Monday 14 May 2007

Le Boudin Blanc, Shepherd's Market



This fantastic french restaurant is certainly one that deserves to be on any foodie's hit list!

Situated in the the heart of Mayfair at Shepherd's Market, Le Boudin Blanc seemed to tick all the right boxes. Since this was a birthday treat for Browny, I was after a restaurant that was going to provide exquisite french food at a reasonable price, but in a relaxed and unpretentious environment. Le Boudin Blanc ( translated as the white sausage) didn't let us down.

After a long day in the office, we had a well earned gin and tonic soaking the evening sun in the market square. The place was buzzing with people who hard the same idea as us which created a lovely relaxed but vibrant atmosphere.

The restaurant itself is located up a narrow side street leading off the square. As we approached the venue I knew it was going to be a great evening. Sitting outside, diners were busy tucking into an array of exciting dishes, while others were happy merely watching the world go by with a delicious glass wine.

The divine smell of traditional french cuisine welcomed us inside and a charming waitress took us to our table. Despite it being pretty cosy, it wasn't intrusive; the lighting , setting with the subtle hum of conservation and laughter created a delightful ambiance.

The wine is always Browny's department... it was delicious.. he will enlighten you what it was.

As usual, I could have eaten everything on the menu and we needed a good 15 minutes to have any hope of drawing any conclusions! For starter I had classic fish soup with rouiie, croutons and Parmesan. The silkiness of the soup coupled with the intense depth of flavour made for a winning start. Or so I thought, until I tried a mouthful of Browny's fabulous crab ravioli. We both agreed this was one of the best starters we had ever had. The ratio of crab:pasta was 75:25... simply perfection.

'You can't go too far wrong ordering a rare fillet steak in a place like this.' These were Browny's infamous words as he tucked into his main course. And rare it was... a mild shade of blue would have been a better description; but it was superb. The knife had very little work to do as it glided through the faultless piece of meat. The side dishes of chips, peas with mint, cream and bacon plus spinach complimented the meal extremely well.

Having suffered a minor case of food envy during my first course, I was delighted with my rump of lamb. It was beautiful. Resting on a slab of aubergine, with celeriac mash, the rump was succulent, juicy, tender and oh so scrumpcious. I savoured everylast mouthful; I was sad to see it go.

Despite examining the delicious pudding menu we decided to call it a day there and finished with a coffee and petit four.

What a brilliant evening. Le Boudin Blanc oozes style, romance, class and supreme cooking.
A hidden gem that must be found.

1 comment:

Browners said...

Darling, I'm so proud of you!

To enlighten everyone the wine was an exceptionally good bottle of St. Aubin.

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