LE CAFÉ ANGLAIS: A WALK IN THE PARK

Right. So what can I have a whinge about today eh? Nothing really. I just wanted to reiterate why I think lunch, particularly the Saturday variety, is my favourite time to eat food. And get slowly sozzled. The atmosphere is more relaxed and you can usually spin it out for a good few hours (unless you’re at The River Café, that is, which tries to cram ‘em in). Which is what I did the other day at Le Café Anglais.

Specifically, my visit was to check out LCA’s new Oyster Bar. They’ve taken out a big wodge of seating and put in an oval bar and some small tables, presumably to encourage people to come in for breakfast, a snack, whatever. To be honest the Oyster bar lacks the impact of, say, a Bentley’s or a J Sheekey’s. There’s a chef behind the counter prepping the cold dishes and opening the Oysters but it could do with a display of the shellfishy treats and a dedicated Oyster opener.

The restaurant itself seems a bit adrift in a mall that has seen better days and was never more than half full during the time I was there. Still, that’s not something to bother moi and the atmosphere was pleasantly relaxed – which pretty much suits a Saturday lunch.

(Incidentally, there were plenty of families when I was there but in every case the children were sitting down and sharing a meal with their parents, NOT left to wander off and amuse themselves whilst Mummy and Daddy had a drink. Tellingly, I don’t think these families were English).

Once the Native Oyster season has arrived I always think of it as my duty as a good Brit to eat as many of these great bivalves as I can. A dozen Maldon Natives hit the spot although I never seem to get as much liquor with this variety as with others. Kumamotos were very briny with a long lasting taste but maybe not as subtle as the natives. Maldon Rocks were a little disappointing and very watery. No matter, there was more to come.

Dill Herrings, a brief Madeleine moment of my Summer trip to Stockholm, had a sympathetic cure for the fish although seeing the rye bread taken from packets of the same brand that I buy from Waitrose was a bit of a let down (decent though it is).

The food monster within me had been now aroused and it had to be fed. Skirt Steak (Bavette) came as four bloody chunks and was full of good beefy flavour. A Béarnaise was textbook as were a bowl of hot, crisp frites.

Three scoops of Ice Cream were excellent and what a nice change it was to have real Ice Cream instead of gelato which seems to be so ubiquitous and popular in London these days. I also got a wafer which is always a bonus (such is the paucity of excitement in my life these days).

As a coda chatting to the friendly staff whilst working my way through a half bottle of Jura was pretty good as codas go. As was a stroll through Kensington Gardens in the light of the fading Winter sun. Not to get too maudlin on your collective asses but if this was my last day on Earth it wouldn’t be a bad one as last days go. As a Saturday it would be difficult to better.

LE CAFE ANGLAIS: GOOD GAME, GOOD GAME

On our recent visit to Something Fishy HS pointed out that it didn’t smell right. Having been brought up in the Sixties when most chippies used Beef Dripping as the frying medium, a place that doesn’t have that instantly recognisable smell will not engage us on a more visceral level.

This will always be the case no matter how good the finished product and despite the fact that I actually prefer a lighter oil so that I can taste the fish. Walking past The Fryer’s Delight in Holborn, however, will take us back to a place with steamed up windows, an impossibly high counter and newspaper cones heaped high with Fish and Chips and the smell of frying mixed with non-brewed condiment. Such is the emotional resonance of olfaction.

I had another such souvenir involontaire last week at Le Café Anglais in Queensway. The whiff of cloves from the bowl of Bread Sauce accompanying my Roast Grouse took me back to Sunday Dinner at our Nana’s. Her bread sauce was great - all thick and creamy. Rowley Leigh’s version was pretty good too: a bit looser, a bit more refined. Not bad – just different.

The Grouse – this was the day after the Glorious Twelfth, the start of the shooting season – was predictably lovely. The young bird had a sweetness to the flesh that you lose with long hanging and yet there’s still a gamey quality that adds complexity and hints at the coming Autumn (can’t wait).

I believe that if animals are going to get slaughtered on my behalf then I should at least try eat as much of them as possible. As a consequence there wasn’t a great deal of my Grouse left. The FOH said it was the best effort she’d seen so far. Bet she says that to all the patrons.

With a bird as good as this there’s no need to gussy things up so all it needed were the classic accompaniments which were all present and correct. A pile of Game Chips were light and crisp and grease-free. There was the Bread Sauce of course, a small bunch of Watercress and a light gravy to keep it all moist, although the latter wasn’t really necessary as the bird was cooked perfectly.

As on my first vist , almost two years ago, starters were a bit of a mixed bag. Salsify was covered in a thick batter that masked its flavour. They tasted like Churros which might have been down to using the same oil that the Chips were cooked in. Not a bad thing in itself but wrong in this context. Compare with the light, oil-free version from that first visit.

Parmesan Cream is a great Hors D’Oeuvre although the Anchovy Toasts always seem a bit, well, crude next to the pot of elegant Cheesy Cream. It’s less than a fiver though so I’m obviously just being my curmudgeonly self. Half a dozen plump and briny Oysters were as good as you’re going to get of the Rock variety.

Those Fritters sans Salsify with a pot of Hot Chocolate would make a good if filling dessert but in their absence I had to settle for the excellent Ice Cream, the Coffee variety being particularly nice. I got two (count ‘em) wafers and the hot chocolate was probably unnecessary but, er, glorious.

You can currently get Grouse at several several London restaurants including the venerable Rules and at the French restaurant Racine whose versions I’m sure will be impeccable. But for eating it in one of London's nicest rooms and with good service and a great atmosphere to boot it's hard to beat Le Cafe Anglais. The Bread Sauce may not be as memorable as my Nan’s but then nothing ever will be.

LE CAFÉ ANGLAIS

Roll your cart back up the aisle
Kiss the checkout girls goodbye

Foodie things I’ve never done, Number One in a list of thousands: I’ve never been to KP (or Kensington Place as civilians know it). Strange really as during its heyday in the late late eighties and early early nineties I use to live not far away and used to walk past it every day. Fast forward almost twenty years and I’ve now rectified this gap in my restaurant CV and a chance to see what Chef Rowley Leigh’s cooking er…chops are like by visiting the latest London restaurant opening Le Café Anglais.

Whiteleys in Bayswater was London’s first departure store in the 19th century. It closed in the early eighties and re-opened as a shopping centre in the late eighties. I particularly remember the large Tower Records store where I spent a large amount of money on the enormo box set that is the Keith Jarret Sun Bear Concerts (well I liked it) which was promptly stolen when I’d only reached disc number 11. This was my first visit for years and it seemed well, not exactly run down but very quiet with numerous concessions not taken up. A place in decline ? It’s rather incongruous then to find a large upmarket restaurant in among the chains eateries with a smattering of mallrats and Bayswater hoodies loitering outside.

I was a littler early for my res so I had a cocktail at All Star Lanes a new bowling alley just outside Whiteleys. If you can ignore the brain-dead and surly staff, the shrieks of hen parties and the garish décor that will be dated by tomorrow you’ll get an ok cocktail or more interestingly one of a large list of American Whiskeys although to be honest you’d be better off (financially and spiritually) giving this place a miss and taking a large glug of cold gin before you leave home.

Ignoring the bizarre Gilgamesh I don’t think I’ve seen such a big restaurant for some time. There must be almost 200 covers. It’s also very attractive - all art deco and cream upholstery. The pass and kitchen are open for all to see and there is a big vertical grill on show. Nice.

The menu is pretty good too – it looks like Rowley Leigh has made a list of every one of his favouritest dishes and put them on a menu. There’s Hors D’Ouevres (when was the last time you saw that on a menu). Starters proper like Oysters, Fonduta, Pike Boudin, Crab Spaghetti, Omelettes, Consommé. Main course Fish, Roasts, a decent selection of Game, Cheeses etc. etc. Even with 50% reduction there’s more on the menu than even a Hermano could manage.

Of my trio of HDs the star dish was the Salsify Fritters. The slightly al dente Salsify came cocooned in a light and crisp tempura-like cover. It came with a little unassertive aioli dip. The eggs in my Oeuf en Gelee and Kipper Pate were both cooked perfectly but unfortunately a bit before service. So they had a nice runny yolk and a firm white. But they were cold. As was the Kipper Pate which tasted better once chambred.

The Pike Boudin which came next should have been another star dish but didn’t taste much of the advertised fish. The texture was ok: nice and light but there was an unpleasant tough brown membrane on the base where the sausage had been baked. The Beurre Blanc could have been a bit richer as well. A bit of a disappointment but then I suppose that’s what soft opening are about.

Having had some good Grouse at Patterson’s a week ago I was in the mood for some more. This one came as the whole roasted (pink going on rare) bird with Bread Sauce, Game Chips and a little pot of gravy. The restaurant’s order of sharp knives hadn’t arrived so I struggled with my bird for a bit (a pretty frequent problem) before sending it back to be carved properly. Once the fowl had been dismembered this dish was spot-on. The Grouse had been properly hung - about a week which, for me, is just enough so that the taste of the flesh isn’t overpowered. The bread sauce was smooth and nicely clovey and Mr Leigh obviously had me down as some sort of lardy given the two bowls of crisp Game Chips I got. Dear reader, I failed to finish the lot.
Oh I also had some Ceps Bordelaise which were a bit lacking in the taste department.

The ice cream should have been a lot better.

Despite my misgivings about the food and the slightly uneven service I really enjoyed myself. There was a sense of occasion about my meal there which I didn’t get at some of the recent and more food-focused restaurant openings. The errors with the food should be straightforward to remedy and the large number of covers should make it easier to get a reservation. Of course once the food prices double the hitches will need to be ironed out tout de suite if Le Café Anglais is not going to end up going the way of Whiteleys and ending up a big fat White Elephant.