Le Gavroche: A taste of excellent

Le Gavroche
43 Upper Brook Street
London W1K 7QR



Le Gavroche, a French restaurant in Mayfair, London (currently under Michel Roux Jr. stewardship) is one of London most influential and respectable restaurant. It was the first UK restaurant to receive a Michelin star in 1974, a second in 1977 and a third in 1982. The name Le Gavroche comes from the fictional character Gavroche in Les Misérables.



In 2008, Le Gavroche ranks number 22 in Restaurant (a British magazine) Top 50 restaurants in the world, based on the votes of 600 respected chefs, restaurateurs, critics and fun-loving gourmands.



The restaurant offers classical French food, although some dishes come with something of a modern twist. The Food is a work of art. Here are some of the excellent taste of food we recently had the opportunity to indulge in… (apologies for the poor photography skills this time)

Lobster mousse



The escargot



Watercress soup and duck egg wrapped with bacon.



Roast pork




Roast rabbit



Selection of French and British Farmhouse Cheese



Review:
1) Service is excellent!
2) Food is fantastic!
3) Best value set lunch in town!



Verdict: 9 out of 10 points.

Beachcomber Seafood Restaurant – Fresh fish but bad attitude

Kay and I were around Cutty Sark/ Greenwich, London recently and had fish and chips at Beachcomber Seafood Restaurant per our friend’s recommendation. The restaurant is a small but served fresh fish. I would have given the restaurant 9 out of 10 points for the great food. Unfortunately, it has people with ‘shitty’ attitude serving the customers.

Upon seated, we were asked to order our drinks, but no drinks menu was available for our selection. So Kay asked for ice-lemon tea and the waitress says “Sorry, we don’t serve that”. That doesn’t impress us – how would the customers know what drinks is available if we are not given a menu or a list?

Anyway, that was just half the story. The ‘shocking’ event came when the owner or manager or (basically someone that looks in charge) came over to our table filled with ‘wrath’ and ‘sarcasm’. Here is a simple sketch of what happened…














So, my verdict is 4 points out of 10 for the very reason of ‘no matter how good the food is, you will lose your appetite when the people who serve you has attitude problem’. That is unless you don’t mind the attitude – the food is ok.

Cantonese roast duck @ Gold Mine

Succulent roast duck on wanton noodle

Bayswater is an area of west London in the City of Westminster. It is one of London's most cosmopolitan areas and well-known for its concentration of great restaurant serving Cantonese roast duck. Here, you will find rows of roast duck hanging on the window of Chinese restaurant wanting a share of your money in exchange for delicious roast duck.

Rather than throwing out all the names of restaurant of the entire Cantonese roast duck industry, I will just focus with Gold Mine in this entry.

Gold Mine

Address: 102 Queensway W2 3RR

Tel: 020 7792 8331

Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 12N-11pm

Average price per person: £7 to £15

As what I’ve heard from friends, the head barbecue chef at Four Seasons (one of the few best rated places for roast duck) left and formed Gold Mine in 2007 and brought many of his regular customers with him. It has regular customers of mostly Singaporean and Malaysians. Whilst I don’t think the flow of business is as good as Four Seasons, the food quality is up to the excellent standard.

The restaurant’s Cantonese roast duck is succulent and the skin is crispy. The meat has a layer of fat under a crisp envelope of shiny skin – which makes the roast duck so juicy. Among my friends view, Gold Mine is rated as one of the best place to get roast duck.

On a personal note, its roast pork is also excellent, though at times it could be a little too salty.

On top of that, Gold Mine has a relatively standard selection of Chinese dishes and has notably my personally favorite, kangkong belacan (as of the date of this entry, Gold Mine is one of the few restaurant in London that serves a decent kangkong belacan that suits Malaysian’s taste).

Service is good and friendly. But don’t expect to sit and chat for long at the restaurant because the turnover is fairly high, so you are expected to pay and leave the table the soonest you’ve finished your meal.

Crispy roast pork

The score: 9 out of 10

Borough Market

I love Borough Market. If you like, it reminds me of ‘Pasar Malam’ – the only difference is it takes place during the day and minus the Ah Beng.

At Borough Market, there are people with real blond hair..not the fake wannabe blondie Si Ham Chai (Cockle Boy)

Borough Market is London’s oldest food market and located at the south bank of the Thames with the nearest tube station at London Bridge. Despite being a wholesale market, tourist like you and me are always welcomed. The market is opened between Thursday and Saturday.

Here’s some of my favourite stalls

Monmouth Coffee Company

If I dare say – it is one of the best coffee joints in town. There is always a long queue but the wait is worth it.

My favorite choice... ice capacino

You can either enjoy a coffee to go or simply bring home some fresh coffee beans. However coffee beans sold at the stall is limited If you want more selection, just visit the shop located just around the corner of Borough Market.

Raclette Cheese

Another personal favorite of mine is the Raclette Cheese stall. At the price of £5.00, you can get the taste of melted cheese with pickles and potatoes. Like Monmouth Coffee, there is always a long queue at the raclette cheese stalls.

The cheese is subject to intense heat...

Then the melted cheese are 'scrapped' into a plate of potatoes and pickles.

There are other food to go as well –

Enjoy smoked salmon with champagne

Or maybe some fresh oysters?

Wild boar sausages

There are other goodies as well you can indulge in.

Cheese

More cheese

Spices

Sea salt – great for cooking

Freshly baked bread

Stacks of chocolates

Fresh seafood anyone?

I have no idea what this is...

Or quench your thirst with some drinks

Other food available includes Bratwurst, roast pork sandwich, chicken wrap, venison sandwich and may more…

Need I say more?

Birthday Treat

I know it’s been a while but I just want to share the surprise birthday treat that Kay had prepared for me. If you are thinking about something kinky…wipe that thought away from your mind. Kay sort of prepared a 6-course dinner. The food is fantastic and I am really proud of Kay. In fact, Kay’s cooking skill has improved so much; she is basically responsible for all the cooking at home, while I sit and enjoy the television.

Anyway, here is the list of dishes she prepared for me.

We started with Caesar Salad

Mussels in White Wine

Pan-fried Scallops with Sweet Chili

Baked Salmon with Cheese

Eton Mess

And end with a Birthday Cake!

Greek Cuisine

Minimal seasoning, fresh food and original flavour. That is essentially the characteristic of Greek cuisine. Grilled to order seafood and meat, casseroles and mayirefta (oven-baked dish) are widely served in most of the Greek restaurants. In the usual fashion of Bob’s World, here is my take of Greek cuisine:-

Naousa Tavern

Naousa is located at Fira Town, Santorini. Whilst I disagree with Greece Lonely Planet (March 2006 Publication) comment that the food are reasonably priced, I do agree that the restaurant serve excellent food.

In every Greek meal, you will be served with bread together with butter/ virgin oil/ vinegar, which is a little bland if you ask me. I’ve decided to improvise by ordering baked feta cheese with salad to start my meal with the bread. Feta cheese is the national cheese of Greece. Feta cheeses are made from sheep’s and/or goat’s milk and most of this cheese comes from mountain area.

For the main course, I would recommend the lamb in lemon sauce. I think it’s casserole (looks like it, taste like it) with strong fresh lemon juice squeeze into the lamb. I think the meat was cooked over long hours and slow fire, which gives the lamb a tender characteristic. It goes really well with herb rice.

Otherwise, I would recommend alternative Greek specialties, mousaka, oven-baked beef with artichokes and aubergines dish which are prepared early in the day and left to cool to enhance the flavour.

Nikolas

On a budget? Not to worry. Nikolas serves good food and at a very reasonable price. The restaurant is located at Fira town, Santorini. However, do not expect to be given a menu, because there is none to start with. Just ask the waiter for some of the recommendation.

If you are too shy to ask, the I would recommend the beef stew with onions.

Or you could go for the grilled calamari with lemon sauce.

The portions are fairly small, so you might want to order some bread to go with your meal.

Palia Taverna tou Psara

Moving over to Athens, I would recommend you to go to Palia Taverna tou Psara, located at the slope of Plaka. Prices, however, are on the high side with an average of €25 per person. But you can have a nice candle light dinner outside the restaurant while enjoying the breezy atmosphere.

To start your meal, order some bread and ask for tzatziki (made of yoghurt with cucumbers, garlic, vinegar and olive oil. It tastes really good with a little spicy blend (due to the garlic) and sour taste to open your appetite.

Another recommended starter is the aubergine croquettes.

Grilled seafood is one of the maid cuisine in Greece. I would recommend you to go for the grilled octopus. Grilled over a barbeque stove with only salt, the dish offer fresh and original flavour of the octopus. Squeeze some lemon onto the dish just to give a little sweet and sour taste.

Kay had the grilled squid with cheese. Cheese is stuffed into the squid and is grilled over the barbeque stove with salt. Watch the melted cheese flows out as you cut the squid. Goes well with lemon as well.

Thanasis

One of the few great souvlaki (meat on skewers just like kebab) can be found at Thanasis at Monastiraki (near the entrance to the lower level of Acropolis, where the agora is located). The take-away price cost €1.70 and there are scores of tourist queuing for it. To dine in might cost you around €7 but you will be offered a huge plate of meat with pita bread, grilled tomatoes and onions.