Eating Out:'This was perfect old-fashioned cooking, based on tried and trusted tradition', writes Tom Doorley
Back in 1987, when TV food meant Delia Smith and restaurants were still, by and large, where people went to eat big, rich meals, Kensington Place was a breath of fresh air. It was cool and simple and democratically priced. And Rowley Leigh's food was a knockout, well ahead of its time.
When I last ate there, a year or so ago, just before Leigh departed, my starter comprised a big, thick slice of puffball mushroom, chargrilled and served with a generous dollop of sharp, anchovy-scented sauce vierge. It was not just delicious and remarkably cheap by London standards; it was perfect.
No wonder, then, that a lot of people have been wondering what this brilliant chef has been up to in the meantime. Well, he was planning a new restaurant in a former McDonald's, located in an anodyne shopping centre in the less than fashionable environment of Queensway in west London.
I'm not a great reader of restaurant reviews. I like to make up my own mind. But I tend to sit up and pay attention when Jan Moir, former restaurant critic at the Daily Telegraph, refers to - one of the most important London openings in ages. This is how she described Leigh's new venture, Le Café Anglais, and I was curiously relieved to hear it because I had eaten there a couple of weeks earlier and been utterly seduced by the food, the prices and the brilliantly simple adaptation of a large, airy, art deco room.
Three of us sat down to lunch and we all blinked in disbelief when we saw the hors d'oeuvres section of the menu - each cost a mere £3. These little dishes were remarkable. Our selection comprised the tapas staple of pimientos de Padrón (tiny peppers fried in olive oil and dusted with sea salt), excellent mortadella with a mustardy celeriac remoulade, an immaculate little rillette of rabbit, and a Parmesan custard served with minute toasted sandwiches of anchovy paste. Fritters of salsify were, as salsify usually is, rather lacking in punch, but they were good.
One of us had the set lunch (£16.50), starting with a bright red risotto of radicchio, chestnuts and Chianti Rufina, which was packed with flavour and perfectly textured, and moving on to moist, tender pheasant served with choucroute.
Another had roast partridge, which was not stupidly undercooked, as is the fashion in fancy restaurants, but just done, still perfectly moist and faintly pink, with a sensible partner of cabbage and bacon. This was perfect old-fashioned cooking, based on tried and trusted tradition.
This being the kind of menu where mixing and matching can become a highly enjoyable game, I had roast chicken (you can have anything from a whole one right down to a leg, and I had the leg which weighs in at a fiver). Cooked with lemon thyme, it was a fine piece of meat (rather more than the actual leg, in fact) and I chose to accompany it with a dish of crushed potato, spring onion and black truffles, this being a case of the veg (£15) being much dearer than the meat. But, by heaven, it was worth it. The truffles may not have been of the most gloriously scented kind (it would have cost three times as much if they had), but they were generous and decently truffley.
With one glass of Champagne, a 250ml carafe of red Burgundy, two large bottles of mineral water and a couple of cappuccinos, the bill for three came to £101, including delightful service and a cover charge of £4.50.
There are several important things to note about Le Café Anglais. It's a place where a great chef now has the opportunity to be himself (he didn't hold complete sway over KP), and being in Queensway, the prices are not inflated by costly rents. Having said that, it's 10 minutes on the Central line from Oxford Circus, and pretty handy if you have to catch the Heathrow Express from Paddington.
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Le Café Anglais, 8 Porchester Gardens, London W2 4DB, 00-44-20-7221-1415, www.lecafeanglais.co.uk
There isn't a single New World wine on the list and such is the selection that nobody is going to miss them. A large proportion of wines are available by the glass, the 250ml carafe and the bottle. Our lovely Monthélie 2002 from Caillot cost £13.50 for 250mls. The elegant Champagne Bruno Paillard is £9 a glass, or £50 a bottle. Highlights include, per bottle, Loimer Kamptal Riesling from Austria (£26.50), Langhe Arneis San Michele (£27.50), the stunning Puligny-Montrachet 2002 from Domaine Leflaive (£90), Domaine Lapalu's Brouilly Vieilles Vignes (£30), Château Mazeyres Pomerol 1997 (£45), Château La Lagune 1978 (£75), Allegrini's monumental Amarone 2003 (£65), Le Pupille Morellino di Scansano (£27.50) and Château Liot Sauternes 1999 (£45). I could go on, and on . . .