Last minute blog......

Well a refresher night out in Bruno Loubet, a couple of months after Ju-Ti-Su-To's lovely evening there helped refresh my memory and confirm my initial view that this is a special place. The room is lovely and somewhat quirkyly furnished, and the staff welcoming and very attentive.

The cocktails got us off to an excellent start and we settled into our very well positioned table, with an excellent view of the both the kitchen (complete with the chef at work) and the room filled with happy diners. My asparagus was simple, fresh, subtly seasoned and perfectly cooked. I followed with a rich, dark, fulsome lamb shoulder, and completed my meal with an even richer, darker intensely choclately, chocolate tart and a well chosen (by the somelier) glass of desert wine.

Yes, we are back on track. 8.5 out of 10.

Zetter's couldn't be better

Greeted in charming and friendly style by a very handsome waiter, Ti and I sit down to cocktails in comfortable armchairs upholstered in classy French textiles. The dining room is light and airy, it already seems to exude a kind of quiet confidence. Su and To arrive and pretty soon we are installed at our table where a most charming waitress is taking us through the menu; she describes the ingredients so vividly that you can almost taste them as she speaks. My "revised" Lyonnaise salad is a melange of crispily fried batons of piggy bits on a bed of leaves with a red wine vinaigrette; a very fine starter and a very superior combination of textures and flavours. However, the quail and pistachio dodine with spinach and egg yolk raviolo which follows can only be described as a paragon of excellent cuisine; every mouthful was a treat. Part of the bird breast has been removed and turned into a kind of delicious nut based stuffing which complements the rest of the meat perfectly. The raviolo provides a delicate and wafer-thin little pouch for its spinach based stuffing. Pudding is a disappointment; I plump for the yogurt mouse with passion fruit and ginger Lamington. It's the latter element which bewitches me; it's an Australian thing the Lamington and it brings back happy memories of Oz. But this Lamington just doesn't deliver; it's neither very gingery nor that light and the mousse is a bit dull. I need more intensity. Happily, Su invites me to share some of her chocolate tartlet which is pretty fantastic. It goes down a treat with the glorious Monbazillac. Throughout the meal, the open kitchen is humming quietly in the distance. This is a restaurant that knows what it's doing; mixing the classic French with the novel to excellent effect. Lovely food in a fine surroundings.
9/10

Back on track

Oh yes - a big improvement on the disappointing Fifteen!
We felt in good hands the moment we entered this corner location in Clerkenwell - a light and airy room with a large curving bar and 'home-made junk' shelving - the suave young maitre d' showing us to a comfy drinks area, where we were soon joined by the equally suave SuTo.
My cocktail which was called an El Jimador and consisted of tequila, raspberry and elderflower, and was superb, as were all the others we had.
Food was excellent - I had a gorgeous boudin blanc made from guinea fowl seved with cauliflower puree and buttery leeks; a wonderful combination. This was followed by the fish 'cassoulet' which was both beautifully put together and full of lovely ingredients (broad bean hearts and herbs) but somehow unable to fully satisfy - I agree with To. The pud on the other hand, a scrumptious parfait served with a delicious glass of Monbazillac (which would contribute to a hangover!) was a perfect finale. Roll on the next supper club meet!
I'll give it a 9 - that's an extra point for the good value of the un-greedy pricing.

High class evening

Any anxiety about eating in a restaurant that is in a Hotel soon vanished when we met Ju-Ti in light spacious room with enough little knick-knacks to raise a smile. We were extremely well looked after by a dashing maitre d' who with the help of an equally charming waiter brought us top-class cocktails - my Bramble was long and cold and satisfying. We were led to "better" table which was well placed. THe menu offered difficult choices but I was very pleased with my subtle, light beetroot ravioli. This was followed by Bruno's take on Cassoulet - a summer version with many different types of fish - whilst this was very good I felt it lacked something but couldn't quite tell you what. We plumped for excellent Langedoc house wine that worked a treat. I finished with a simple divine Creme Brulee. The whole experience was first class although a minor quibble was that our waitress seemed rushed off her feet at times. A very happy 8.75/10

The Bill

15 to 1

The below is Susanna's sent from Toby's computer and thus says Posted by Toby at the end in error.

fifteen to one

I had high hopes of 15 but must sadly say the restaurant, the food and the service, was appalling. Of course it was lovely to spend time with my fellow diners and I particularly enjoyed getting more than a little tipsy with Julia.
I have very little to say about the uninspired food, so here is a list of my key complaints:

1) The meal was grotesquely over price for what it was.
2) We had to chase our drinks in the bar and were told to be patient as the bar was 'backed up with orders'.
3) No one came to the bar to let us know our table was ready.
4) The room downstairs was airless, over heated, and badly lit.
5) There were at least four couples with over-tired, strung out young children (please leave them at home).
6) The tasting menu was not a tasting menu at all. We had to do all that hard work choosing all four of our courses.
7) All of my courses which were supposed to be hot were on the cold side of tepid.
8) One of my courses (the duck ravioli) was inedible and sent back to the kitchen. The replacement was equally bad. There was no apology for this and it was not reflected in the (grotesquely overpriced) bill.
10) The somelier kept mixing up our wines.
11) He served a rather strong red wine with the halibut. I would have preferred a dry white.
12) The food was bland and utterly soulless - clearly cooked in a formulaic way with no flair (only my first course was good and that was very much an assembly job: prosciutto, rocket, mint, pommegranite, balsamic vinegar etc.).

I think this was far worse than my last failry awful choice. I give 15 1 out of 10.