I have been dying to dine at Le Garrick for a long while now and I am glad that I have finally made it. Le Garrick is a family run French Brasserie restaurant owned by Brendon for 25 years before handing down his heart and soul to Charles and Dominika. Le Garrick serves classic and regional dishes from southwest of France in a low lit brasserie; the French restaurant is based in the heart of Covent Garden, London. Upon arrival; I immediately felt the warmth from the staff as they welcomed us at the door. As we made our way down the spiral staircase we were guided to our sweet table under the exposed brick arch with a welcoming drink of prosecco (with grenadine and strawberries, yuuumm). The room was low lit so I was in the mood to enjoy my evening with my fabulous colleague and friend for a meal to remember! The menu looked all too delicious so I asked the lovely lady who was serving us to recommend what we should have. Are you ready for this? Here are her recommendations throughout the whole evening and I couldn’t be more satisfied from the French expert herself:
To start off with; our grumbling stomach dived into some Foie gras du Sud Ouest: which is a traditional southwestern French dish served with toasted brioche- accompanied with slice poached pears. The Foie gras was deliciously smooth, thick in texture and matched perfectly with the sweet pears. I could have had seconds but there were more to come so I behaved.
Cassolette de calamar à la plancha au piment d’espelette: The calamari dish was all about the sauce! Pan-seared calamari “basque” style with a touch of coriander, chilli and ginger. Well when I say ‘a touch'; it’s actually really flavoursome; you get a good kick off that chilli and ginger. Again, I dived into the sauce and soaked it up with bread as I waited for the next anticipated and final dish from the (Les Entrées) starters menu.
This was what we have been waiting for; there’s no better way to dine at a French restaurant without a tray of garlic snails.
Escargots de Bourgogne – 6 burgundy Snails cooked in garlic & parsley butter. This dish is pretty special; a homemade recipe from Le Garrick granny herself; probably the best snails I’ve ever had! Again; it’s something about their sauce that’s creating French magic for me.
The starters were delightful and we were so ready to tuck into our main. Again, there were too many mouthwatering dishes to choose from; so our saviour French lady who recommended the starters picked out the best and popular dishes in the Les Plats section. So what did we order:
Faux filet sauce au poivre ou béarnaise: 8 oz chargrilled rare breed rib eye steak served with fries and béarnaise sauce. We had our steak medium rare and I just had to take a picture of the meat..this is what I call medium rare! It was deliciously juicy and succulent and everything you would hope for in a rib eye steak. The portion was huge so we decided to split the dish between us so we can sample our second main dish as well.
Confit de Canard et ses haricots verts: Classic honey glazed duck “confit” served with minted French green beans. Being Chinese, I enjoy my duck whatever the ocassion and the crispy skin on that beautiful duck confit…you know it’s going to be a good one when you tap that knife on that crispy skin. The duck was tender; packed full of flavours with that sweet honey glaze and balanced with the French crunchy green beans. We also ordered a side of wiltered spinach; cooked with a touch of garlic and butter.
Last but not least; we have reserved our tummy for some desserts; there’s no way we were going home without some sweet delights after a giant meal for two girls!
To finish both of us off; we ordered the Crème brulée and Fondant au chocolat; a warm chocolate fondant served with vanilla ice-cream. Both of these desserts were to die for and that caramel shell was literally so glossy like glass; it had a good crunch…a Crème brulée crunch. Out of the two desserts I have to say that the warm chocolate fondant did it for me; I am a massive sucker for chocolate and I was completely guilty when finishing off the whole plate.
My verdict? I will for sure come back again; my friend literally died and went to French heaven whilst I grew out a food baby! The team in Le Garrick were so friendly; we threw in so many hugs and kisses on our way out.
Bastille Day is coming up real soon on Tuesday 14th July; the French National Day that commemorates the beginning of the French Revolution of 1789! Le Garrick will be transforming their restaurant with patriotic flags, banners and play the national anthem all night (maybe not all night) and they will be offering a shot of Poire for all diners too! Score! Come down and enjoy what the French has to offer!
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