When my friend, Kensuke from Japan, said that the worst thing about Britain was the food, I set about to prove him otherwise. First off, we headed to London – Britain’s gastronomic capital. As we had a busy day and a limited budget, we had to be somewhat strategic about our choices.
We settled for a little restaurant called Piquet, which is on Newman Street in the self-styled nouveau-riche locale of Fitzrovia. Having booked for 12:15, we were the only ones there. The restaurant advertises itself as serving ‘modern British’ cuisine. The interior design smacked of wannabe French cool and New York street-smart.
The menu is the brainchild of Kent-born chef patron, Allan Pickett, whose raison d’etre is to showcase fresh and local ingredients using classic French techniques. Both Kensuke and I plumped for the set menu, which offers 2 courses for £19.50, or 3 courses for £23.50, including a glass of wine and coffee. By London standards, this is very good value, indeed.
Kensuke, for his starter, opted for a chilled asparagus soup and goats curd, with parsley oil. The soup was served entertainingly – a huge shallow bowl with a small bar of goat curd in the middle, encircled by an artistic drizzle of parsley oil. The waiter then poured the soup over this.
For his main, Kensuke chose a seared Scottish salmon, on a bed of potato salad and garnished with pickled shallots. It looked ravishing and tasted so according to my friend.
I settled on an endives and walnut garden salad, which was subtly divine. The thinly-sliced walnuts were pickled and together with the various leaves, sesame seeds and edamame beans, tossed lightly in extra-virgin olive oil, made for a refreshing starter. It had no need for strong seasoning – the taste of the natural leaves and ingredients tantalised the palate effectively.
My main was corn fed chicken slabs on a bed of polenta with roasted bacon chunks and vegetables was superb. Everything was seasoned nicely and just the right amount.
Kensuke was so amazed by his first delicious British meal that he stepped up to order dessert: a chocolate financier served with caramel ice cream. The financier was superb though I found the ice-cream/cake combination a bit too sweet.
Service was good, and the male American waiter was very attentive. The slight let-down was when the young charming waitress who seated us was not able to tell us about the wine choices in greater detail (e.g. which one was dry or sweet). A restaurant serving quality food should ensure their staff know the menu items well.
All in all, I have no qualms in recommending Piquet. If the set menu alone is any indication, the a la carte selection must be excellent. But, that’s for another time.
Rating: ****/*****
Piquet is at 92-94 Newman Street, London W1T 3EZ. Booked through OpenTable.