It took me a while to decide which place I should go to for my final dinner before I left for South America. In the end, for a quintessentially British experience, I decided on going to Le Cafe Anglais in Bayswater, mainly because I liked the fact that it is a little bit special, but at the same time, it just serves good British comfort food.
The restaurant is in the most random of places - on the 2nd floor of Whiteley's shopping centre on the site of a failed MacDonald's - but once you arrive at the door, it is gorgeous. There is the most amazing Art Deco-ish windows on the outside, and inside, the lighting is also pretty retro and old skool. The other striking thing as you walk is is the huge spit-roasts in the centre of the room, and it is no wonder that it specialises in EXCELLENT roast dindins.
To start though, you are so spoiled. There is a choice (well, I say choice, but I normally end up getting both) between hors d'oeuvres at £3 each, which range from parmesan custard with anchovy toasts ("adults dippy egg and soldiers", as excellently described by Matthew Fort) to mackeral teriyaki and cucumber salad, and proper starters, simpler fare such as omelette with various fillings to the pike boudin that I had. I have never had boudin before, and I was in an experimental mood, and I was so glad I tried it. It was extremely light, although not very pretty - a sort of light fish mousse crammed with herbs surrounded by a beurre blanc:
For mains, it is mainly roasts (from chicken legs at a bargainous £4 each to grouse at £20-odd) as well as a few fish dishes. We had a little snoop at the rotisserie, and decided that the pork roast with fennel and garlic looked the most promising, and it was served with the most crackly crackling:
Potentially the second best roast pork I've ever had, which explains why this post is dedicated to my fabulous friend Stu. We did a little reunion trip to the Duke of Cambridge in Islington, which is an all-organic pub (right down to organic cola). The roast pork there is just out of this world - so favourful, just a revelation how they managed to make pig taste so good.
These sorts of places make me miss London. But off to South America I must go...
1 comment:
Oh, one thing I forgot was that Jamie Theakston appeared to have been having a party in a private room in the same restaurant. No other celebs seemed to be there unfortunately, but it did make me wonder where he has been in the last few years. Growing a beard, apparently.
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