Gargotte in Camden

Un caffè francese, nel cuore di Londra…A due passi dal British Museum. Un apparente paradosso ma che in realtà è perfettamente integrato nel contesto e offre l’occasione di una pausa pranzo o di una merenda davvero gradevole, in un ambiente delizioso.

Lovely macaroons! I love the variety of the flavors and the quality of the cookies.

I was a bit disappointed considering this is a Michelin starred restaurant. Went for the three course dinner. Had a booking for 6, arrived ten minutes early and they wouldn’t open the doors to let any of the diners in so we had to wait in the cold and then queue to be sat down until after 6. Why not start bookings from 6.15 instead? We had winter tomato salad and ragu spaghetti for start which were both nice. Mains were guinea foul and hake - both were fine but overly salted and no better than you’d get in a gastropub. Desserts were the best part with a rice pudding crème brûlée and french toast which were both lovely. However, toward the end of our meal the restaurant got more busy and the staff were unable to keep up - we found ourselves totally ignored for over 20 minutes. I noticed other tables with dirty plates left on them too. Overall, it was a nice meal but nothing special and definitely below expectations.

I had an absolutely outstanding experience at Pied a Terre where I had the vegan 4-course lunch menu and cocktails. Food was exquisite, the watermelon 'tuna' was particularly well done. Even someone who regularly eats meat said the vegan dishes were excellent. To round off the experience, the cocktails were delicious and well presented. The restaurant itself is beautiful, and having spoken with the owner, David Moore, I discovered more about the artwork which was produced by resident artists. At lunchtime on a weekday, the restaurant was pleasantly busy - a good atmosphere without being noisy or crowded.

The food was absolutely delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed all three courses. The service we received from our waiter was also excellent. We had a lovely evening at Mon Plaisir which felt like a little piece of Paris in London!