Lantana Cafe

13 Charlotte Place, London W1T 19N, 020-7637-3347



Photo by Suzie Blake

If you're looking for a nice weekend brunch, or an inexpensive and healthy lunch, I recommend Lantana as the place. It's small, not so quiet, and can get very busy during meal-times so arrive early. Their menu veers on slightly exotic versions of everyday dishes -- toasted banana bread with rhubarb berry compote and greek yoghurt, for example, or coconut poached chicken salad with mango and avocado salsa and Nam Jim dressing. The quality, in my experience, is also very good, so you can trust that your dishes will be well-made, and well-eaten on the wooden tables arranged with photograph-lined walls for a trendy ambiance. The prices are not too high (you can get a decent meal for 10-15 pounds) so what is stopping you from checking out this place just off the bustling Charlotte Street? (I might add that when I went there for brunch, I sipped on one of the most enjoyable lattes I had ever tasted in London.) Also, take-away has been started for the busy times, so if it's a beautiful day and you fancy a picnic in Regent's Park which is not too far away, Lantana is your place!

Cafe Seventy Nine

79 Regents Park Road, London, NW1 8UY, 020-7586 8012


* Image by Jimmy Kyriacou: http://www.inprimrosehill.com/

After living in London for nine months, I have to admit to falling very hard for the tradition of afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream. Luckily, a good friend recommended to me the absolute best place in all of London for homemade scones served so hot that they melt with the cream in your mouth. This tearoom also doubles as a cafe, and though I did not try the lunch or dinner dishes, the reviews look good. The staff was friendly in personable, the atmosphere cozy.

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Dehesa

25 Ganton Street London W1F 9BP -- 020 7494 4170


Really, if I'd been giving a short review on all the wonderful restaurants Simon and I have been to recently, this blog would be quite a bit more complete than it is!

Well, I'll have to start somewhere, so I might as well start at the end (yes, that's how things work in my brain)...the end being our most recent fine-dining experience at a Charcuterie and Tapas Bar which we stumbled upon in London on Saturday night.

Located just off of the hip and busy Regents street, in the back streets which seem to have just as many hip and busy night clubs and bars, this warm, wood-furnished, low-lit tapas bar is a little out of place as it seems to cater to a quieter, food-loving crowd. The cooking is truly superb for the price. We ordered tapas which offered flavors that brought us directly to Spain and Italy: the Chargrilled Octopus with Smoked Potato Puree and Pepperonata and the Roast Sea Bass with Braised Root Vegetables, Raisins, Pine Nuts and Gremolata were our favorite tapas. But don't expect to find those there when you go! The paper menus indicate that, like all my favorite restaurants in France, the menu is changed consistently, offering all clients an unique experience. I sipped a white peach bellini, while Simon enjoyed his usual red wine. We finished with Three Hard Italian Cheeses with Truffle Honey (I think I enjoy the French cheeses I've tasted more on an individual level, but the mix of cheese and honey together was exciting enough on its own, let alone the fact that you could taste the contrast of sweet and "earthy" in the Truffle Honey.)

Honestly, this type of cooking is what makes me want to abandon everything and travel to find each dish at its source. I would love to see how the octopus is captured and where the honey bees and truffles are harvested. Why not go all out, and learn as much as there is to know about the culinary arts? We all have to eat, don't we?

In the meantime, why not check out their website? They even have a recipe of the month which I'm already dying to try.

xo

Le Valmont

20 Rue Pain 78000 Versailles -- 01 39 51 39 00



This was a restaurant experience from more than a year ago (22 May 2010) but the taste of my first escargot is still with me.

It was May in Paris, the first time I realized how much I could come to love this city, how I would long to learn its secrets. With the passage of time I have come to learn a few things, one of them being that as soon as you leave Paris, everything becomes so much less expensive, even in Versailles, one of the wealthy suburbs. Go there if you want to have a nice meal for the best deal (and go for lunch for even less!)

Well, after my first visit the Chateau, we decided after much deliberation that we would stay in Versailles for dinner. A nice meal is not something to be taken lightly, so we wandered the quiet back streets for the gems of the area, to find the places that only the locals know about. This restaurant is not exactly in the back streets, but rather in an open pedestrian square near many other places. But it is certainly the only place that advertises itself on having authentic French food, as one can see from the website: www.restaurant-traditionnel-versailles.com.

I absolutely will not forget the flavors of my first French traditional dining experience. Escargot in garlic and parsley butter served in the shells with the little spoon for digging them out-- there are no words. I can't remember what my main dish was, just that the dessert was something chocolate; nor can I remember what Simon ordered, nor do I recall which wine we drank (Simon if you remember any of this, please email me :-) But I can remember the place, and those lovely little snails. It was all unforgettable.

They seem to have changed the menu now, but I'm sure everything is just as tender, elegantly placed and well-served as it was last May. If you make the trip out to Versailles, why not complete the picture (not in a tourism way, but the whole French history picture)....why not experience the wonders of fine French dining in this historic place?

I can't help but complete this post with a note about where we went for drinks while waiting for our train back to Paris. With 3-4 Euro margaritas during happy hour, it doesn't get much cheaper (or more of a contrast to French Traditional) that that! It's a stylish Tex-Mex chain called El Rancho I'm happy to know that I've found my "Tex-Mex-away-from-home", if I ever need some comfort food while in Paris :) But with lovely French cuisine, it's hardly likely I'll need any of that, right?

xo

Monmouth Coffee Co.

27 Monmouth Street, London WC2H 9EU 020 7645 3560


This is my new favorite place in London, located in my new favorite area of London, Seven Dials. Not only are their pastries light (and to die for!) their coffee is not over roasted and tastes heavenly. For my French readers, this place might seem like your corner Boulangerie but for me it's a god-send on the little Island that is the UK. If you look hard enough, you can find the best culture around in London, but you have to be willing to look in all the wrong places.

Interestingly enough, Monmouth Coffee specializes in coffee, and coffee only! Imagine that! They serve many types of filter coffee, but their lattes and cappuccinos come with one type of milk: Organic whole. You're lucky to get a table at this tiny little gem, and if you do, you're likely to be sharing it with some unknown other customer. But why not try to make friends over a cup of their addictive coffee? (addictive: I went there three days in a row last week, and would have gone a fourth day, but they're closed on Sundays.)



Check out their website for more information on what they do.

The London Academy of Bartenders*

12 Old Compton Street, Soho, London, W1D 4TQ 0207 437 7820



Upon entering this place it just looks like another run-of-the-mill bar that serves watery cocktails while customers yell into each others ears in an attempt at conversation.

BUT....

It's really not one of those places. Look a little closer. Well really, all you have to do is see the menu to notice that this bar is far from average. And once you see the concoctions that the bartenders make, you're sold.

Simon and I sat at the bar for literally hours this past Saturday night. We tasted everything possible. From Tiramisu, to Red Hot Chilli Pepper to Pickle ma Ginger Cocktails -- one of my favorites, the Patatina, has balsamic vinegar in it. The fruit is fresh, and every cocktail is made like a piece of art by bartenders who don't stop for a second to look at a recipe (and there's nowhere that they'd rather be!**) Our bartender was Italian, hailing from Naples, and gave us bits of drinks when he over-made the recipe (which was once the entire night!) He enjoyed engaging in conversation, without even blinking an eye while we both watched in awe at the pretty fruit arrangements, or cinnamon designs on the tops of different drinks. He was the performer, we were the spectators, and both parties enjoyed it immensely. I did see him slip an egg yoke into a drink one time...but I didn't dare ask.

A scanned copy of the entire menu is available on their website. But I'd hardly be able to recreate any of their drinks just from a list of ingredients! TimeOut London calls it "The Best Bar on Earth." It may very well be. Only problem is, I probably won't bother with another badly-made cocktail in my life. If you're going to drink, do it right.

For more information, click here

PS, my first visit actually happened a few weeks ago, when my "Wellesley in London" group of friends took an outing together. Our night was lovely. I would have written weeks ago, but the moment I saw the menu, I knew Simon would love it and kept it as a secret surprise. The cats out of the bag now, so go get yourself a drink!


*Formerly known as Lab

**Lyrics from the Piano Man by Billy Joel

Milk Bar

3-5 Bateman Street, London W1D 4AG -- 020 7287 4796



Milk bar (which in Australia is the name for a local grocery store), is another fabulous London coffee house, located in Soho, London. Above: Affogato (which my friend Laura swears she's never seen outside of Italy, and she's part Italian...) Macchiato (it was made with a sweet-tasting espresso, so unlike all of our run-the-mill chain coffee shops!), Brownie and Ginger/Lemon bar. Are you drooling yet? And look at those plates! On top of the quality (though fairly expensive) menu, is a minimalist, spacious but rather dark room, with a unique, and trendy/hippie clientele. I like this place. I would go back to do my readings, but it's just a bit too busy. And no wonder!

Le Bistrot d'Henri

16 Rue Princesse 75006 Paris - 01 46 33 51 12


This restaurant epitomizes what I love about Paris: it is small, uniquely designed and the dishes of the day are written on a black board. As with any real French bistrot, you can be sure that your food is made fresh to order. In the backstreets of the 6th arrondissement, one could easily pass it by as just another stop, but the real Parisian would spot it instantly as a small gem hidden from all but the knowing eye (we only happened to stumble upon it as it was one of the only restaurants open on Christmas Eve!). When we entered, not a word of English could be heard (though the Zagat ratings on the outside indicated that it is frequented by the judicious tourists). We drank two bottles of some Côtes du Rhône wine, that accompanied dishes of confit de canard, lamb chops with thyme as well as risotto and scallops. I enjoyed every bit of it, but then again, as I said, this is the Paris I've had the privilege of getting to know. This is the Paris I love.



If you zoom in on the following picture, you can see the dishes of the day.



Go, and enjoy the pleasures of real (and affordable) French cuisine.