Le Cafe Anglais
Above: Le Cafe Anglais
This new brasserie within Whiteleys shopping centre is an ambitious opening. Bayswater isn’t exactly a gourmet destination and this large, simply decorated art deco space needs a lot of diners to achieve the right buzz. But if anyone can pull it off it’s chef/co-proprietor Rowley Leigh, whose former establishment, Kensington Place – now operated by D&D London (ex-Conran Restaurants) – played an integral part in the 1990s modern British restaurant ‘revolution’ and has continued to draw hordes of fans ever since.
His latest venture is modelled on, and named after, a Parisian brasserie, but the lengthy menu also hints back at the KP days – smoked eel salad with bacon, say – while extending to classic hits from Spain and Italy.
At the heart of the operation is an open kitchen with a giant rotisserie, in which anything from chicken and steaks to game birds and lobster are grilled to perfection.
We ordered roast leg of chicken, which may have been the simplest (and least expensive) item on the menu, but proved to be among the tastiest birds we’ve ever encountered in a London restaurant: crisp-skinned, moist of flesh and subtly scented with garlic and thyme.
Another menu highlight was the tempting hors d’oeuvres section, where delicious nibbles such as duck rilettes, pâté and pimientos padron (roast Spanish peppers) are offered in singles or threes, the latter just about eliminating the need for starters (though we happily tucked into these too, as there simply wasn’t any point even trying to resist with carpaccio with white truffles).
Meals are brought to a sweet close with accurate renditions of classic desserts (our crème caramel was delicious) and everything is easily matched to a classy European wine selection, in which many bins are available by the carafe and glass. Lunches are a bargain.
by Annica Wainwright, an editor at Square Meal
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