The Boundary, London, UK

The Boundary offer three dinner choices: the Boundary restaurant located in the basement of the building, Albion on the ground floor, and the roof terrace.

I went to the Boundary restaurant for a Sunday brunch with a friend and we eventually ordered a French brasserie classic dish: a half roasted Landes chicken.

Something silly and not very interesting, but that I want to share anyway. Anytime I see poultry, it reminds me of the ad for Compete for the meat, made by Dave. I still do not know what this show is but I know it is for people who want some British poultry.

Regarding my French poultry, it was a fat chick. Nice and tender but the skin was too soft while I was dreaming of a crispy skin like the spit roasted chicken that can be found in any French market. It came with wilted spinach, roasted potatoes and some whole roasted carrots for the British touch.

Landes roasted chicken

The pudding was more elaborate. It was a refreshing passion fruit parfait.

Passion fruit parfait

Some chocolate-coated candied orange to go with a fresh mint tea.

Cost~ £30

Dinner by Heston, London, UK

Mandarin Oriental has made some brilliant dining choices lately. After opening Bar Boulud and the highly anticipated Dinner by Heston in London, Mandarin Oriental has appointed Thierry Marx, the Bruce Willis of nouvelle cuisine to head its Paris branch (opening 28 June).

Due to open in February, the new restaurant of the famous Fat Duck head chef has quickly been fully booked until summer. Since I had been calling Mandarin Oriental since December 2010 in order to secure a table, we were lucky enough (and persistent) to get a booking for the second week after the opening. (And Yes, we are in June, which means that it took me a mere 4 months to write the review...and the menu may have changed since.)

To start, I had a delicious saffron risotto. The rice was cooked to perfection with and intense but not overwhelming saffron flavour. It came with small bites of calf tail that were melting in the mouth. A delicate and fragant dish.

Rice and flesh

The broth of lamb was very good as well with a slow cooked egg, celery, radish, turnip and sweetbreads. It was an interesting combination of textures in a tasty broth.

Broth of lamb

The beef royal came with a very soft puree, and bites of ox tongue. It was maybe one of the least original dishes on the menu but was well done.

Beef royal

The pigeon was a marvel. Once again, the meat was perfectly cooked and had a fabulous spicy ale jus.

Spiced pigeon

We shared a platter of British cheeses, which were good but I still prefer French cheeses (think melting Epoisses, creamy Brillat-Savarin or aged Beaufort with salt crystals...)

British cheese

The poached rhubarb dessert was brillant and had a perfectly balance of sweetness and tartness.

Poached rhubarb

I liked less the taffety tart, as I found that the blackcurrant was overpowering. And as a matter of fact, the taffety tart was too tart.

Taffety tart

To finish our meal we had a complimentay Earl grey ganache that was creamy, sweet, and with an intense tea flavour.

Earl grey ganache

We had a very pleasant time at Dinner, eating lovely food with view on the park. We were not as amazed as at the Fat Duck, but we have not been disappointed by the quality of the food at Dinner by Heston. The attention given to each of the dishes gave them the same perfection in terms of flavour and cooking we had experienced at the Fat Duck.

Cost:

Starter: £12.50-£16

Main: £20-£36

Dessert: £8-£10

Bar Boulud, London, UK

Bar Boulud is a French restaurant serving Lyonnais cuisine at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. Having read a lot about the decadent burgers at Boulud, we headed to Knightsbridge for lunch. The menu is full of mouth-watering Lyonnais charcuterie and it is quite tempting to try everything. However as this was not a realistic option, we went for the three-course lunch menu which sounded like a excellent deal at £20.

The starters were simple: a lamb terrine served with gherkins, and pickled mackerel with gribiche sauce, a mayonnaise style cold sauce with pickles and tarragon. The lamb terrine was pretty original with a good balance of spices and meat. It was delicious and unexpected.

Lamb, aubergine and sweet potato terrine

Pickled mackerel with gribiche sauce

The main courses were a little bit too oily. The Coq au Vin was not as I was expecting, it tasted fine but the wine flavour was almost nonexistent. It was served with a little casserole of spätzle which were too greasy and far from being as good as the one I had in Germany. The sole was extremely disappointing. I like when fish is served fresh and almost untouched. Here it was between pan and deep fried. So greasy it would not taste like a sole anymore. Vegetables were fine but the portion was small overall. We know from other people who went before that a lot of dishes on the menu are delicious, including their burgers. So we hope it was only bad luck for us on the mains.

Coq au vin

Spätzle

Almond crusted lemon sole

For pudding, we tasted a few things. Everything was good and nicely presented.

Vanilla and raspberry ice-cream

Basque cake

Coupe Mont Blanc:

apple and tonka compote,

chestnut ice cream and chantilly

Mme and Mr Sardine would warmly recommend for various reasons: (1) it serves some very good food for a decent price (2) it is very central and can be a good spot for lunch while spending the day in central London (3) the venue is warm and cheerful with a spotless service.

Cost: £20 for the lunch 3-course menu

Les Bories, Avignon, France

Les Bories is a Spa Hotel located in a the small village of Gordes in the Luberon. The Hotel has a one Michelin star restaurant serving delicate Provence cuisine in a breathtaking area. And it is very easy to access Gordes either from Marseille or from Avignon, through the motorway.

Tomato concassé and croutons

Cavaillon melon and lobster tempura

Seabass and verbena jelly

Beef fillet with truffle and mash potato cube

Cheese platter

Strawberry

Raspberry macarons, chocolate mousse, banana sweets

The first starter tasted a bit like a very good pizza base with good tomato paste and a lot of herbs. But nothing really mind blowing. The lobster tempura with melon was a funny one: we separately liked the lobster tempura a lot and we also liked the melon (which is a specialty of the region) but we are still wondering why we had the two on the same plate because we could not see any benefit at all.

The seabass was clearly the highlight of the menu and was the first display of true technique and taste of a one Michelin star restaurant. The texture was spot-on and the ingredients were fresh and simply cooked. Really nicely done. The beef fillet dish proved disappointing: although the meat was tender and well cooked, the truffle was tasteless and the potato cube, which had been prepared long before and just reheated before serving, left an impression of powdery texture.

Fortunately, things got better with cheese and pudding. The cheese platter was really impressive: all the classics were there, along with some very interesting not so well known names. The waiter must have realised we lived abroad when both Mme Sardine and I asked him to taste about ten different cheeses each. Desserts were quite good and allowed us to finish on a refreshing note.

The sommelier proved quite helpful and original, coming up with a very interesting "Vin de Pays" from the Rhone region at £30-40.

Overall, Les Bories deserves its reputation, thanks to a spotless venue and some very interesting dishes. Yes the menu lacks consistency but it is probably one of the best choices you could make for a sunny escape in the Vaucluse region.

Cost:
Tasting menus €52 / €70 / €92

Monsieur Sardine

Bistrot Bruno Loubet, London, UK

After having my bouillabaisse in Marseille, I did not expect to have the opportunity to have another one anytime soon. But bless you London for all you have to offer! We went to Bistro Bruno Loubet by total chance, and I was most excited to see a bouillabaisse in the menu.

As I had been to zumba class in the morning I had to offset the calorie loss and suggested to Mr Sardine to share the "Mauricette snails, meatballs and Royale de champignons" as a starter. That was my best idea of the day.

Mauricette snails, meatballs with royal de champignons

This was such an amazing starter. Surprisingly, the most tasty part of the dish was not the snails but the tomato sauce that had such a strong flavour that I suspect it was prepared with tomato confit. Royale de champignon sounds totally French but I had never heard of such dish. It was a light mushrooms mousse perfumed with truffle oil.

Farm rabbit leg, filled with a harb farce, 

carrot purée, young vegetables

I do not undestand why some people in England will not eat rabbit because it is supposedly a cute animal. Rabbit is far from being an endanger species, and is not lovelier than a cow, or is it? Anyway, I like rabbit but do not cook it often because there are so many bones to get rid of. Therefore, Mr Sardine did not miss the opportunity to order some rabbit at Loubet. These rabbit legs tasted very good but were slightly undercooked. It came with a large amount of vegetables, which was enjoyable but unfortunately, half of the baby leeks were raw. Maybe it was not supposed to be eaten but what is the point to put it on the plate then?

Bouillabaisse

I am not good at recognizing fish species but I could count at least 4 or 5 different fish cuts in my soup, and I trust Bruno Loubet for using scorpionfish, conger and sea robin to make a proper bouillabaisse. The bouillabaisse I had in Marseille was a thick fish soup with pieces of fish, while this one was a clearer broth. I do not know which one is more authentic, but I enjoyed Loubet's bouillabaisse a lot as it was tasty and light.

Cost: Starters: £6.50 - £8.50

Mains: £14.50 - £18.75

Chef Bruno Loubet

Afternoon Tea at the Connaught, London, UK

Booking a Sunday afternoon tea in London with a one-day notice is almost mission impossible. I finally managed to book a table for two at the Connaught in Mayfair, where I had already enjoyed the brunch at Hélène Darroze's restaurant.

In the Espelette salon (front room by the window on the left), where tea is served, time seems to slow down, and allows you to eat endlessly, tiny bite by tiny bite (which eventually piles up to the calorie equivalent of half a cow).

This time, I did not fall in the scone trap. For those who have never experienced afternoon tea, remember that a scone is made of 4/5 flour and 1/5 butter, and imagine yourselves eating a very compact piece of this bread with clotted cream (a Cornish specialty halfway between butter and cream), wash it down with 2 liters of tea, witness you stomach expanding and then you will understand what the scone trap is.

The £35 afternoon tea includes finger sandwiches, an assortment of pastries, scones with clotted cream and jams, cakes and tea. Add £10 to £30 for a glass of Champagne.

Finger sandwiches

Chicken with Granny Smith apple, Greek yoghurt and chives

Cucumber and dill cream

Smoked salmon and wasabi cream Free range egg with home-made mayonnaise and watercress

Pastries

Clotted cream

Baba in an orange and passion fruit jelly

Financier biscuit, apricot mousse and orange blossom marshmallowRaspberry and pistachio tart
Upside down blueberry cake

Poppy and Strawberry “choux”

Hazelnut Dacquoise, chocolate ganache and salty caramel moussePeaches flavoured with verbena “Charlotte”

Plain and apricot scones

Christine Ferber (the Queen of confitures) jams:

Raspberry with violet

Peach

Passion fruit

Honey

Cakes

Rose and Raspberry Cake
Chocolate Cake

The range of finger sandwiches was not large but they proved quite tasty. Their size however was slightly too large, particularly the fat-finger eggs and mayo ones. The choice of pastries was brilliant, and almost as delightful for the eyes as the fantastic fancies from the Prêt-à-Portea at the Berkeley. After all that, we had no space left for the cakes and had them packed in a doggy bag (yes, a Mayfair hotel doggy bag, and we were not the only ones to ask for it).

The Afternoon Tea at the Connaught is definitely in my top 3 in London, along with Brown's and Berkeley's. But I have not tried Ritz's yet.

Cost: 35GPB to 65GBP