|
We all have bad days. This was a
bad day. A day where things just would not go to plan. None of
the problems we encountered on what was supposed to be a restful
Saturday were any fault of our own so we did start to wonder
“what next?” In an effort to escape it all my partner and I
decided to treat ourselves to a night at Brasserie Blanc. This
restaurant has been open for two years and to my shame, this was
the first time I had booked to eat in this restaurant.
Having eaten in several restaurants
in Paris, this was still going to be a totally new experience
simply because there are no Brasserie Blancs in France’s
capital.
Decor
Everything about Brasserie Blanc,
from the rotating main door to the trendy bar with suspended
glasses is stamped with that classic French feel. For anyone
opening a French restaurant in this country, it would extremely
hard if not impossible for them to design a better looking
restaurant than this.
Food
Before detailing our culinary
experience it is worth mentioning the menu. It contains some
fabulous quotes and Raymond Blanc himself proudly states that he
aims to “produce quality food that comes as close as possible to
the meals that my mother prepared for me.” As you read on, you
will realise that his mother must have been an amazing cook!
A lot of thought clearly goes into
the menu and I was impressed with the “JB” choices which are
courses that are available at half the size and half the price
for children.
An equal amount of thought has
clearly been given to the wine menu which has a hugely
impressive array of wines at various prices. We chose the Pinot
Blanc, Trimbach at £25 – the 12th generation of the
family to make this wine, “practice makes perfect.” This was
delightful - incredibly crisp and fruity. As impressive as the
wine list was, I would like to have seen more descriptions about
the wine as well as their history and source. Very little is
said about the type of wine itself.
Small pieces of bread were placed
on our table and these too were typically French with a lovely
crusty outer which were delicious with lashings of butter.
My partner started her meal with
the impressive Maroille cheese soufflé, pear and walnut (£6.40).
Although this is the summer menu, you will always find a variety
of cheese soufflé as a starter at Brasserie Blanc. Full of
delicate flavours, the soufflé was amazingly light and it looked
so good it was almost a shame to ruin it by eating it. This
starter had “quality” stamped all over it.
My choice to begin was the Pork
rillettes, apple and pear chutney (£6.20). Pork rilletes is pork
cooked in its own fat and then shredded. The result normally
means the meat is incredibly tender and that was very much the
case here. I enjoyed every mouthful with a helping of bread but
I took it easy on the chutney which seemed to slightly overpower
the taste of the pork.
Sausage and mash can often seem a
plain and uninventive choice but I was in the mood to sample the
Centenary pork sausages, spring onion mash, grain mustard butter
sauce (£9.50). There was nothing “plain” about this course and
this was exceptional food that I will order again when I return
soon. The mash was actually crushed new potatoes which were
incredibly tasty. What made this dish so special however, was
the sauce. The sauce was incredibly powerful and full of the
most amazing flavours that made my mouth water. Great sauces can
often make plain dishes stand out from the rest, but this dish
wasn’t plain. The sausages were beautifully cooked; a wonderful
brown colour with a fantastic meaty texture. Yes, my “bad” day
was now turning into a very good one and I mopped up the
remainder of the gorgeous sauce with some of the left over
bread.
My partner is a lover of fishcakes
so it was no surprise to see her side with the Raymond’s smoked
haddock, cheese and leek fishcake (£10.00). This was one of the
best fishcakes she had ever sampled. Most fishcakes tend to be
overladen with potato or other ingredients to keep them together
but this variety was full of beautiful fresh, tasty fish.
We finished with the chocolate
fondant, pistachio ice cream (£5.50). The fondant had a lovely
crispy outer and once broken, the chocolate oozed onto the
plate. The ice cream was a lovely sidekick but we would liked a
little more of it to accompany the fondant.
Atmosphere
This restaurant is all about
eating, drinking, talking and relaxing and is a fabulous
location to wine and dine. Although the establishment was
incredibly busy it wasn’t too noisy and we were able to enjoy an
intimate dining experience. Some of the tables do seem close
together, but again, this is very in-keeping with a classic
French restaurant.
Service
The staff who waited on us could
not have been more polite or accommodating. We were politely
asked whether we would like our wine glasses filled or to be
left to our own devices. We asked a couple of questions about
the food and were immediately given detailed answers in
response. It was refreshing to visit a venue where the staff had
a good understanding of the food they were serving.
One of the most striking things about Brasserie Blanc is the
prices. I do not believe there is anywhere in Milton Keynes that
serves such good food at such low prices.
|
Your comments |
When your main dishes
are taken away uneaten, the bill cancelled, free drinks,
dessert and coffees offered and meal vouchers
given something has gone badly wrong.
On Christmas Eve 2009 six of us arrived at our booked
time of 8pm. We waited 5 minutes to be seated at 8:25
our drinks orders were chased up. At 8:40 our food
orders were taken . At 9:00 our starters arrived and
were well presented and cooked. At 9:40 our main courses
were served - the sea bream was very overcooked, my
calves liver was cold and raw, the steak ordered well
done was bloody, the medium well was blue and cold. One
portion of fries were well cooked but two were
completely raw, white, cold and oily.
The front of house manager was extremely helpful , took
away our food and returned to say that the food was
completely undercooked.
She offered to have it re-cooked but then at 10:00pm the
kitchen closed, the lights were off and the staff gone.
So we left hungry and annoyed - it was Christmas Eve but
if the service is this bad they should not have opened.
In February my father went back with one 10 pound
voucher for lunch. He had the calves liver with roast
vegetables. The calves liver was overcooked (like school
dinners) and the vegetables had been cooked for so long
they were a mush of indistinguishable items. The bill
with a glass of red was 24 Pounds, less ten for the
coupon. In his words it was not worth eight.
A pity and this contrasts markedly with good meals we
have had in the surrounding villages.
Mr Brian Earle, March 18, 2010 |
|
We had a lovely meal for my
husband's birthday - food, service and atmosphere were all first
class. Mrs A Dodd, September 28, 2009 |
|
|
