Au Belge

To say the Restaurateur here has lost his passion for the work would be a bit of an understatement and perched on Old Bailey Street next to a ropey looking bar and a lovely looking Thai, is Au Belge.

The restaurant itself is not bad - what you would expect for a homely steak-frite/moule-frite joint - a little dated, a little chintzy. As for the food - again, not bad, but then, not good either.

First things first, the bread basket was dreary - warmed cheap bread, the sort which you buy half cooked in the freezer section of ParkNShop and the butter tasted of the fridge - most unpleasant.

I opted for the French onion soup - it was ok - nothing outstanding and the croutons which had obviously sat in it for a while before coming out where of a similar texture to old dish sponge - why they hadn't left them all crisp, with a topping of grilled Gruyere, on the side so I could add them at will? Or at least scattered them on as it left the kitchen.

For the main course E and I shared a Chateaubriand. We have a rule that you can only order steak at a steak restaurant (or the Press Room) as it's too easy an option and you might miss out on something excellent elsewhere on the menu. But, as we were in a place that specialises in it, we went all out. It was good - as one would expect - fine quality, done to medium-rare as requested, so why, oh why would they offer to spoil it by trying to get us to "pick a sauce" to go over it - surely a Bearnaise, blue cheese or pepper sauce would ruin it and detract from the texture and flavour we were supposed to be savouring? And, as for the frites - not great, and bearing in mind the fanfare they got, I was disappointed. Two of our party opted for stews (one beef and one chicken) and these were very good - nice base, good hearty food.

The puddings were ok - the kind of cliched fare you can find in any bistro, especially outside of France/Belguim. We skipped the cheese - they really weren't selling it well - for some reason no-one was clear/could be bothered about what cheese were available. My Crème Caramel was spot on, so it was a shame that one of our dining companions Crème Brûlée had separated and therefore not set properly, resembling a bowl of catsick once he had broken though the brûléed crust. We also thought we would indulge in a spot of dessert wine to accompany our last course, and as the list was limited (to one), we picked it. Unfortunately, they didn't have it, and, with a shrug of the shoulders, that was that. What anyone who wanted repeat trade would have said is that literately around the corner is a Watsons Wine shop and if we popped round there we could BYO, which is what we did as I had spotted it on the way in.

Really, it's the simple stuff that really makes a difference, which is what this place is trying to achieve but seriously lacking. Sort out the bread, be a better host, think about the presentation, do quality, basic traditional dishes that can be well executed easily and ditch the wipe down menus. A little (with no extra costs) could go a long way. So obviously I'm not going back, but if a hearty stew and a 70's style pud in homey surroundings takes your fancy then this might just fit the bill.

update...

What with me working now (part time admittedly) I've not updated for ages - we've been to Bricolage (highly recommended), Au Belge (not), and Zuma (expensive), Blue Duck Workshop (so bad I can't even think about it), Tuscany by H (everything tasted of truffle oil) amongst others.
Plus, we have been keeping to the programme eating in wise - Thai pork lettuce wraps on the balcony spring to mind - so I'll try to get both the restaurants and recipes up this week....

This Weekend

I am feeling like such a glutton at the moment, and as soon as C is dispatched to Vietnam tomorrow, E and I will resume business as usual on the eating front, and by that I mean salads all round until next weekend, but it has been lovely to have an excuse to indulge.

I was a bit disappointed with the places we ended up in this weekend - there was no amazing stand out meal, we only went to Shake 'em Buns (excellent but hardly the gourmet rush I was after), The Blue Duck Workshop (the less said about the food the better), The Peak Cafe (average, but a lovely garden when it's not chucking it down with rain - hello summer?) and Beirut for the best houmous in Hong Kong (honestly, I've tried them all).

Though we made up for this inviting the "the parents to be" over and having roasted welsh lamb marinated in beautiful olive oil with garlic and rosemary, accompanied by crunchy green beans in a minted wholegrain mustard vinaigrette, and smashed roasted potatoes (due to a tad too much par-boiling and a too vigorous shaking before putting them in the oven - though they worked). After this we had a steamed syrup sponge with a hint of lemon and lashings of custard coupled with five bottles of red and a bottle of pudding wine, followed by several games of cards, the "who am I?" game, the Game of Life, and a slump in front of the GP/Tennis with a cup of mint tea.

A lovely rainy Sunday.

Babek

Tucked away down Elgin Street is Babek, a small but bright and airy modern Indian restaurant. Much as I like to load up at The Tandoor on Lyndhusrt, this Saturday we wanted spicy marinated meats but without having to loosen our belts and waddle out afterwards.

The menu is small, which I love - it demonstrates the restaurants confidence - doing what they know best and doing it to perfection, and that's what we are paying for after all. You can either opt for the tasting menu - a ten course extravaganza of everything they do, or just choose any of the courses separately. Having had the full menu on the last two occasions, we just choose our favourite bits from last time (which by the time we had ordered, amounted to pretty much most of the menu anyway).

We had a couple of plates of Mutter Ki Tikki, little fried pea cakes accompanied by a dipping sauce with a good spicy hit. These were followed by fiery jumbo piri piri prawns, paneer cheese, tandoori chicken and peshawari lamb chops, completed by warm daal and excellent fluffy warm naan and sweet sheermal breads. The meats were marinated to perfection, and I'd certainly order it all over again next time.

Red Pepper

Yey for guests! It's the only time we ever go here, but that fact they know my name now shows how often we've been and as with lots of Chinese restaurants, it is best to go in a large groups.

Yes, the decor is a little dated, it's certainly not swish by any stretch of the imagination (especially if you get stuck in the upstairs room), and they always advertise in the SCMP and HK mag that they won the award for best Sichuan food (not pointing out the year or who it was awarded by) but it's always busy, and does exactly what you would expect it too - serves hearty spicy Sichuan fare perfect for out of town guests on their first night here. Go for their famous sizzling prawns, the chicken and cashew nuts, the fried string beans with pork, the aubergine with pork, the sauteed pak choy in garlic, and pots of the lychee tea.

Don't forget your friends, the more the merrier in this place, and the more spicy dishes to indulge in.