The Square, London 2*

Last Monday myself and a colleague from work booked a table at Phil Howards 2star  The Square in Mayfair after the strong recommendation of the restaurant manager at work who booked us the table, having previously worked there.

When we arrived chef Phil Howard was outside having a photo shoot and was greeting the guests as they arrived.

We were seated and presented with the menu, there was the option of the reasonably priced set menu of the more pricey a la carte menu...we both opted to go for the a la carte!!

We placed our order and were looking forward to the meal, the sommelier came over and and talked to us about our food choices and what he thought would be the outstanding matches to go with theses dishes, I'm not much of a wine conisure so went with his choices...this proved to be a good decision.

Anyway to the food. As the restaurant we both work in has strong times to this we were treated extremely well, you could say even spoilt! We were both given a pre starter of langoustine tails with Parmesan gnocci and truffle, this is considered one of the best dishes in London along with two others also at the square! we were in for a treat!

 The only thing that can be said for this is outstanding, a truly amazing dish I could eat this all day!

Now it was time for our starters I went for the famous Dorset crab lasagna with a cappuccino foam of shellfish and champagne! The Lasagna was layers of beautiful meaty crab and soft pasta. the cappuccino was rich and full of flavour...delicious.

My colleague ordered the winning dish from Great British Menu which was a tasting of mackerel with oysters and caviar. the smoked mackerel was served under a glass dish the billowed smoke when removed...a real show, and the dish was pretty good too!

Crab Lasagna with shellfish and champagne foam

Tasting of Mackerel with oysters and caviar

We next received a fish course of cod with a cauliflower pure, cobnut and truffle pesto and grilled potato. This was a simple dish that was executed perfectly with the components of the dish left to talk for themselves. It was so light and perfect for the rare baking hot day we were enduring.

For our main course we had both ordered the saddle of Lamb with a herb crust, olive gnocci and tomatoes. The lamb was perfectly pink and tender, the gnocci beautifully plump...delicious.

We had a pre-dessert served in a shot glass of poached white peaches and yogurt sorbet. This was served with a complimentary glass of sweet wine.

For dessert we went for the Brillat-Savarin cheese cake with a red current glaze and raspberry ripple ice cream which is a traditional Square dessert always featuring on the menu with the fruit of the season.

Dinner was finished with beautiful home made nougat as petit fours, we got two helpings, much to my delight!!!

The Square is by far the best restaurant I've ever had the pleasure of eating in and well worth the hit to the pocket. I would highly recommend everyone to go, the atmosphere is relaxed, the service friendly and extremely knowledgeable and the food impeccable.

Visit the website and see for yourslef at http://www.squarerestaurant.com/Home.aspx

Christian Etienne, Avignon

Christian Etienne is situated next door to the Palais des Papes and was built in 1180! We were seated in the outside seating area under a glass rough with a view of the square. The glass covered dining area was decorated with hundreds of plants which at closer inspection turned out to be all the herbs and vegetables used on the menu with aubergines, chilli and bell peppers amongst them. 

 Owner Christian Etienne pays homage to his native Provence's abundance and offers an array of high-quality dishes that change with the seasons. The fixed-price menus change seasonally and  focus on different themes, including one devoted entirely to lobster. In summer, the "tomato" menu is also on offer, while in winter you might find the "truffle" menu, which features the region's black diamond, truffles. There is an extensive wine list, which contains many Côtes du Rhône wines.

Watermelon with Dried olive and cucumber gazpacho

Tomato and olive bread with a basil and anchovy butter

We opted for different menus as I eat more because I'm a bit of a fatty.

Laura had the lunch menu with Squid with a chilli jelly..her favourite course of the meal.

My starter was a delicious but quite random with a foie gras and absinthe terrine with a cold creamed courgette soup, courgette ribbons and a courgette chutney.

My second course was a fillet of John Dory with sage, artichoke, tomato confit, spring onion and pine nuts.

This was a delicious course the fish was perfectly cooked and the sauce so rich and creamy, I really enjoyed this, probably the course of the meal.

The mains arrived and Laura had duck breast with a courgette tart, there was no sauce which was strange and a mistake as it was dry and rather bland the tart was however nice.

My main course was braised bull with fennel and a red wine sauce, I also found my main a touch bland but the shaved fennel was nice and fresh.

My main was followed by the cheese board I had a selection of goats cheeses with honey which were nice and the recommended honey was a perfect match.

The Cheeseboard

Pre-Dessert was a delicious blueberry tart with blueberry sorbet, almond tuille with a blueberry rice pudding. This was surprisingly pretty amazing, I'm not normally a fan of either rice pudding or fruit tarts but this was gooood!!

My main dessert was a trio of chocolate with milk chocolate sorbet, dark chocolate mouse and white chocolate meringue. This was delicious, the mouse was so rich and light, it was delicious.

  

 

 

Laura was served a fruit salad with mango sorbet, the fruit salad was nice but nothing exceptional as you would expect from a 1* but the sorbet was delicious and the Swiss roll a nice touch.

Petite fours were however really nice with a pistachio and raspberry macaroon which was immense and mini Madeline.

In all I really enjoyed my meal at christian Etienne, and liked the fact that the man himself came out and talked to all the tables, our conversation was short due to his lack of English and our lack of French but still a nice gesture. 

The food was awesome and the ingredient and flavour combinations regional. Highly recommended.

Keisuke Matsushima, Nice

Recently went to France for the first time (other than Disney land!) and I have to say the food was incredible! Everything ranging from the supermarket to the markets and restaurants. Its clear that food remains an integral part in peoples lives with people buying their bread fresh everyday from the small local bakers and their fruit and veg in the supermarkets which are huge and full of things your local ASDA wouldn't even have heard of let alone stock!

When dining out its a real experience and something that's not rushed, you eat out to enjoy the atmosphere, the food, the wine and the company your with, its a pleasure!

Laura and I went to Paris, then to Nice and then to Avignon for two weeks.

In Nice we went to the 1* Keisuke Matsushima and had the special lunch menu which was unbelievable value at 33euros per person for 3 courses, a glass of wine and a coffee.

 Anyway to the food, when we arrived we were seated and immediately presented with our amuse bouches of a cherry tomato with a sugar shell which provided an interesting texture with the crunchy sweet outside to the slightly bitter soft centre of the tomato.

For starter I went for a crunchy vegetable salad with an olive tapenade dressing, It was nice but nothing really spectacular although the dressing was good, nice strong garlic taste.

Laura had a nice grilled sardine and cous cous which she loved.

 Due to the french menu we we a tad unsure on the option we opted for the one dish we understood (much to Lauras disgust) which was Rabbit with soft polenta. I can honestly say it was the best main course of the holiday, the rabbit was so moist and perfectly cooked and the polenta smooth and full of flavour...Laura felt dirty but she says this is her fave restaurant of the holiday! high praise from someone who used to keep guinea pigs!

The desert options were slightly disappointing with only a fruit salad being offered or a cheese board so with both of us being fans of cheese that's what we opted for.

The cheeses were really nice and and the breads were really fresh and on constant offer ( I think we ate 5 each :s) i Particularly liked the anchovy roll whilst Lau liked the foccacia twist.

Laura being the coffee expert said it was one of the best of the holiday...they like it too strong over there!!!

In all the meal was really nice, the staff friendly and the restaurant small and quiet. The Rabbit was a real high point and for the price a real bargain.