London's best review, food and drink news
By Jenni Muir
Gushing praise from the Evening Standard. Showcased in the Financial Times. Rowley Leigh's Le Café Anglais has immediately become the hot place in town, and as hard to book as the Ivy/ Caprice-type stalwarts it seeks to emulate - unless you want to come for midday, midweek lunch. It's like 1990s Quaglino's fever all over again, only less exciting.
The décor makes Conran's most restrained efforts look flashy too. If the point was to make Le Café Anglais look as though it had always sat on the second floor of dreary Whiteleys shopping centre, then they've nearly got it right. A nice leadlight frontage almost obscures the Fresco juice bar outside, and if you want to pretend you're not eating in a shopping centre, you can enter via a dedicated door on Porchester Gardens.
On the plus side - the menu's damn appealing. If preferred, you can skip the eighteen-or-so first courses in favour of hors d'oeuvres at £3 a pop. Creamy parmesan custard with anchovy toasts was the must-have; as were the salsify fritters with mayonnaise for dipping, but the kipper pâté was fridge-cold even after a lengthy spell on the table.
Main course options include plenty of fish and game - on our visit, the rarely seen teal, as wild duck is currently in season. We opted to share half a roast chicken with whole cloves of garlic. It was beautifully cooked and served but the strong scent of lemon thyme was more perfumery than potager.
There's plenty of fun to be had on the desserts list, including old-school sundaes and sherry trifle. Opinions were divided on the bitter chocolate soufflé - although perfectly gooey at centre, it was not as dark as some might prefer. Cheese lovers won't be disappointed with the choice of British and French specimens and tasty accompaniments.
The friendly, intelligent staff are delightful, though we experienced long waits between courses. It was a pleasant surprise not to be hurried out, too - something you can't say about a lot of Le Café Anglais' rivals.
Time Out London Issue 1946: December 5-11 2007
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My sister and I went for lunch on a Friday and were imediately given a table even though we did not have a reservation. We opted for a three-course set menu at less than £20 and had three options for each of the courses.
I had pasta for my starter which tasted hand-made and was fresh and well-balanced. The fish pie was delicious and comforting though I could not finish it. The dessert was excellent - rhubarb and strawberries with vanilla ice cream and biscuits.
We spotted Net-a-Porter founder Nathalie Massenet and a fashion reporter among the lunch crowd, so the people-watching was great fun too!