Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Food: Lunch Pied à Terre

Welcome to Gary's guide to culinary delights in London and Europe. I have decided to rate and photograph most of the restaurants that I visit. I'll be using a scale is out of 5, with 5 being the best. The score will be based on the food that I order and will be adjusted according to price. I am not particularly influenced by the decor of a restraunt, nor the snobbiness of the waiters and as such, these facets will not be considered unless they truly stand out (i.e. super hot waitress or rat infested kitchens etc.).

Gary's Overall Rating Scale:
5 - the food is outstanding, one for special occassions
4 - the food was good and it is recommended.
3 - food is nice but you can do better
2 - the food is not very good but it is still edible
1 - don't bother

First restraunt off the rank is Pied à Terre. Given 2 stars by the Michelin guide, Pied à Terre had a lot to live up too. We chose the Lunch special, £25 for two courses, desert was an extra £10 or £5 depending on what you choose.

Pre Starter:
As with most of the starred restaurants, not only do you get a starter, you get a pre starter, which arrived on a oblong metal plate. The three pre starters where Foie Gras Crisps (this is really good), smoked trout (a bit sour and not that special) and pumpkin bun things (pretty ordinary).

Starter:
Terrine of Ham hock and Foie Gras with some other things that are French sounding. I should really write down the menu to avoid such rambling in future. A good dish, however one critism was that the Foie Gras was not as nice as the one inside the Foie Gras Crisps as it (the starter) seemed more buttery, but it was still a very nice way to start the meal.

Main:
Duck breast with pork underneath and some beetroot.
Calling this dish a main is like saying that Australia has a chance at the World Cup...way too optimistic. Anyway, size aside, it was a delicious dish with the flavours of the duck and beetroot going together quite well.

Pre Desert:
Yep,you get pre desert too. It was some rhubarb and panacotta thing which was rather nice.

Desert:
Rasberry sable with something lemon on the side (sorry, I will remember to write the menu down in future). Rather nice but with a hard biscuit base between the layers, it was very difficult to eat.

Overall, it gets a 4/5.