Le Vacherin

Le Vacherin is a French bistro restaurant located in Chiswick, West London. This inviting bistro serves traditional french food in a lovely setting. I couldn't help but think how perfect the setting was for a romantic evening! But for me I was with a friend who recommended the restaurant to me as she had been before and really like the place, so I was excited to go and see for myself. The restaurant is extremely charming and has a really warm feeling from the moment you sit down.

For dinner we went for a three course set menu which was has plenty of options, to start I decided to try their twice baked gruyere cheese soufflé. This was a lovely dish and the rich cheese flavour was lovely, the soufflé was perfectly cooked and a great start to the meal.

Following this I chose their sea bass with shrimps, served with mashed potato. The fish had a crispy skin whilst the seabass remained delicate and perfectly moist. I also loved the rich jus that accompanied the dish which balanced the dish exceptionally well.

When it came to dessert amongst the choices was a chocolate fondant with amaretto ice-cream, and that was what I had to have. I have a real weakness for chocolate desserts and especially fondants! This fondant was heavenly and far from a disappointment, living up to my expectations for a great dessert.

And here's another picture so you can see the melted chocolate center: 

I would certainly come back to Le Vacherin when I'm in the mood for classic french food, the food is great and the service is also good. The food was faultless and full of flavour and good ingredients. The restaurant was filled and apparent that it must be a popular place to dine in Chiswick. It is clear a lot of effort and attention has been put into the dishes at Le Vacherin producing high quality, faultless dishes. 

I will certainly be recommending this place to others and be returning to try some more of their dishes in the near future. 

Tweet

Burger & Lobster - Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge 

One place that certainly gained a lot of attention last summer was Burger & Lobster a restaurant where they have gotten rid of the menu and just simply ask you if you would like a burger, lobster or a lobster roll. It's great to go somewhere and not have to trawl through the menu trying to decide what to have. It certainly is a simple concept but it really does seem to work and its nice to know what your in for. 

Now when it comes to burgers the most important things are that the beef is good quality, full of flavour and not dry, it was great that Burger & Lobster didn't disappoint to deliver a very good burger that lived up to my expectations. This place is far from fine dining but if your after a good burger I would highly recommend this place over other burger places. The service is fast which means you won't be there for long as it really is a fast pace place! 

I think for me the only thing that lets this place down is the chips. For me with such a simple concept I would of thought they would be able to produce some great freshly made ones which would make the place even better. But overall when I feel like going out for a burger I would definitely go back to Burger & Lobster

So heres what I had: 

Tweet

Dinner By Heston Blumenthal

In February I had the most fantastic meal at Dinner By Heston Blumenthal. Dinner is located in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Knightsbridge. Dinner opened in January 2011 and since then has been on my list of places to go to. Dinner was also awarded a Michelin star 9 months after opening. After being so looking forward to this fabulous dinner I was not disappointed in anyway. The food was perfection and full of flavour and there were a few twists along the way just as you would expect from Heston. Once at the restaurant the difficult part was deciding what to eat as everything on the menu looked great. But as usual I decided that I would go for things on the menu that I wouldn't normally have. So here is what i had to eat at Dinner:

To start I had the Savoury Porridge - Frog's legs, smoked beetroot, garlic, parsley & fennel

For the main course I had the Spiced Pigeon - Ale & artichokes 

Heston's Famous Triple cooked chips

For dessert I had the Taffety Tart - Apple, rose, fennel & vanilla ice cream 

Apres dessert - Chocolate ganache with a caraway biscuit

The only way to finish this meal was with a freshly made ice cream from the Nitro ice cream trolley

Once this meal ended I was a little sad to leave as the food and the atmosphere was so great. Not only this but the waiters were very attentive to our requests and were great at making sure everything was perfect. I would definately recommend Dinner to everyone and it is perfect for a number of different occasions.