French, obvs.

The key to eating at Joe Beef is to remember everything is going to be brilliant, but massive, so order small portions where there's an option, share everything and accept that you'll leave reeeeeally full, and that's ok, don't deny yourself guys.   I love Joe Beef very very much and will be returning regularly.  The ambience, the service and, above all, the food are of such a high standard that it's easy to see why people regard this as one of the best restaurants in the world.  I do too now.  LOVE.

Joe Beef
4291 Notre-Dame West
Little Burgundy
H2J
10/10

L'Express

L'Express was on my radar long before I made it over to Montreal so I was really excited to head here for dinner one evening during Emily's visit.  It's very popular, but not so popular that getting a table gives you a headache (ahem, Joe Beef), I was able to make an online reservation a few weeks in advance for a sensible hour.  How it should be.

We arrived a bit late because we'd spent waaaay too long rewarding ourselves for walking up Mount Royal by buying all the make up in Sephora.  I've got a problem.  I called to say we were running late and they were cool about it.  Excellent start.  We sat down and this was presented to us.

Now, I'd spent the best part of a week banging on to Em about how I've developed an addiction to cornichons.  Lots of the supermarket jars contain sweet ones which annoys me no end.  These weren't, they were perfectly pickled, and look how many there are.  Any restaurant that gives you unlimited cornichons is a winner in my eyes.  Some baguette and butter and water also arrived, very good.

For starter I opted for the fish soup ($13).  It came with little cheesy toasts and aioli.  Brilliantly salty and intensely shellfishy, as it should be. The toasts were a bit chewy yet overly crispy, in the way that toasted stale bread is.  Only gripe, they're obviously using yesterday's leftover baguette to make them.  Perhaps not the smartest dish to order on a hot August day, I was slightly overheating.

We ordered a bottle of chablis.  Their wine list is immense and very reasonably priced, starting at as low as $30 a bottle.  Which is significantly lower than anywhere else we dined throughout the week.  I knew I'd love this place.  The feel is very French, obviously, checkerboard tiled floor, waistcoated waiters (who are all lovely) and simple rustic dishes which deliver some serious flavour.  Em had the celeriac remolade ($8) to start.

I confess I wasn't too sure what to have for main.  I wanted the coq au vin but it was far too hot for soup followed by stew so I opted for the mushroom stuffed ravioli ($20.90).  These had a nice deep flavour and a rich gravy, the pasta was perfectly cooked, they're obviously home made (raviolis maison) and it was just the right amount to mean I had room for pud.  Em went for the tartare ($25.90) which looked great, it was massive and came with loads of fries.

We wanted a cheese course, we got a hunk of Brie de Meaux with crispbreads and walnuts ($7.20).  Loved the nuts coming with it, a tad hard to prize out of the shells with your bare hands but we persisted.  What we were really waiting for though, was this beast.

The Ile Flottante ($8.40).  The size of it was literally drawing gasps from diners each time one emerged from the kitchen.  I'd seen pictures of it before, but had no idea it was such a behemoth.  The thick layer of caramel contained a light meringue, all sat on a bed of creme Anglaise with a few bits of almond brittle sticking out.  It's not the daintiest of desserts, but it was amazing. 

This rounded off the meal nicely and we head off, full and happy for drinks elsewhere in the Plateau.  Everywhere is open til 3am, it's incredible.  I'll definitely be back to L'Express to try more, it's a real gem and is certainly in my top 10 meals here so far.  I need that chicken stew in my life the minute the cold weather hits.

L'Express
3927 Rue St Denis
Plateau
H2W
9/10

Bouillon Bilk

I'm eating so much this month it's quite scary.  Em's arriving tonight and we have a full on week of eating planned.  Excited.  I'm justifying this by signing up for a 5k run at the end of the month, it'll be fine, heh.

A spontaneous dinner last week happened at Bouillon Bilk, I've tried to eat here before, but they were closed for refurb.  The décor is nice, larger communal tables at the front and the bulk of the tables arranged around a central raised bar area.  For a Monday night, the place was really busy and the atmosphere was great, relaxed but it immediately felt like they have their shit together.  

We began with a bottle of fizz, the Sebastien Brunet Vouvray, I'd not heard of it before, it was great!  Very creamy.  Bread arrived next, it was the best bread I've had here so far, would love to know where they get it or if they make it in house.  You can basically eat as much of it as you want too, which I obviously love.  Held back and had just 2 bits each. 

I ordered an appetizer from the daily specials, the bone marrow with mushrooms, diced green apple, whelks topped with crisps and prettily served inside a massive bone ($18).  It looked so lovely and tasted great, the almost sour fruit really helping to cut through the fatty richness of the marrow.

 

The 'thing' here is that each dish contains a protein matched with a fruit, here marrow and apple, other examples on the menu were Hamachi (a Japanese fish served raw) with raspberries (which I tried, it was great), foie gras with rhubarb and lobster with nectarine.

For main, we both opted for the scallops with pear, fried courgette flower, yellow courgettes, mushrooms, pepper sauce and beurre noisette ($29).  This was really very very good, I was worried that the portions might prove to be a tad small but this was deceptively filling.  The sauces were incredible.

We had a bit of a break before moving on to cheese, we chose a couple of glasses of rioja to accompany.  All local Quebecois cheese, none of which were familiar to me, a selection of 5 for $20 came with some candied nuts, toast and some apricot jam.  The blue was the highlight.

 

We paid around $120 each which I think is fine value for the quality of cooking on display here by chef Francois Nadon.  Loved the flavours, the service, the vibe and the room.  Will definitely be back because we foolishly overlooked the sloe gin fizz on the cocktail menu.  Need those in my life. 

Bouillon Bilk 
1595 Saint Laurent

Latin Quarter
H2X
9/10

Toqué!

Reading about Toqué! made me think it's probably in the 'La Gavroche' category of restaurants, somewhere that's widely regarded as one of THE food destination in the city, with a loooong history of happy diners and a busy reservations book.  Those things all being true of Le Gav, but my meal there was a bit of a disappointment food wise in 2013.  Could Norman Laprise and his team at Toqué! prove me wrong?  (Not sure what the exclamation mark's all about).

 

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the meal, me of little faith.  It began with a tasting of champagne, 2 glasses, not just one, as an aperitif.

 

I would say that the service was a tad lacking, we waited a full hour before we got something to eat, and I had to ask for bread, or it would have been longer.  I was starving!  We opted for the seven course tasting menu which is a complete surprise, there is no list to read from so you need to wait until the dish arrives to know what's coming, this annoys me.  It's $117 which is good value, you can opt to have it with or without foie gras for the same price.  I went with.

 

The bread was decent, nothing special, 2 options, sliced seeded bread and then ciabatta buns.  Unsalted butter.

 

 

First up was an amuse, marinated scallops in sour cherry water and lavender mousse.

 

 

Next dish was Bluefin tuna.  So so pretty.  I instagrammed this pic and Lizzie asked me if it's now deemed acceptable to eat Bluefin.  It did surprise me when it arrived and the components of the dish were described by the waiter.  I'm pleading ignorance (no menu), but I believe they are still at risk from overfishing, so not cool.  Served raw with corn, almonds, mushrooms and a wasabi vinaigrette. 

 

 

Continuing the unethical eating, the foie gras dish arrived next.  I not going to launch into a defense about eating this, there's no argument really, it tastes good, I like food.  A slice of foie gras terrine was served on toasted brioche with peach and pistachio.  Very good. 

 

 

Onto main dishes, another tuna offering came next, not named as Bluefin in this instance, seared and served pink in the centre.  Accompaniments were beetroot sauce, several types of mushroom and lovage.  Nice but I was crying out for a meat course.

 

 

Which came in the form of lamb.  2 ways, rib and merguez.  This was my favourite dish of the meal.  Radishes, button onions, mushrooms and a random strawberry which I didn't eat. 

 

 

The cheese course was good (no Le Gav style cheese trolley unfortunately), 2 kinds of goatscheese, 1 hard, 1 soft, there were more bloody strawberries on the plate though.  Don't get me wrong, I like strawberries, but I don't want them with lamb, or cheese. 

 

 

The dessert was fine, I'm always least excited about this course, Toque's was flourless chocolate cake with sea buckthorn ganache, hay caramel and ice cream, also hay.  Pretty good actually, a solid end to the meal.  Pretty again (photo credit - Sarah, thanks!)

 

Now I wouldn't say this is the best food available in Montreal, my preference would be something more fun, modern and casual (though the dining room wasn't as formal as I'd expected it to be).  We drank red wine and the champagne to begin with and the bill came to over $200 each.  I was prepared for it to be expensive but for that money, it really ought to be head and shoulders above all else available in Montreal surely, you get what you pay for?  Well, they do offer valet parking....

Toqué!

 900 Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle 

Old Montreal 

H2Y

7.5/10

 

Le Comptoir Charcuterie et Vins

Le Comptoir has been on my Montreal restaurant list since my Feb visit.  I managed to scope it out in the snow and have been meaning to return since I made the move in March.  We sat at the bar arriving just before 8 and stayed pretty much til close.

I instantly liked the vibe of the place, there's a main bar area with stool and a few smaller tables, the place was full on both Monday and Tuesday nights, it's quite difficult to find restaurants that open Sunday and Monday, which is very annoying.  Will Travel for Food blog has a list of places opening, though it's a couple of years old....

We had a look at the wines by the glasses, the list is pretty impressive, we opted for fizz and had the Cremant d'Alsace, Andre Durrmann which was so smooth and almost creamy in taste that we stuck to it all night.

We began with the charcuterie board, all made in house.  I'm not going to pretend I listened and took in what each was, there was a smoked duck 'ham' a pate type one and 3 similar ish sausages.  All very good.  Came with little crisp breads, I was expecting the baguette I could see on the bread board on the bar.  This was the small platter $10, also available in large, $15.

First actual main dish to arrive was the shrimp ceviche with lardon and shallot confit ravioli with pine nuts, these were served on squash ricotta puree $16.  Liked the textures here, the pine nuts were really crunchy,  Really nice ceviche, they like their purees.  We were eating annoyingly slowly.

Next we had the calamari with tomato, olive and coriander $13.  The calamari was nicely cooked and the sauce was full of flavor.

 

My fave dish of the night came next, the pan fried cod with fennel and potato mouselline (basically mash) with clams, pepperone, pickled shallot and paprika oil.  The cod was brilliant, a nice mellow combination of flavours and a nice looking dish.  Some might be perturbed by the oil, but I like a bit of paprika oil.

Last main dish to arrive, about 3 hours after our arrival (good thing, we wanted to graze and gossip) was not actually one we ordered but we were happy enough with it.  The eggplant (oh god, what have I become) and ground pork mezza luna ($14), so named because their half moon shape resembles the chopping implement of the same name.

Looking at this pic - it actually looks nothing like a half moon, it was good though and probably the prettiest plating of the night.  A nice crispy onion ring, pine nuts, miso buffalo yoghurt and basil all combining, sounds a little all over the place, but it worked.

Then we had the cheese plate.  Obviously very nice!  This came with more of the crunchy slices of bread which I thought was odd, given that they serve the baguette with some of the mains.

Still liked this place a lot though, the main reason being the atmosphere, the music was brilliant, the service was relaxed and unstuffy and we never felt at all rushed.  Will definitely be back.

Le Comptoir Charcuterie et Vins
4807 Saint Laurent Boulevard
Plateau
H2T 1R6
7.5/10

Gauthier Soho

Gauthier restaurant had been on my list for a long time prior to my visit last week.  Not sure what took me so long to get there.  Sold as 'modern French cooking with a twist of kitsch' I was intrigued.  What I find unappealing about the place is seeing the calories listed against each dish on the menu.  Is this really what diners want?  I don't.  I ignored it.

Anyway, we decided quickly to have 5 courses from the a la carte menu at £60.  Welcome cocktails, amaretto sour and negroni (£12.50 each) were excellent and the bread was amazing.  We were offered more bread so many times that we actually turned it down eventually.  These 2 are hazelnut and malted bread. 

 

Amuse bouches were served first, tuna tartare and cheese straws with aioli were the highlights.  First up on the menu proper are the premiere plat dishes.  I had the duck egg and soldiers, lurking beneath the top egg layer was a smoked eel sabayon and parsley jus.  Definitely kitsch presentation!  Really delicious.

My choice of deuxieme plat was the lobster, served in a shell shaped dish, in small pieces with mussels and a crustacean fricassee.

Troisieme plat was the Cornish cod with bass crisps, capers, bone marrow and sea urchin, this was seriously impressive, the bass crisps were incredible and the delicate fish was buttery soft, just lovely.

Of the whoppingly calorific choices for quatrieme plat I opted for the Welsh lamb.  Roasted loin and braised shoulder were served with herb and parmesan crusted celeriac.  Plenty of jus and a few sprigs of thyme added a wonderful aroma to the dish.  Another strong dish, my favourite on the night.

Next a little pre dessert of isle flottante.  This has to be my all time favourite pudding, so I'm always extremenly happy when it makes an appearance, particularly when it's an added extra!

We shared desserts, this was the Yorkshire rhubarb with lime mascarpone and lemon pepper.  This was interesting texturally and the fennel seed flecked crisps on top were great.  Ate some more flowers...

The other dessert we selected was the Golden Louis XV which I mistook for something else altogether, but it was great, hazelnut mousse, crunch praline and chocolate ganache topped with gold leaf, it's very decadent and rich, certainly needed something fruity to cut through it.  Very good though.

We drank a white rioja (I'd just flown back from Spain earlier in the day) and a couple of glasses of recommended dessert wines paired with the dishes we chose, I'm really into dessert wines at the moment.  Petit fours of madeleines, marshmallows and these other little sioux pastry creamy things were all fantastic.

Service was sweet, the room was intimate, ideal for a date and the place has plenty of nooks and crannies to explore, it's a townhouse so the restaurant spans 3 floors.  I'm glad to have been, not sure I'll rush back, but the savoury courses in particular really do shine.  Should probably have had the truffle risotto in hindsight, but I'm trying not to eat rice as a starter, things got silly a couple of months ago.

Gauthier Soho
21 Romilly St
Soho
W1
7/10