Cooking Across 4 Generations

The day before our reservation for lunch at Dinner by Heston, we decided to take a walk to Knightsbridge so we could get our bearings. We took a detour through Hyde Park, where preparations were under way for the Barclay’s Summer Festival. The day we wandered through was a sold out Rolling Stones concert. Hyde Park was a delight to walk through and the Serpentine was a lovely spot to stop and rest for a few moments.

After locating the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, we had a quick look through Harrod’s (see separate post). We wandered back past the Mandarin Oriental and found Bar Boulud, one of Daniel Boulud’s restaurants. Having missed dining at a Boulud restaurant in New York, we decided to have our lunch here at Bar Boulud.

We decided to take advantage of the Prixe Fixe menu for £23.00 (approx AUD$40). Travelling overseas we find that lunch is the best time to dine out as there are some great lunch specials

For his first course, Mr. CA4G had a Parfait de Volaille (chicken liver pate) topped with a layer of red wine jelly and served with lightly toasted sourdough bread, pickles and mustard.

As it was a hot summers day I opted for the Soupe Glacee de Tomates, a Provencale style chilled tomato soup served with ratatouille, tapenade crouton and basil oil. Perfect summer soup.

We had a great selection of wines by the glass to choose from. Of course nothing beats a Grand Cru Chablis on a hot day, so we ordered a glass of Domain Christian Moreau Pere & Fils Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2007. All the wines by the glass are poured from double magnum bottles. I felt sorry for the poor girl who had to pour our wine as the bottle was quite full, and therefore really heavy. A couple of years of age on the Chablis was a great bonus. We are really appreciating aged chardonnays, be they from Chablis or anywhere else in Burgundy ( and some exceptional Aussie Chardonnay). Fabulous choice.

Mr. CA4G loves his fish, which I seldom get to cook at home. Personally I am not fond of cooked fish, give me sushi and sashimi any day. On the Prixe Fixe menu the fish was seared Sea Trout, red grapes, green beans, ratte potatoes and lovage sauce. Topped with some  golden salmon roe. Looked great on the plate and Mr. CA4G loved it. I think he was surprised when I told him that sea trout is what we call ocean trout in Australia.

I love duck! There was a Magret de canard a l’orange so chose to have it. Although I was tempted by the third option which was a Thai flavoured sausage. My love of duck won out though. The magret de canard was an oven roasted duck breast served with brocolini, potato mouselline (a very fine potato mash), orange segments and orange tamarind sauce. Even though it was duck the dish was surprisingly light. Sometimes duck can feel a little heavy to eat.

We had yet another course to get through. We very seldom have a three course lunch, but when you are only paying around AUD$40 you just can’t pass the opportunity up.

My dessert was a variation on a typically English summer dessert, strawberries and cream. My Coupe de Fraises was a delightful bowl of Strawberries, vanilla pannacotta, strawberry-yoghurt sorbet and a sprinkle of violet crumble (yes real flowers in the crumble mix, not the chocolate bar). So light and with a great combination of flavours. A perfect summer dessert.

Mr. CA4G went for something neither of us has tried before, the Gateau Basque with brandied cherries, and vanilla crème anglaise. The gateau was layers of almond pastry and a rich crème patissiere filling. I want to give this one a try at home.

We had noticed a magnum of rose going around the restaurant. It looked to be quite popular so we decided to have a glass of it with our dessert. Thankfully this bottle was nearly empty so it wasn’t too heavy for our server. Chene Bleu Rose from the Rhone Valley, is a rose made from a blend of Grenache (vines 25 years and older) and Syrah (vines 40 years and older). A great choice for dessert and one we will be trying to get hold of here.

Bar Boulud is our second very enjoyable experience at a Daniel Boulud restaurant, the first being db Bistro Moderne at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. We will definitely be trying some more of his restaurants on our travels.

Thanks for dropping by!!