www.etranger.co.uk
We had eaten at l'etranger only once before, but decided to take our friends there for dinner. We thought it would be a great place to get a taste of London, as we all live out of town. Outside of London you can find wonderful 'country park' and 'boutique' hotel restaurants. If you are looking for something that is edgy and cool, with oodles of sophistication, but without the starch collared structure of a fine dining establishment, then London is the place you need to go.
I suppose it must be the wealth in the city that allows this kind of place to exist. The kind of place where you can have an informal semi-reasonable meal or spend over a grand on tasting menus and wine, a truly flexible dining experience. To give you an idea of the coolness factor, we are all in our twenties, and although we didn't see anyone in there younger than us, I felt a tinge of 'out of towner'. All diners were dressed well, 'rich/pseudo-intellectual sports casual' if that means anything to you.
L'etranger describes itself as a fusion restaurant - Japanese meets French, which personally, is not something I look for in a meal. If it doesn't sound like your bag either, do not let it put you off. The most Japanese element of my steak with truffled polenta chips and peppercorn sauce was the Japanese plate it was served on. If however, nipponch cuisine is exactly what you have been missing in your life, then there were curiosities (like Tuna Tataki with Foie Gras Shavings & Truffle Ponzu Jelly) on the menu to appease you.
The thing that impresses you the most are the quirky theatricals you witness, from the elegance of the olive bread sticks to the presentation of the courses. The attention to detail really served to prove that money had been spent on the right things and that you were somewhere a little special. The cutlery and glassware were über-sleek, the menu (sadly I did not photograph this) was printed on pearlized paper held in a handsome wallet.
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| Black and green olive pastry sticks. |
Every time a course arrived there would be something at the table you had not seen before to capture the imagination, like the deconstruction of foie gras with foie gras lolly pops, foie gras creme brulée, and a test tube of plum wine!
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| Scallops with Parmesan purée in a shaved wood strip. |
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| Foie gras three ways, with mushroom brioche and plum wine. |
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| Calamari with lime and chilli sauce. |
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| Five tomato salad with burrata, basil sorbet, and truffled balsamic pearls. |
So we went to town, we started with cocktails, then we had starters, then we had mains with wine (from an extensive list) made more alluring by the fact that we could espy the glass walled wine room from our table.
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| All four of us chose the fillet for the main course. |
We then shared a dessert 4 ways, which may seem impossible to you, but it was a platter of chocolate in 7 different incarnations including a mousse with orange, a bitter chocolate sorbet, chocolate fondant, an opera cake, and even a dark chocolate and truffle ganache.
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| Death by chocolate - seven ways. |
To top off our night we had a flight of 6 dessert wines (which we also shared among us). They had carefully selected 6 wines of increasing intensity. Starting with a light semi-sweet apple nosed wine to an aged pedro ximénez that clung heavily to the sides of the glass, a tar like nectar with the deep sweetness of liquorice, treacle and raisins.
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| They brought all the bottles to the table for us to see... and check out the cool table lights! |
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| The holders for our flight of dessert wines were very fun and futuristic. |
We were there for hours and we had truly taken advantage of the spectrum of delights they had to offer. The service was what you might expect at the finest establishments, the food was rich, delicious and comforting yet sharp and thought provoking. If you are looking to have a unique 'London' night or just want to be fed well and in comfort, then this place is for you. An intimate and classy joint that tickles with its play on food yet does not compromise your stomach's enjoyment in the process!
