Lunch at Pied a Terre, Charlotte St, London.

We went on to this restaurant after visiting the Monet exhibition at The Helly Nahmad gallery in Cork Street. Like the gallery the exterior of the restaurant was so discreet that we almost walked past it. It is behind a black paneled and glass façade on the ground floor of a town house.

Ours was a circular table. There was a globe shaped glass vase with gerberas inside it and pretty glass cover plates decorated with a large pink gerbera placed on a silver edged square glass plate. The comfortable seating was a curved banquette for two with cushions. The canvases for the works of art here are white porcelain plates.

White wine Stadt Krems, Gruner Veltliner Austria 2009

Breads: brioche, Guinness and star anise, walnut and pecan, bacon and onion roll, poppy seed roll.

Canapes



Potato and parmesan gnocchi
Pea pannacotta, Jerusalum artichoke mousse, toasted almonds
Foie gras and poppy seed tuile sandwich

Starter
Salt cod and almond mousse, with seared salmon and salmon roe and basil puree.






Main
Red wine Te Mania Pinot Noir New Zealand 2003
Duck, Savoy cabbage

Mango velouté with Coconut and chili foam with coconut crystals and Thai Basil

Coconut crystals are made from the sap that exudes from freshly harvested coconut blossoms. They are naturally sweet and in texture like tiny fragments of meringue.

Chocolate mousse with mandarin Sorbet and walnut velouté with little pieces of Sauterne jelly




Petit fours with Lapsang Souchong tea



There was as interesting variety and combinations of flavours and the quality and presentation of the food was excellent. Service was very good.
With the main course I would have liked a bit more vegetable, maybe some potato, there was only a tiny portion of cabbage hiding under the duck, and less salt in the sauce. I wasn’t sure what the sauce was as the salt dominated the flavour.
Overall a very special meal. For me the highlights were the amazing and unexpected pre dessert and the canelé that came with the canapés. There was a generous supply of lovely breads and the star was the brioche.
Canelés we were told by the friendly and informative waiter are a speciality from Bordeaux. Tower shaped with fluted edges they have a crisp caramelized outer crust and a rich firm custard centre.

Lunch costs £23.50 for a 2 course set menu including canapés. We both made the same choices from the menu. I think this is excellent value for the superb meal that we had. On this occasion we had some vouchers from the Financial Times which meant one of us dined for a fiver!

PS Apologies for the poor quality photos, taken on my moblile.