The monthly summary for August and what a food-filled month it was too!

My London restaurant reviews are featured on Urbanspoon, as are those of fellow food bloggers. To celebrate their thousandth blogger worldwide joining them, Urbanspoon wrote a post highlighting some of their blogger members, including World Foodie Guide. If you’re a food blogger, you should consider joining Urbanspoon. It’s really easy to link to it from your restaurant review posts.

Eurostar invited a small group of food bloggers on a culinary day trip to Lille, France as part of their Little Break, Big Difference campaign. It was a tiring day but packed with foodie activities and I really enjoyed myself.  If you love food, Lille is definitely a destination city. I can’t wait to go back again and explore all the little shops and restaurants we discovered.

August was an unusually good month for eating out – Koba – my favourite Korean restaurant in London; Launceston Place – which I’m revisiting in a couple of days; Yalla Yalla – an excellent little Lebanese eaterie in Soho; L’Anima - a modern Italian restaurant; Pearl Liang – one of my favourite Chinese restaurants and St Helena – a rare meal outside London!

At home in the kitchen, it was also a busy month. In a response to food writer Celia Brooks Brown’s tweet for recipe testers, I volunteered to test three of her recipes for her future book New Urban Farmer. As they were all vegetarian, the husband was most satisfied. I also attempted Anna del Conte’s family recipe for spaghetti with Marmite, which was surprisingly delicious, as well as one of my all-time favourite Cantonese dishes, morning glory stir-fried with fermented bean curd.

Finally, I reviewed two books, Fuchsia Dunlop’s Shark’s Fin & Sichuan Pepper, a fascinating food-related account of her time spent in China with a few recipes, and Jane Lawson’s Snowflakes and Schnapps, a collection of winter recipes from cold European countries.

On top of everything else, the Japan trip in November is still in the process of being researched and planned.

Thank you as always for reading!

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

[UPDATE: 14 September 2009 - you can win 2 Eurostar tickets to Lille by entering my competition. Click on the link for more details. You have until the end of September to enter. Good luck!]

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The PR company for Eurostar’s Little break, Big difference campaign recently invited some food bloggers on a culinary day trip to Lille in northern France. Little break, Big difference encourages people to take short breaks to Paris, Brussels and Lille on the Eurostar, (which can cost as little as £59 return, subject to all those terms and conditions!), introducing special events and experiences in these cities. The itinerary was packed with food activities, and it was hard to resist. I was initially hesitant about going, given the recent furore over food bloggers accepting PR freebies. However, I do enjoy traveleating and I would have wanted to visit Lille anyway to see what it has to offer foodies, so I decided to accept the invitation.

I love the research and planning part of any traveleating trip and can spend months choosing restaurants and places to visit (I’ve been doing this since July for the November Japan trip!). It was therefore a little strange to be handed an itinerary, even though it was entirely food-related, and to be guided around the city, when I’m very much an independent traveller. I had decided not to do any research whatsoever, so everything we did on Saturday was entirely new to me.

Lille city centre is no more than a ten minute walk from the train station. We wandered up and down little cobbled streets in the old quarter known as Vieux Lille lined with independent shops, cafés, restaurants and boutiques, – Rue de la Monnaie looked particularly exciting – as well as walking around two pretty squares, the Place du General-de-Gaulle and Place du Théâtre. The area is very photogenic and I loved the architecture, so it wasn’t long before I decided I would be returning to Lille again very soon.

We visited Meert, a traditional pâtisserie and tea room that has been open since 1761 (there is also the restaurant, see website below for more details) and sampled La Gaufre Meert, their famous Madagascan vanilla-filled waffles (€2.80), which you can also buy in small gift boxes in the adjoining shop. A few people also ordered their other speciality, the Merveilleux, a gigantic chocolate-coated meringue filled with rich chocolate mousse (€5.50). They have a good selection of teas, but I had a non-alcoholic fruit cocktail, the Intensive Cherry Cactus (€6.00), a delicious thick and definitely intense berry drink. I also bought a little packet of florentines from the shop afterwards.

The next stop was L’atelier des Chefs (a chain of cookery schools in France, London and Dubai where you learn to make two or three courses for lunch and dinner, then eat what you have prepared), where we were divided into four teams and following instructions from the chef, learned to make lunch for ourselves, which we ate at the communal dining table. Very fresh pan-fried cod lacquered with honey and beer sauce on a bed of vegetables was followed by tiramisu.

We were soon on the move again, to the regional beer and cheese tasting, which was held in the basement of La Capsule bar. Unfortunately, due to a family emergency, the cheese shop owner had to close his shop, so he couldn’t attend to introduce the cheeses. I was disappointed as I fell deeply in love with the smelliest and strongest of all the sampled cheeses, the Maroilles, and wanted to buy some to take home. I also liked the Crayeux de Ronqc and the Mimolette, a hard orange cheese, which I’ve had before in London. Philippe Olivier is therefore most definitely on my must-visit list for my next trip, as there is also the ‘cousin’ of the Maroilles, Vieux Lille, also known as ‘the Lille stinker’, which I want to try!

The beer expert more than made up for the cheese owner’s absence however, and he described in detail the four specialty beers local to Lille and the north of France. I’m not a beer drinker, but I particularly liked La Bavaisienne, an amber beer, and later bought a bottle from La Capsule’s specialty regional beer shop L’Abbaye des Saveurs, just round the corner. The beer later got its seal of approval from the husband patiently waiting at home for food treats. By the time we were back on the train again, I could barely sit upright from all the food I had consumed.

If I were to organise my own day trip to Lille, I would have a leisurely breakfast at Meert, then buy plenty of goodies from the adjoining shop. The bakery, Aux Merveilleux de Fred, that we walked past twice also looked very enticing, as did Patisserie Patrick Hermand. With just one day to explore the city and with so much to eat and do however, I wouldn’t attend a cookery course again. I like L’atelier des Chefs very much, and there is one in London which I’ve been to, but I would much rather dine in some local restaurants where I wouldn’t have to do the cooking! There are also numerous cafés and little food shops where I would love to spend time browsing, and of course the upscale independent shops selling clothes and interiors. The beer shop and the cheese shop would be essential stops towards the end of the day. And I would try to time my trip to visit the open market, Marché de Wazemmes, (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday mornings). However, the Little Break trip was certainly an excellent introduction to Lille (thank you to everyone at We Are Social), and has inspired me to do more research and return very soon.

The day’s events are also told in this set of Lille photos on Flickr, which can be viewed here, posted in reverse chronological order (last photo appears first). You can also watch We Are Social’s short You Tube video of the day here.

Travel information:

We travelled courtesy of Eurostar in Leisure Select, which I’ve never heard of before, but it’s the class between Standard and Business Premier. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included, depending on the time of travel, as well as a complimentary glass of champagne before lunch and dinner. The breakfast, strangely, was far better than the dinner. Perhaps we were too full from good food in Lille?

We took the 06:59 train from St Pancras, arriving in Lille an astonishing 90 minutes later, at 09:27. After a short ten minute walk, we were already in the city centre. It was very easy to walk around the little streets and explore the city, and there was no need for taxis or public transport as stayed in the centre.

We returned on the 18:35 train, arriving back at St Pancras at 19:03 UK time. It was a long day, but definitely manageable. I’m now debating whether to do a day trip, leaving slightly later in the morning and returning on a later train after dinner, or stay overnight and have a more relaxing weekend.

Contact details:

Meert
Patisserie – Salon de thé
27 rue Esquermoise
59000 Lille
France
Tel: 0033 (0)3 20 57 07 44
www.meert.fr

Opening Hours :
Monday: Closed
Tuesday to Friday: 9.30am-7.30pm
Saturday: 9.00am-7.30pm
Sunday: 9.00am-1.00pm/3.00pm-7.00pm

L’atelier des Chefs
74 Boulevard de la Liberté
59000 Lille
France
Tel: 0033 (0)3 20 17 17 50
www.latelierdeschefs.com

L’Abbaye des Saveurs
13, rue des Vieux Murs
59000 Lille
France
Tel/ Fax: 00 33 (0)3 28 07 70 06
www.abbayedessaveurs.com

Fromagerie Philippe Olivier
3 Rue Curé St Etienne
59800 Lille
France
Tel: 00 33 (3) 20 74 96 99

Food bloggers:

The food bloggers (and one wine blogger) who went on the trip were a mixture of old friends and new acquaintances, all writing about very different subjects within the vast realm of food (and drink).

Niamh from Eat Like A Girl
Chris from Cheese and Biscuits
Helen from Food Stories
Kang from LondonEater
Krista from londonelicious
MsMarmitelover from The English Can Cook
Andrew Barrow from Spittoon
Liz from Gastronomy Domine
Margot from Coffee and Vanilla
Michelle from Greedy Gourmet
Stephen and Kerri from Dinner Diary

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Background:

When our Canadian friends visited London recently, I had to think hard about where to take them for dinner. As we’d already dined at The Wolseley, Konstam and Yauatcha with them over the last two years, I wanted to maintain the high standards to which they’re accustomed in London. In the end, I chose Le Café Anglais because I had an excellent meal there nine months ago and had recently been recommending it to other friends.

Please read my previous review for more background detail, as nothing has changed, apart from certain dishes on the menu. This is good news, as standards were still high. The service was as attentive as ever, without feeling too fussy. And I was pleased to be allocated a great table not too near the kitchen, as requested. In fact we were by the window, so I was blessed with plenty of natural light for my photos. Our guests were delighted with the elegant surroundings and enjoyed another excellent meal in London. Even the fussy husband was content.

What we ordered:

The set menu isn’t bad at all (two or three courses, with three choices for each course), but it’s much better to choose from the à la carte menu for an ideal taste of the different starters and first courses in which Le Café Anglais excels. And it doesn’t cost that much more.

Starters & First Courses:

• beetroot and dill (£3.50) – lovely and fresh, though to be honest, I couldn’t taste any dill whatsoever. But no matter, it came with a drizzle of olive oil

• salsify fritters (£3.50) – these arrived perfectly crisp, having been fried in a thin batter. The salsify was young and crunchy, and it was tricky negotiating who should have the last two!

• burrata (£4.50) – this (mozzarella and cream) cheese was creamy, rich and moreish. I would have been happy to eat just this with fresh bread all evening

• Parmesan custard and anchovy toast (£4.50) – an absolute must at Le Café Anglais. It’s a signature dish and always on the menu. The ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ emanating from my fellow diners confirmed that I’d ordered the right dish again…

• pike boudin (£8.50) – the other must at Le Café Anglais, with the same results as above. I’d forgotten quite how sublime this simple dish was

Mains: with gratin dauphinois, Jersey royals, leaf spinach and watercress with vinaigrette

• steamed hake with samphire and lobster sauce (£15.00) – chosen from the set menu. I didn’t try this, but even just looking at it I could tell that it was succulent and something I would really like

• fried haddock with tartare sauce (£13.50) – husband, who’s an expert on fried fish when there’s nothing vegetarian he fancies, confirmed that this was very well executed indeed. I think fried fish is hard to get just right, so top marks for this

• roast skate with sorrel and Jersey royals (£16.50) – I secretly wanted to order this, but having just seen the documentary The End Of The Line, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I just hope it was sustainably sourced…

• chicken breast with mousserons (£14.50) – finally, my dish after much indecision. On hindsight, I should have ordered fish. The chicken, which I rarely order anymore when dining out, was tender enough and I did like the mousserons (mushrooms to you and I), but overall it was just a bit too bland for me

To finish, we ordered two Queen of Puddings because I tried this last time and thought our friends would be intrigued by it. If you’re curious about the recipe, here’s one from BBC Food. It’s a retro pudding British women used to make at home (both the husband and a friend from the last dinner said their mothers used to make it!).

The verdict:

As with my last meal, I found the starters and first courses much more exciting than the mains. Perhaps I keep ordering the wrong mains, (last year it was suckling pig), but no one else I dine with seem to have any problems with theirs. Or perhaps the starters and first courses are so spectacular that they overshadow the mains? In future, I’m going to stick to my rule of ordering plenty of small dishes, so that by the time I reach my main course, I won’t mind so much if it turns out not to be as good.

Overall though, Le Café Anglais is a superb restaurant where you never have to worry about anything, as the service is reassuringly reliable, the decor just right and the food never ceases to please people. I’ve also added it to my list of current favourite restaurants in London.

Dinner for four, including apéritifs, wine, coffee and service charge cost £209.00.

Click here to view the entire set of Le Café Anglais photos.

10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average

All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide

Contact details:
Le Café Anglais
8 Porchester Gardens
London W2 4DB
Tel: 020 7221 1415
info@lecafeanglais.co.uk
www.lecafeanglais.co.uk

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Background:

My foodie boss was the one who recommended Giaconda, although it’s been on the lips of every food blogger since it opened on Tin Pan Alley, or Denmark Street, earlier this year. It’s named after the famous Giaconda Café (a popular musicians’ hangout in the 1960s) and serves reasonably priced French-influenced dishes in a tiny space. Sydney chef Paul Merrony operates in the kitchen, while his real partner Tracey works front of house (his business partner is behind Soho coffee bars Milk Bar and Flat White).

First impressions:

Giaconda is really very, very small indeed, with not more than 30 or so covers. The tables are placed very close together and it can feel quite intimate as you have no choice but to listen in on your neighbours’ conversation. When one of them is Jonathan Powell, your ears are bound to prick up to catch any government-related gossip.

Tips: don’t sit at the table near the door right under the coat hanger. With a few winter coats piled onto it, there’ll be no space for you as well. And lunchtime was packed, so booking is really recommended if you want to secure one of the few tables here.

Menu:

As Merrony broke his arm in an accident, Giaconda had to close for a while, so on its reopening in late November, only the unique ‘One Armed Chef’ Menu was available (the regular Two Armed Chef Menu will return at the start of January 2009). I have to admit, this menu sounded quite appealing. It’s a much simplified version that is manageable with one good arm, with 2 courses at £15 and 3 courses at £18.50 (I’m not sure though if the regular menu offers these 2 or 3 course deals).

What we ordered:

• starter – soup of the day – cream of cannellini bean with greens and ham hock
• starter – carpaccio
• main – grilled tuna with lentil, bread and parsley salad
• main – grill of the day – medium-rare sirloin with braised shallots and chips

My friend assured me that his soup and tuna were delicious, but I can only comment on what I had. The carpaccio was lovely and fresh, but there was far too much mayonnaise on it. A fellow diner saw my dish arrive and was smart enough to order the same, but with the mayonnaise on the side. I would have enjoyed mine far more that way. The steak was cooked as requested, medium-rare, and was a considerable sized slab. I was undecided about the braised shallots (although I left none behind), while the accompaniment of chips weren’t bad, but slightly overdone in my opinion. The quality of the steak nearly made up for this though.

The verdict:

Giaconda is unpretentious and has a charming and convivial atmosphere. It’s also a much more pleasant place to dine at than most other restaurants in Soho. The service was brisk, efficient and friendly (although Tracey appeared rather overworked at times). This generous lunch came to £32 without service charge, while the £1 cover charge per head included fresh bread, olives and unlimited carafes of sparkling water.

The food was interesting, as One Armed Chef menus go, and I look forward to returning to try the regular Two Armed Chef menu, so I reserve final judgement until then.

10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average

All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide

Contact details:
The Giaconda Dining Room
9 Denmark Street
London WC2H 8LS
Tel: 020 7240 3334
www.giacondadining.com

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Le Café Anglais is ex-Kensington Place chef Rowley Leigh’s new(ish) venture. It won London Restaurant of the Year and New Restaurant of the Year at the London Restaurant Awards a few days ago. As it’s had plenty of positive write-ups, I’d always intended to visit one day. After sampling their heavenly spit roast belly pork with lentils at Taste London, I finally went for dinner, with two foodie friends in tow. Both are seasoned travellers to France, and one a die-hard Kensington Place regular, so I knew I was in good company.

Entering from the main door on Porchester Gardens, it’s hard to believe that Le Café Anglais is in fact located inside Whiteleys shopping centre. At 7pm on a Friday evening, the restaurant was almost empty apart from a few diners. We had our very own attentive waiter to ourselves for almost an hour, and felt extremely pampered indeed. It wasn’t until around 8.30 or 9pm that it started to get busy, and even then, the noise was barely noticeable as it’s so airy and spacious inside.

We started off with bellinis, then moved on to the Saumur Champigny 2005 Domaine Le Petit Saint Vincent (£29.50), which one of my friends particularly likes. I know little about wine, but trusted his judgement. For me though, the food always takes priority. The three of us ended up ordering far too much food in our excitement at seeing the many choices on the menu. It’s fun to go wild once in a while though!

HORS D’OEUVRES (£3.00 each) in order of deliciousness, although they were all very good:

• Parmesan Custard and Anchovy Toast – I absolutely had to have this. I’ve read so much about this gem, and Niamh from Eat Like A Girl personally recommended it. This was moreish. The custard is served in a little cup and the toast cut into thin slices like soldiers. Dip and eat!

• Devilled Chicken Livers
• Oyster Fritters
• Kipper Paté and Soft Boiled Egg
• Mortadella with Celeriac Remoulade

FIRST COURSES:

• Pike Boudin with Fines Herbes and Beurre Blanc (£7.50)
• Warm Smoked Eel Salad with Bacon (£10.00)

These were both excellent choices, particularly the pike boudin. Comfort food at its best.

ROASTS:

Although there were some tempting fish options, it’s the roasts for which Le Café Anglais is famous. These are all prepared on the gigantic rotisserie at one end of the dining room. Two of us chose the suckling pig (£19.00), while the third had the daube of beef with red peppers and olives (£13.50), served with its own side of excellent mash. We also had sides of gratin dauphinois, ratatouille and mesclun, oil and lemon salad.

From what I tried of the beef, it was pretty good. But I was disappointed with my suckling pig. The skin was nice and crackly, but the meat was quite dry and ‘old’-tasting, rather than succulent and tender as I’d expected. I rarely leave food behind, but one of my friends had to finish it for me. In retrospect, the chicken would probably have been a better choice.

PUDDINGS: washed down with dessert wine (Monbazillac 2004 Domaine de l’Ancienne Cure)

• Champagne, Peach, Raspberry and Strawberry Jelly (£7.50) – Jelly seems to be on a lot of menus at the moment, and when it’s done well, it’s gorgeous. I can say that this was the best jelly I have ever had – refreshing, fruity and not too sweet

• Queen of Puddings (£5.00) – this looked rather spectacular when it arrived. I’d not heard of queen of puddings before, but it’s a traditional British pudding. Both my friends’ mothers used to make it for them at home, but their recollection of both ingredients and taste was at best hazy!

• Apricot and Almond Tart (£6.50) – confirmed as delicious by my friend

The must-haves in my opinion, based on this meal, are the Parmesan custard, pike boudin and the champagne jelly.

Dinner came to £200 for three people. It could be much, much less though. The menu allows for some creative ordering, so that you can spend as much or as little as you like. You could, for example, have two hors d’oeuvres (£6.00), followed by roast chicken leg (£4.50) with a side of gratin dauphinois (£4.00). With the £1.50 cover charge, which gets you bread, butter and radishes, this would take you to £16.00. Throw in a glass of wine at £2.50 and drink tap water (which they are very happy to serve you). This would be £18.50, excluding 12.% service charge.

Le Café Anglais provides a lovely, relaxed dining atmosphere where you can enjoy very good food and wine with friends. It could even make its way onto my shortlist of favourites if it’s not careful.

10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average

All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide

Contact details:
Le Café Anglais
8 Porchester Gardens
London W2 4DB
Tel: 020 7221 1415
info@lecafeanglais.co.uk
www.lecafeanglais.co.uk

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon has been on and off my restaurant wishlist ever since it opened in London. However, after going to Taste London in June and sampling their crispy langoustine fritter with basil pistou and baby beef and foie gras burger with lightly caramelised bell peppers, I was finally persuaded to make the journey (a mere five minute walk from work).

The set lunch menu is £25 for three courses, or £19 for two courses, which is quite reasonable in comparison to the standard menu prices. So this is what I and my dining companions set our sights on. A mention about my dining companions – the esteemed The Cockroach Catcher and his wife Bee Zhang, no less! I was very excited to be in their company, as they are well-travelled gourmets…

The restaurant (L’Atelier is on the ground floor, La Cuisine on the first floor, and Le Bar on the second floor ) was practically empty when we arrived at 1pm midweek, and in total, there were about ten diners for lunch. The interior is a sexy deep red and black, with the entire back wall covered with a thick green creeper.

You can sit at the eating counter where you can watch the food being prepared, or at tables perched on high stools. We were shown to a table near the back. A bit strange, considering there were just two people seated at the counter, that ‘L’Atelier is one of the most acclaimed restaurant concepts in the world, where the theatre of a top kitchen is brought directly to the diner‘, and that ‘the philosophy of the counter where you dine at L’Atelier is one of interactivity‘ (I quote from their blurb). Admittedly, it’s easier to have a conversation face to face rather than sitting next to each other…

Onto the more important matter of food. The set lunch menu (see their website) offers a choice of two starters and two mains, with either dessert or cheese of the day. Between the three of us, we managed to try one starter and both the mains, as well as the dessert.

• Oeuf frit aux mendiants et petite salade – deep fried hen egg served with dry fruits, pine kernel and salad. This was the star dish for me. The unusual combination of the egg (with a light outer crust yet still soft-boiled inside) with the dry fruits was sublime

• La truite de mer poêlee aux échalotes pomme purée à l’huile d’olive - pan fried sea trout with shallots, olive oil crushed potatoes. According to Bee Zhang, excellent

• L’agneau en gigot confit, haricots coco aux petits légumes – confit leg of lamb, coco beans. Beautifully presented, the lamb was meltingly tender. However, it was so incredibly salty. Luckily the blandness of the accompanying coco beans helped to balance it out a little

• chocolate fondant mousse with mint sorbet – even though I don’t usually like chocolate puddings, this was rather nice and not too rich. It was needed to compensate for the high salt intake!

The verdict?

Diners are made to feel welcome, even if they don’t order alcohol. The presentation of the food was faultless, and three out of the four dishes scored highly. The salty lamb however was a big negative. I would like to return though, to try some of the other small tasting dishes (the two dishes that I had at Taste London are on their Small Tasting Dishes menu).

Here’s a L’Atelier recipe from head chef Frederic Simonin that you might like, which is taken from the official Taste London book. I haven’t tried it yet, so I hope it makes sense!

Le torteau de crab (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 lime
• 1 banana shallot
• 500g beef tomatoes
• 2 avocados
• 3 gelatine leaves
• ½ bunch chives
• ½ bunch flat parsley
• ½ bunch coriander
• 20cl olive oil
• 150g white crab meat

Preparation:

Peel and dice the avocados. Blend them in a food processor with the lime juice until you get a smooth texture. Add the finely chopped shallot and serve into 4 glasses.

Blend the tomatoes in a food processor and strain them through muslin to retain only the juice. Add the gelatine and pour over the avocado in a thin layer.

Leave in fridge to set.

Chop herbs and mix them into the crab meat along with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place little mounds of crab meat over the tomato and avocado. Serve immediately.

10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average

All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide

Contact details:
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
13-15 West Street
London WC2H 9NE
Tel: 0207 010 8600
www.joel-robuchon.com

Opening Hours:
Lunch: 12pm-3pm
Dinner: 5.30pm-11pm

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Have you heard the news that back in 2004, Hilary Clinton beat John McCain in a vodka drinking contest at Gloria in Tallinn, Estonia? Gloria is one of my highest rated restaurants in the world. It’s an incredible experience, and I would fly to Tallinn just to eat at Gloria. My husband told me about the news item yesterday, and I’ve just noticed that I have had 2377 views today (rocketing upwards as I write), just for my Gloria review. The reason? Yesterday Ilta-Sanomat, Finland’s second largest newspaper, wrote about the story and linked to my review! But how embarrassing that my photos are so blurry for a review that has become rather newsworthy…surely this calls for an urgent trip to Gloria?!…

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

I don’t think many people remember Alan Yau’s short-lived Italian venture Anda. The food was delicious, albeit pricey, and perhaps the Baker Street location wasn’t right for it. It seems, however, to be working perfectly well for Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, the French restaurant that has taken over the site. Run by top chef brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin alongside sister restaurant Galvin at Windows at the Park Lane Hilton, this has received rave reviews ever since it opened in 2005. One of my colleagues eats here regularly and can’t stop talking about it, so I thought I’d meet an old friend here to see what all the fuss was about.

Deliberately turning up half an hour earlier than arranged, I took time to study the menu and take in the surroundings. It was still practically empty at 6, although the Prix Fixe diners were slowly starting to trickle in to take advantage of the £17.50 for 3 courses offer (which ends at 7pm). The interior was lovely dark wood, white tablecloths, leather banquette seating, waiters in classic uniform – perfectly traditional and yet contemporary at the same time. The service was wonderful too – polite and efficient. The manager and assistant manager were both doing the rounds and it was clearly a professionally run ship. By the time we left at 8.45, the restaurant was absolutely packed, and yet it was only Tuesday. The diners were a slightly older, well-off but unpretentious crowd, creating a relaxed yet buzzy ambience. The Galvin brothers must be doing something right that Alan Yau missed with Anda.

What we ordered:

I suppose I had better mention the food too. We decided to go for the Prix Fixe menu (also available at lunch for £15.50). Although there were two options for each course, my friend and I ended up having identical dishes – starter of parfait of chicken liver, main of bavette of beef, pommes Pont Neuf and sauce Bearnaise, and dessert of strawberry terrine. The chicken liver parfait was wonderfully creamy and moreish, but I couldn’t finish it as I wanted to leave room for the other courses. The beef came medium-rare, as the waiter pointed out that the rarer it was, the more tender it would be. To be honest, although it was delicious, I was expecting it to be more like butter, the way he had described it. Instead, it was slightly chewy at times. Dessert, however, was heavenly, with the thick cream perfectly complementing the sweetness of the strawberry. With half a bottle of Bordeaux (the Chateau Trebiac), the bill came to a very reasonable £65.

The verdict?

I now understand why Galvin is so popular. It’s down-to-earth and relaxed, the waiters are professional yet friendly, and the bistro food is simple but delicious. The a la carte selection is not that expensive either (under £10 for starters, under £20 for mains). I’m not the biggest fan of French food, but Galvin gets a big thumbs up from me. I now have the task of persuading my vegetarian husband to return with me.

10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average

All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide

Contact Details:
Galvin Bistrot de Luxe
66 Baker Street
London W1U 7DJ
Tel: 020 7935 4007
info@galvinuk.com
www.galvinuk.com

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

While researching Tallinn’s restaurant scene for a six day visit over Christmas, I came across Gloria, ‘one of the world’s top 100 restaurants’ according to Condé Nast Traveller. Open since 1937, various world leaders and even a Pope have dined here at this most exclusive of restaurants. Furthermore, it has a superb wine cellar, considered to be one of the best in the Baltic region.

Unsure as to whether I’d be able to reserve a table with only a few weeks’ notice, I emailed the restaurant, supplying all my dates in Tallinn, and fortunately managed to secure a table for two on the day after Boxing Day, which was also our last evening in Tallinn.

The setting was sumptuous art deco, and we were seated in one of about eight private ‘booths’ enveloped in plush red velvet curtain, which could have comfortably seated six people. It certainly transported us back in time to glamorous pre-war Old Europe. The service was excellent, although we had to wait quite a while for our courses because of a large party in another section of the restaurant. This gave us time to enjoy the experience however, and the food was well worth the wait.

I had a sensational starter of caviar and smoked salmon with blinis and a main course of some very tender, pink lamb chops, while my husband had a superb dish of grilled white fish. The red wine was wonderful, and after the meal, we went down to inspect the wine cellar (with around 2000 labels in stock), where people can also have a light meal.

The verdict?

The total bill for two dining à la carte, with three courses each, came to under £100.00. Considering that this was a once in a lifetime experience, and perfectly ordinary meals easily cost this much in cities like London and Paris, it was excellent value for money. Highly, highly recommended. I have given this 9.5 simply because of the long wait for the food. Otherwise this could have been a 10 – perfection.

Other restaurants in Tallinn that are good – Olde Hansa and Peppersack, both medieval themed.

10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average

All the Estonia restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide

Contact Details:
Gloria
2 Müürivahe
10146 Tallinn
Tel: +372 6446 950
gloria@gloria.ee
www.gloria.ee

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Open 24 hours, 7 days a week, Florent is a fabulous place to eat in New York when you’re hungry, particularly late at night or in the early hours of the morning after a spot of clubbing. Located in the über-trendy Meatpacking District, this is not at all pretentious or for people-watching, but a low-key diner serving reasonably priced French food. I remember being taken here for dinner the first time I visited New York in 1998 and loved it so much that I’d go back regularly with various friends when I moved there.

I’ve eaten all kinds of dishes at Florent, all very memorable, including steak frites, roast chicken and the Portobello mushroom burger, and really enjoyed being here for the ambience, the buzz of eating out in Manhattan in the early hours and for not feeling that you have to be anybody to eat here. It can get very busy, so book ahead if you can, and they only take cash, so don’t get caught out.

Other NYC favourites – Yakitori Taisho on St Mark’s Place and Dok Suni in the East Village.

10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average

All the New York restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide

Contact Details:
Florent
69 Gansevoort Street
Between Greenwich and Washington
New York, NY 10014
Tel: 212-989-5779
www.restaurantflorent.com

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide