Brasserie Blanc

I am a hyper-keen lover of food shows, food magazines, food blogs and - perhaps sadly - reading menus of restaurants (even those that I know I will probably never go to). So my obsession with Raymond Blanc's Brasserie Blanc started months ago, and not living that close to one, it had been one of the restaurant menus that I often perused after longingly.  I finally found a few more reasons to be in the area of one last weekend and got the chance to go.

It all started well. After some intense shopping we meandered in for a late lunch (3pm) and were seated immediately. The restaurant was only about a third full but had a decent atmosphere. It has a quite open layout and we were sat, somewhat too close, next to a family with two young children. For a casual weekend lunch the proximity to the other diners was fine, but I could imagine that it may be too intimate for an evening meal.

I could not fault our server. She was attentive and professional but friendly. We both ordered off the 'Dine with wine' menu. My partner really liked both his dishes which were the Smoked ham hock and pea risotto and Pork and black pepper sausage with smooth mash - which looked great. I of course had the only vegetarian starter option, Parsnip soup, honey and lemon dressing. The soup was creamy and light, topped with crispy parsnips. I couldn't really taste much lemon dressing, but found the honey at the bottom. Personally, I'm not a fan of sweet flavors in savory foods but to be fair, the honey did go well with the soup - but I didn't love it and wouldn't order it again. What I assume was fresh baked bread was placed on our table, complimentary and was perfect for soup dipping and sauce mopping.

The real problem came in the form of my main course, Gratinated polenta gnocchi in tomato sauce. I'm not entirely sure what I had been expecting, but what I do know is that I was disappointed. I actually saw the dish on the pass before I realized it was mine and thought it looked like a side dish. It came in a small dish, on a small plate (like what a side of vegetables would be served in) and was essentially one giant 'gnocchi' shaped polenta in tomato sauce. I realize that this is exactly was it was called, but like I said before, I looked at it, and was disappointed. It would have been nice as a side dish - as a small slice of the polenta in the tomato sauce on a plate with something more exciting. I ate about five bites then lost interest and left the rest. Since I had left about 90% of it our server asked me if there was something wrong with it and all I could come up with was that it was a bit 'Same-ish'. I think I said this because I didn't want to say boring, but the point was received. She asked if I would have preferred the special, which was Moroccon pulses (a side dish again no?) which I said I wouldn't. I don't like to make a fuss, and the dish I received was what it said on the menu, but I was grateful when our server kindly removed it from our bill.

For me I'm afraid, even this Michelan starred chef's restaurant suffers the same problem as most restaurants - limited and boring vegetarian options.  Perhaps because of its well-known namesake my expectations were higher than the usual casual dining restaurant. I did feel there was some attempt to make the options more interesting and since the menu is constantly changing, maybe I visited during a less inspired time.  All said I'm not adverse to giving Brasserie Blanc another chance, but I won't be making up excuses to go there.

Food: 4
Service: 9
Atmosphere: 8
Price: ££

Baked Eggs in Potatoes

 Breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day. I often will daydream about my next breakfast when eating dinner or trying to fall asleep. I love big, hearty breakfasts so when I came across the idea of baking eggs it intrigued me. Most baked egg recipes I've seen include spinach and add cream to the egg to make them very soft and creamy and don't seem very substantial. However, a recipe at the Food Network looked right up my alley so I adapted it to my personal preferences. I am not a fan of runny eggs in any situation so cooked mine til they were almost hard boiled, thus this dish came out more like a 'skillet' meal, which are favorites in American breakfast restaurants. 

It was delicious, and the cherry tomatoes added some sharpness to the potatoes and egg. When I make this again (which I definitely will!) I'm thinking of adding some chopped peppers (green and/or red) to the potato mixture and some mushrooms along with the tomatoes. Other than that it was perfect. And, if you're cooking this for a meat eating loved one, you can easily add some cooked bacon around the edge of the dish or some chopped up cooked sausage in with the potatoes.

Baked eggs in potatoes
Serves 2 as a starter, 1 as a main course

1 medium potato - cubed
1 teaspoon neutral oil (sunflower, groundnut, vegetable etc.)
1 small onion - chopped
1 clove garlic - finely chopped
2 birds eye chillies - finely chopped (if you like things spicy)
handful cherry tomatoes
2 eggs
small handful of cheese for sprinkling
fresh cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F. Parboil the cubed potatoes until they are almost fully cooked through. Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat, add potatoes and fry for a couple minutes until they start to color. Add chopped onion and continue browning potatoes and softening onions. When the potato and onion are nearly done add the garlic and (if using) chillies and fry for another minute, season with pepper. Divide the potato mixture between the mini-casserole dishes making a small well in the center. Place the cherry tomatoes around the edge, then crack an egg into each, season with pepper. Bake in the oven 10-15 minutes, until the egg is cooked to your liking (10 minutes will produce soft egg whites and runny yolk, mine was probably cooked closer to 20), then top with cheese and put back in the oven until melted.

Super Easy Popcorn

To me, this wonderfully moreish snack should not be limited to cinema excursions alone. My parents used to have an air popper machine which made perfect popcorn, but since I don't have one myself I thought I couldn't replicate this at home.

Of course I've bought the prepacked bags that you microwave for several minutes, but have always found them extremely stressful - memories of waiting by the microwave, listening for the slowing pops, trying to time the removal so you get the maximum amount of popped kernels whilst not letting the popped ones burn always put me off buying them. Also, these bags come pre-flavored, usually with loads of butter and salt which makes them incredibly unhealthy. So when I came across a bag of popping corn in the store a few weeks ago I thought I'd give it a go - and much to my delight it was so easy that I was disappointed I hadn't tried it before. It has never burned and I don't think I've seen one unpopped kernel in the bottom of the empty bowl! You'll need a largish sized pan that has a lid that fits tightly.

Popcorn
makes a very large bowl

100g popping corn
1 teaspoon oil (I use sunflower)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon spices* (I use cayenne pepper and cumin)

Put popping corn, oil and salt in a large saucepan. Put lid on pan and put over medium high heat (I consider this my largest gas ring, turned 3/4 of the way up). Shake the popcorn, oil and salt together over hob. Leave to heat up, shaking occasionally (every 30 seconds or so) to prevent burning. There will be a moment when you think it's not going to pop, but don't worry, it will, and it will be very exciting. Once it gets popping leave it til it slows down noticeably, then turn the heat off and let stand with the lid on for a minute or so to let any remaining kernels pop. Season with chosen spices.

*You can put pretty much whatever you like on the popcorn and there are numerous ideas on the web for some pretty crazy toppings. It will keep in an airtight container for a couple days before it starts to go stale, if it lasts that long!

Chinese Assorted Vegetables

One of my favorite dishes when I get Chinese is the seriously simple Assorted (or sometimes called Mixed) Vegetables. It's exactly what it sounds like - a mix of different veggies. However, the vegetables are coated in a somewhat opaque mildly flavored sauce, and I have always wondered how it was made. 

Recently I had a breakthrough and pretty much replicated this dish and am very excited because now I can make it at home, and bonus, it's very easy! Of course you can use practically any vegetable that you like. The ones I've suggested are the ones that I usually get at a restaurant.

Chinese Assorted Vegetables
serves 1-2 (depending on your appetite!)

veggie ideas
1 small head pak choi - chopped into bitesized pieces
1 large handful sugar snap peas and/or mangetout - sliced on the bias
several button mushrooms - quartered
several baby corn cobs - sliced in half lengthways
1/2 pepper - sliced into thin strips
1 clove garlic - thinly sliced
small handful bamboo shoots
small handful waterchestnuts
small handful beansprouts
3-4 spring onions - sliced into inch pieces

for the sauce 
1 tablespoon corn flour
2-3 tablespoons water
1/4 pint vegetable stock*
2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon flavorless oil (ie. sunflower, groundnut)

In a bowl large enough to fit all of the vegetables, mix together the corn flour and water. The mixture should be white but not thick. Coat vegetables in the corn flour mixture. Heat wok or frying pan til smoking then add 1 tablespoon oil. Add veggies and fry for 2 minutes. Add half of the vegetable stock and mix through. You may need to add more stock to make the sauce thicker. Once the sauce is the consistency you like add the soy sauce to taste and serve with rice.

If you wanted to make this for someone who eats meat you could just fry up some sliced chicken breast in a separate pan and mix it in with their portion of veg at the end - then I'm pretty sure you've got the Chinese restaurant style 'Chicken and vegetables'.

*I haven't tried to make this using water instead of stock, but I bet it would work just as well, but you may need more soy sauce to replace the flavor lost from the stock.

NB: When I got around to taking pictures of this dish I didn't have some of the veggies on hand - so in the picture are the ingredients listed above minus the bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and water chestnuts but plus a few finger chillies.

Old Orleans

Old Orleans attempts to bring to England a taste of 'The South'. Thus it's not surprising that there are very few vegetarian offerings and none of real interest. Unfortunately the menu only offers the bare minimum of vegetarian choices. The dull 'Spicy Bean Burger' makes another appearance, there is also a rather strange concoction of 'mushroom and Quorn fajitas', which makes little sense as fajitas are usually a mixture of red and green peppers, onions and chilli, all of which are vegetarian.

The other options include a rather uninspiring penne in a cream spinach sauce and the option which I had, 'Cajun Chicken Pasta', sans chicken. The menu offers this as an option so you think it wouldn't be too difficult but the dish was presented with chicken. The server quickly removed it after I brought their attention to it, and it was returned to me five minutes later, cold and with a bit of chicken still in it. I ate around the bit of chicken, but it was blatantly obvious that they had just returned it to the kitchen where someone attempted to pick the chicken out, missing a piece. Obviously this is fairly disturbing. Now I did not specifically tell my server that I was a vegetarian, but when ordering a meatless dish I really don't feel you should have to. Apart from the fact it was cold and I was nervous the entire time, the pasta was mediocre. Not spicy, as advertised and also not generous in quantity. It's something I imagine you could buy as a jar of sauce in the grocery store and throw over some cooked pasta, which is probably their recipe.

The ambiance was fairly mute and the service erratic. In the short time we were there we had three different servers wait on us, making it unclear who was actually our server. There's really not much more to say about Old Orleans, other than I genuinely wouldn't recommend it for nice meal as vegetarians were clearly an after thought for the producers of their menu.

Food: 3
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Price: ££

Tootsies

Tootsies vegetarian offerings are the stereotypically unimaginative dishes thought up by an obvious meat-eater - I suppose what you'd expect from a restaurant trying to be known for its burgers. Veggie options include the bog standard 'Puy lentil and vegetable' burger, cliche 'Goats cheese, roasted red pepper and aubergine' sandwich, and predictable 'Butternut squash risotto'. Since I don't like to deprive my partner of his cravings, and Tootsies actually does produce a decent burger, I have been to Tootsies on more than one occasion. I have had the 'Puy lentil and vegetable' burger a couple times and found it fairly dry and boring. It seems too similar to the frozen bean burgers you can buy from any supermarket. The majority of vegetarian food falls into the category of things that I could make at home, such as the 'Nachos' with guacamole, sour cream, cheese and salsa and the 'Italian penne', essentially pasta in tomato sauce.

Having said that, the ambiance in the restaurant is generally good, full of young professionals and families having a relaxing meal in between their shopping. The service has been slow at times, and having sat at an outside table we watched a server approach the couple who had arrived after us sitting next to us, initially ignoring us. Personally, when it comes to service, I find nothing more frustrating than not being able to get your servers attention.

My final gripe deals with the 12.5% 'optional' service charge automatically added to your bill. Now I have no problem leaving tips, but find it inappropriate to have a tip added on for me. Now, in all fairness you can tell your server when they leave the check that you do not feel that they were worth 12.5% of your total bill and ask them to either reduce or remove it. But honestly how many of us are going to do that? I also think that by almost ensuring the servers receive this automatically added tip that they are less inclined to provide good service and it removes our right to evaluate the service we received and reward our servers as we see fit.

As you may have guessed I would not really recommend Tootsies for a nice vegetarian meal. The food is mediocre and predictable and the service can be frustrating. However, with low expectations I will probably again sacrifice myself for a meat-eating loved one.

Food: 5
Service: 6
Atmosphere: 8
Price: ££

Pizza Express

Generally I am not a fan of Italian restaurants, because as before, I feel that most of the food is something that I could probably make myself. However, a really good pizza is something that falls into the category of something that I cannot be bothered to make myself. Pizza varies quite a lot from the thick, doughy bases of the typical takeout offering, to the 'classic Italian' thin crust and Pizza Express pizzas are generally the latter.

The crowd consists of mainly family and friends get togethers, which makes for a relaxed atmosphere. However, the service has been slow on most occasions, which can be frustrating if you're not the type of person who likes to hang around once all food and drink has been consumed.

There are quite a few vegetarian options to chose from. I usually go for the Giardiniera pizza which is topped with a yummy pesto-tomato sauce and lots of veggies including asparagus, artichokes, mushrooms and peppers. There's also the Veneziana, a more mediterranean option with capers, sultanas and pine kernels and various pasta and salads. But this time I had the special by Theo Randall, Theo's Favorita, invoking the vegetarian substitute of artichokes for prosciutto di Parma.

The oval base was a cross between the typical Italian thin crust and the doughy 'Chicago crust'. There was little artichoke to speak of but there was a generous helping of fior di latte mozzarella and rocket leaves scattered on top. The mozzarella, however, was fairly bland and I expect some strong parmesan would have provided better flavour. The peppery rocket and olives definitely added the most flavour to an otherwise fairly bland pizza. Although I was provided with a pizza cutter, because of the awkward shape of the pizza I found myself using the butter knife and fork, and nearing completion my pointer fingers ached from the effort (which is a reoccuring problem having tried other pizzas).

For dessert, my partner and I split the cheesecake, which was actually very good, but rather oddly came with a raspberry coulis, garnished with strawberries. Despite this we found ourselves fighting over the last few mouthfuls, and him wishing he had ordered his own.

Overall, Pizza Express offers fresh, reasonably priced Italian food in a comfortable environment but could benefit from better service.

Food: 7
Service: 6
Atmosphere: 7
Price: ££