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.

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.