Les Deux Salons, 40-42 William IV Street, London WC2N 4DD

Les Deux Salons, 40-42 William IV Street, London WC2N 4DD

20/04/2013

www.lesdeuxsalons.co.uk

She said: We were in the Covent Garden area and hungry when I remembered wanting to try Les Deux Salons but hadn’t until now as he never seemed enthusiastic about it. I must have caught him on an off-day as he agreed to dine here. Les Deux Salons is designed as a classic French brasserie – two floors with metro style lighting and brass railings, dark green banquettes and starched table cloths and the obligatory distressed mirrors. A glass ceiling is a central feature of the room. On entering a near empty room we were given a nice table in the centre on the ground floor. The menus and complimentary bread were quick to come but after sitting around for too long, surrounded by waiters nattering to each other and therefore oblivious to our gestures to place our order, he went up and got a waiter to come to our table. Thankfully, the food service was good. I had a beetroot salad which was light and tasty, followed by the fish pie which, for me was a bit thick on mash and light on juicy fish although he liked it. I quickly ordered a side of spinach to cut through the dryness of the fish pie which worked nicely – although the spinach was more salty than I would have liked. We had noticed a nice new cake place up the road so decided to skip dessert.

During the meal more customers arrived creating more of a buzz in this retro, smart room. The ground floor feels more classic and open although upstairs has a nice intimacy to it. In the heart of tourist-land Les Deux Salons is always going to attract more out-of-towners than locals which makes for a different atmosphere although the lack of a pre-theatre menu will take care of one segment of tourists. Les Deux Salons is a pleasant enough place with pleasant enough food and if you choose wisely, reasonable prices at £50 for two courses for two with soft drinks.

He said: push the door & you can skip the Eurostar – the atmosphere here is genuine Paris, including the sometimes indifferent service. A few things on the menu raised the eyebrow: hot dog & chips, and mac & cheese, for example; but hey, this is Convent Garden, and Billy-Bob and Marge need to eat too. Otherwise this is as convincingly ‘Brasserie’ as nearby Balthazar and Zedel. I chose the very tasty soupe du jour, priced at a democratic £2.50, followed by a kind of Gallic fish and chips: pan-fried cod, with mushy peas and potato boulangere. This was delicious but the portion of fish was a little mean, irrespective of collapsing fish stocks. Having resisted going there for so long, I had to admit reluctantly that she was right – Les Deux Salons is a very good bet for the area. I’ll definitely be trying the mac & cheese next.

The Caramel Room, The Berkeley Hotel, Wilton Place, London SW1X 7RL

The Caramel Room, The Berkeley Hotel, Wilton Place, London SW1X 7RL

12/04/2013

www.the-berkeley.co.uk

She said: Mmm, an afternoon of tea and cakes; I was looking forward to this. The Caramel Room is a fairly benign, inoffensive space by the entrance of this Knightsbridge style hotel but the unique afternoon tea certainly makes up for any lack of star-factor of the surrounds. We were seated by a large window at a perfectly set table with a place name inscribed within a cut-out fluorescent pink stiletto. The service was immaculate. We were given a full run-down of the ceremony and delicacies to come. I did struggle to keep a straight face and avoided eye-contact with him when we were shown a brochure of fashion designs upon which the Pret a Portea is modelled; to name but a few: a mouse inspired by a Burberry trench coat and umbrella; a Fendi ankle-boot biscuit; a YSL sponge handbag; and in their words not mine ‘Diane Von Furstenberg pink lady apple mousse and kalamancy cremeux topped with playful interlocking sugar puzzles’.

Our desserts were preceded by an excellent choice of sandwiches and nibbles such as mini falafel and humous, a spoon of marinated tuna, a glass of cold soup all of which were perfectly formed and pleasantly appetising. Having learned from previous afternoon teas, we paced ourselves well and tried not to fill up on the variety of teas on offer. Staff regularly checked and refreshed our tea, savouries and desserts – YES – the ultimate gold star here is that is confirmed to the ‘keep ‘em coming’ school of thought for afternoon tea allowing us to have as many rounds of whatever we wanted whenever we wanted. At £39 per head, afternoon tea at the Berkeley should be on the top 3 of anyone’s list and the novelty factor of the Pret a Portea is actually rather superb…

He said: Afternoon tea, for me, should be either very basic or very posh: a grannyish, chintzy tearoom in a faded seaside town, or the maximum luxury experience of the Savoy (see below). No-one can accuse The Berkley Hotel of being a retiring wallflower: this Knightsbridge stalwart is the first hotel that I can remember charging £15 for a drink, back when that was a lot of money. But Pret-a-Portea is, sadly, tucked into a corner, with far too little space for it to deploy its many charms. And there is a definite disconnect between its bubbly fashion vibe, and the rather dark, and masculine room. The waitress came with the menus, and it was pure David Brent cringe as she explained, at length, the Manolo inspired biscuits and other insane Fashion conceits. I hoped to see coke-addled Edina and Patsy come crashing into this bizarre Sex And the City scene. But Pret-a-Portea scores highly on food (including tasty canapés), enthusiastic service; a little takeaway box of your favourite sweets was a very nice touch. In the end, tea here was actually a fun and pleasant experience, but the concept is a little forced.

Hush, 8 Lancashire Court, Brook Street, London W1S 1EY

Hush, 8 Lancashire Court, Brook Street, London W1S 1EY

www.hush.co.uk

09/04/2013

She said: The mother-in-law was in town and we needed somewhere local. I had wanted to book ‘The Silver Room’ at Hush which is a newly decorated dining space on the first floor but was told it was closed so our table was in the ground floor dining room which is in the standard ‘contemporary’ style you see at so many restaurants these days. I have always had mixed preconceptions of Hush – it looks pretty from the pedestrian courtyard but always seemed a bit affected so I was curious to check out the reality. On arrival, very poker-faced service staff took our coats and seated us at a reasonable table. However, we had to asked at least 5 times for someone to take our cocktail orders, which at £11 a pop you wouldn’t think we’d have to insist on being able to order (after a word with the manager the service improved).

The menu is a mix of ‘European’ food at middle-of-the-range London prices. I went straight into mains after the long cocktail chase and had the cod with spinach, saffron and clam sauce which was actually very good. To follow, despite my fellow diners passing on dessert and coffee, I had a delicious sticky toffee pudding with crème fraiche and my latte arrived closely behind. We receded into ‘chase the bill’ a couple of times before putting down £110 for three people consisting of three cocktails, three mains and one dessert and coffee. On the basis of the food and location I would consider coming back to Hush, maybe to see what the Silver Room is like but would have been more confident with a less indifferent service.

He said: I arrived at Hush right off the plane from a work trip in Germany, having spent the day moaning and groaning through the last spasms of a nasty case of food poisoning. Perhaps not the best conditions for a night out, but it was planned a while ago, and I’m from the pretend-everything-is-ok school of medicine. Still, I played it safe, ordered a stiff drink as a starter (to kill-off any remaining bugs), and followed with the spiced lentils – no formerly-living creatures on my plate that might have caused a relapse. Both were perfectly nice. The main reason to come to Hush, really, is the very picturesque setting, hidden behind Bond Street on a discreet cobbled courtyard – it has a nice approach and out-of-towners will be suitably impressed with your knowledge of all the nooks and crannies. Hush also has a really nice buzzy and dimly lit atmosphere. My only gripe was that service was haphazard; perhaps they were short-staffed, but the door crew was also a little indifferent. Oh, and also, her cod came on an absurdly large plate – I mean, we’re talking stupid large. Hush, with some minor tweaking, could be really good, especially if the staff worked at making the punters feel as special as the ambiance. Incidentally, my number one tip for eating abroad outside of capital cities: don’t order fish on Monday.

Balthazar, 4-6 Russell Street, London WC2E 7BN

Balthazar, 4-6 Russell Street, London WC2E 7BN

www.balthazarlondon.com

01/04/2013

She said: I had been observing Balthazar’s development over the past few months each time I was in Covent Garden with builders and decorators transforming this great corner plot by the market. Balthazar is immediately impressive; vast ceilings, distressed, large mirrors everywhere, pristine table cloths and old-style service staff buzzing around with the array of delights on large trays on their shoulders. The bar is attractive, glistening with various bottles and glasses and the interior has an art-deco feel to it. I had requested a banquette seat when booking which they obliged in a great location in the middle of the room giving us good people-watching opportunities. We were a bit baffled when asked if we would like to order bread when we noticed other tables were being given it automatically and upon checking whether it was complimentary we were presented with a basked of delicious bread options.

The menu offers a wide choice of French-inspired dishes and I started with the goat cheese tart which was very good. To follow I had the lobster black truffle risotto which was a little too fishy and salty but good enough. I ordered the Tart Tatin for dessert but it lacked the sophistication of a true tatin with chunky, chewy apple on a thick base so I swapped with his Chocolate Rocher which was much better. That said, Balthazar offers a great setting and good enough food at okay prices (three courses and coffees for two and one cocktail came in at £78), making it somewhere I would come back to with friends and family alike.

He said: Walking out of Balthazar I overheard a lively Italian tourist telling one of his mates: ‘dis iz da ottesta tabel ina towna, Lettuce a sea iffa we canna geta ina’. The PR bods working for Balthazar clearly earned their crust – the place was barely out of soft-launch and already tourists had it on their radar. Balthazar ticks a lot of boxes: the room has the wow-factor, the location is good (if you don’t mind tourist-land) and the food works: I kicked-off with a kale salad, followed with an ‘eggplant’ sandwich – yes, this French brasserie is actually American – and topped things off with a chocolate rocher. I enjoyed it all, and the knowledge that I had ordered better than she, which is always nice but does mean that she swapped her so-so tarte tatin for my delish rocher. Balthazar also makes their bread on the spot; I confess, dear reader, to a major bread addiction. The killer bread display in the window is what actually made me want to come here first. I also enjoyed the fact that the bloody Mary had no ice in it – the only right way to make it. Things I didn’t like: the service was still very tentative, which you don’t expect from an American-run place; and the coat-check was really badly organized; we, and others were waiting by the door for a good 10 minutes waiting for our things, blocking the way while the girl evidently ran to a very far away place to fetch our things. But, on balance, these niggles can easily be sorted out. And no, Mario didn’t get a table, because Balthazar is a winner, and everybody already knows it.