I visited La Petite Auberge recently in Upper Street Islington. They gave me a very nice table upstairs. There was no one upstairs apart from me, which I liked, but there were quite a lot of people downstairs. Upstairs I sat on a french-looking chair and looked at the french-looking, old walls with little, old, french paintings and stained glass windows.
A waiter came up with the A la Carte Menu. I chose snails with parsley, garlic and lemon zest for starters and whitebait for my main course. The snails cost £4.50, but the whitebait costs roughly 10 pounds. I chose lemonade to drink with it, which was about the same value as the snails!
The waiter came up again to take my order, a minute later my small glass of lemonade arrived and a few minutes after that my snails came too. There were six snails accompanied by some bread in a separate basket. The snails were kept in there shells, which is normal, but I like them underneath the shells already taken out, so that you don't have to take them out yourself. The snails tasted very nice with the strong garlic sauce. If you try you will just about taste the lemon zest giving it the extra flavour it needs. The texture was perfect, because it wasn't too squidgy. After I had finished the snails, I dipped the soft bread into the lovely garlic sauce.
After that the whitebait arrived. I was looking forward to the whitebait, but I was incredibly disappointed when I saw that it was covered with batter and there was half a plate full of salad next to it. The batter had taken away the salty flavour of the white bate and had replaced it with a bland flavour. However there was a large portion of it and it wasn't exactly inedible.
I think the whitebait did change my view on the restaurant and the whitebait and the lemonade were too expensive for what they were. However the service there was good, it was in a good location and the snails were of a high quality. Putting this all into consideration I will give the restaurant a 76/100.
Saturday 14 April 2012
Monday 2 April 2012
The Waterside Inn
It is my first review of a restaraunt in my blog, so I have decided to start my blog by reviewing a fantastic three michelin star restaurant. I have chosen the Waterside Inn.
It was created by the Roux family and has been passed on from Michelle Roux to his son Alain Roux. Now Alain Roux is still trying to carry on his father's legacy in the best possible way he can.
When I got there, a tall man parked the car that I was in, treating me as a member of royalty. I then walked into the comfortable reception where I waited a very short time until I was shown where I was to be seated and walked over to my table by a young waitress, who pulled out a chair for me to sit on. The room itself was stunning. I could look out at the view of the beautiful lake, while admiring the stylish chandeliers and old paintings. The cutlerry was set out very nicely in front of me, with two glasses on my right. There was a small wait for the menu. The kind waiter that greeted us offered us a set menu, which is cheaper, but I went for the full ala carte menu. I don't think that they would be so nice to me if I wasn't with my godmother who was Albert Roux's PM. However they were very kind to the adults in the big room with us.
It was a rather long wait for our starters. However when my foie gras came. It was probably the best thing I have ever tasted in my life. It was so succulent and tender, but it wouldn't of been as amazing if it wasn't accompanied by the perfect, sweet sauce that made it what it was. It would of been like Batman without his suit if it didn't have that well-balanced sauce to accompany it.
After that great starter, I had a main course of lobster. Once the waiters and waitresses walked to our table and showed us our meal. The smell of the lobster was wonderful. It was unlike anything I have ever smelt before. They had kept the shell of the lobster on top for presentation, but had separated the lobster from the shell, underneath the shell, so that I didn't have to experience that embarrassing moment when you don't really know how to use the tools to take out the lobster.
For dessert I enjoyed six mini puddings on one plate, including a small soufflé and a lovely creme caramel.
The restaurant was quite intimidating, because the waiters and waitresses were a bit too nice to us. They kept on staring at us to see if we were okay, but this made me feel slightly uncomfortable and the food was extremely expensive, especially if you of for the a la carte menu instead of the set menu. Despite this the restaurant was beautiful, even the toilets were impressive with the tasteful, marble floor. They gave me fantastic food and the restaurant is in a tremendous location with a beautiful view of the peaceful lake. I also like the history of the restaurant and knowing that the famous chef Alain Roux is somewhere in that kitchen preparing my food with the help of many other talented chefs. Therefore I will give this restaurant a score of 96/100.
It was created by the Roux family and has been passed on from Michelle Roux to his son Alain Roux. Now Alain Roux is still trying to carry on his father's legacy in the best possible way he can.
When I got there, a tall man parked the car that I was in, treating me as a member of royalty. I then walked into the comfortable reception where I waited a very short time until I was shown where I was to be seated and walked over to my table by a young waitress, who pulled out a chair for me to sit on. The room itself was stunning. I could look out at the view of the beautiful lake, while admiring the stylish chandeliers and old paintings. The cutlerry was set out very nicely in front of me, with two glasses on my right. There was a small wait for the menu. The kind waiter that greeted us offered us a set menu, which is cheaper, but I went for the full ala carte menu. I don't think that they would be so nice to me if I wasn't with my godmother who was Albert Roux's PM. However they were very kind to the adults in the big room with us.
It was a rather long wait for our starters. However when my foie gras came. It was probably the best thing I have ever tasted in my life. It was so succulent and tender, but it wouldn't of been as amazing if it wasn't accompanied by the perfect, sweet sauce that made it what it was. It would of been like Batman without his suit if it didn't have that well-balanced sauce to accompany it.
After that great starter, I had a main course of lobster. Once the waiters and waitresses walked to our table and showed us our meal. The smell of the lobster was wonderful. It was unlike anything I have ever smelt before. They had kept the shell of the lobster on top for presentation, but had separated the lobster from the shell, underneath the shell, so that I didn't have to experience that embarrassing moment when you don't really know how to use the tools to take out the lobster.
For dessert I enjoyed six mini puddings on one plate, including a small soufflé and a lovely creme caramel.
The restaurant was quite intimidating, because the waiters and waitresses were a bit too nice to us. They kept on staring at us to see if we were okay, but this made me feel slightly uncomfortable and the food was extremely expensive, especially if you of for the a la carte menu instead of the set menu. Despite this the restaurant was beautiful, even the toilets were impressive with the tasteful, marble floor. They gave me fantastic food and the restaurant is in a tremendous location with a beautiful view of the peaceful lake. I also like the history of the restaurant and knowing that the famous chef Alain Roux is somewhere in that kitchen preparing my food with the help of many other talented chefs. Therefore I will give this restaurant a score of 96/100.
Welcome to my blog
Hello my name is Matthew Davies. I am twelve years old and I am going to give you a guide of london's restaurants and cafes. I am secretly a food critic, I don't want the chefs and waiters to know that I am a food critic, otherwise they will act completely differently in front of me than others around me. So I will give the impression that I am just a young boy at their restaurant or cafe. I will try to give you a guide of places to eat from the McDonalds down the road to the 3 Michelin star restaurant you have dreamed of going to in the holidays. Enjoy!
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