Le Garrick - Unbeatable Pre- and Post-Theatre Menu Deals in Covent Garden

Name: Le Garrick 

Where: 10-12 Garrick Street, London WC2E 9BH, http://www.legarrick.co.uk

Cost: The average price of a three-course dinner is around £30 not including drinks or service. Starters from the a la carte menu cost from £5.50 to £9.50, main courses range from £11.95 to £24.95, side dishes are £4.00 to £4.50, and desserts are £6.50. There is a cheese board of three French cheeses with baguette, priced at £10. The restaurant offers a pre- and post-theatre menu available from noon until 6.30pm and after 10.00pm, at £13.50 for 2 courses or £16.45 for 3.  

About: Le Garrick is a French bistro-restaurant which is celebrating its 30th year of existence in Covent Garden. An independent, family-run business by restauraters Dominika and Charles Lepelletier, it is situated opposite the Garrick Club, and over the road from hip Peruvian restaurant Lima Floral.

The ground floor level has a few window tables, while the main restaurant is situated in the basement, an atmospheric candle-lit spot. I personally prefer the airier and brighter ground floor level

Ground Level

Ground Level

The offering from head chef Rocco Ahoune is unmistakably French, with a small menu of classic dishes like moules mariniere, Burgundian snails, steak frites and confit de canard.

Basement Level

Basement Level

What We Ate: From the specials menu, we started with the cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs £7). Pan-fried and served with chopped onions, red pepper, ginger, lemongrass and coriander, these were zingy and delicious.

From the regular menu, we chose the cassolette de calamars a la plancha au piment d'Espelette (grilled squid rings with Espelette pepper £7.50). Served in a rich, peppery and garlicky sauce, these were also good and well seasoned.

The escargots de Bourgogne (snails Burgundy-style £8.25), though tiny, they were deliciously tender, served with a maitre-d'hote butter with garlic and parsley.

For main course, the Entrecote grillee (£24.95) featured a 14 oz (400g) chargrilled 28-day aged rib-eye steak on the bone. The steak was cooked medium rare as requested, it was soft and tender, but it lacked caramelisation and depth of flavour.

The steak was not helped by its accompanying Béarnaise sauce, which sadly was not freshly made. It was disappointing to be served ready-made Bearnaise out of a bottle. Similarly the chips were dry and tasteless like they had been cooked from frozen - I'm happy to have these at home as a quick side in a rushed mid-week meal, but in a restaurant I expect chips to be hand cut and freshly made.   

The daily special main course was a whole grilled plaice (carrelet entier - £18.95), served with chopped black olives and a balsamic glaze, with boiled potatoes glazed in butter.  This was an uninspiring dish, pleasant enough to eat but a tad dry.

Side orders were the lovely petit pois Grand-Mere (£4.50), made with peas, bacon and whole baby-onions, and the haricots verts or green bean (£4.00), simply tossed in butter, with hints of fresh mint, salt and pepper.

We finished with a fondue to share (£13.50). Made with a whole cheese from Fromager des Clarines, Jean Perrin, from Franche-Comte, this was actually not a Vacherin as described on the menu but still pretty decent and a very adequate cheese course.

To finish, the crème brulee was a simple but classic dish, well made and flavoured with vanilla seeds (£6.50).

What We Drank: The wine list is exclusively French, with a good range of wines and Champagnes by the glass. The entry level wines, both priced at £19.50 per bottle, are the white wine from Pays de Cote de Gascogne at £19.50, and the red is a Pays de Vaucluse.

A glass of Viognier 2016, from Domain de Vedilhan, Pays d'Oc (£4.65) was rich, off-dry, buttery and soft.  

The Clos du Colombier 2014, a Cahors Malbec (£5.70 per glass) was well balanced and rich in berry fruit. The Roncier Rouge, a Pinot Noir - Gamay blend from Burgundy (£4.50), was light with very little tannin, and was a good match for the grilled fish. 

With the cheese, we had a glass of Bordeaux AOC Chateau Grimard 2015 (£5.40 per glass) - with a good weight of red and black berry fruit, soft tannins and satisfying length, this has enough richness to stand up to the rich creamy cheese. 

Likes: a classic French menu with good starters but disappointing mains. Excellent pricing for pre- or post theatre menus. We loved the whole cheese fondue.

Dislikes: Both our mains were disappointing and the fact that they serve bottled Bearnaise and frozen chips is not great. I found the basement dining room a little oppressive. I recommend reserving one of the 5 tables on the ground floor.

Verdict: At £16.45 for a 3-course pre- or post-theatre menu, few Central London restaurants can beat Le Garrick on price. Good selection of starters, great cheese fondue, and a range of French wines by the glass warrant a return visit!

Baiwei: Affordable and Tasty Sichuanese Food in Chinatown

Name: Baiwei

Where: 8 Little Newport Street, London, WC2H 7JJ

Cost: Starters/appetizers from £4.90, mains from £6.50, average spend per person £20 or less excl. drinks

About: Baiwei (100 Flavours in Mandarin), is the latest venture by successful restaurateur Shao Wei, who introduced us to Barshu, Bashan (reviewed here) and Baozi Inn in Soho, with food consultancy by writer and Chinese food specialist Fuschia Dunlop.

Baiwei is the most casual and also the most affordable addition to the group. Situated in a tiny townhouse on Little Newport Street between Leicester Square and Charing Cross Road, the restaurant stretches across a number of tiny rooms and floors. Most of the rooms fit no more than two tables, and the walls are dotted with hand-painted images from the Mao era. It specialises in comfort food from Sichuan and northern China.

Service is efficient, fast and helpful – our waitress was very enthusiastic to explanation all our queries (there were many!) on the various dishes on the menu. I rarely come across a menu which intrigues me as much as to make me want to try most of its dishes – Baiwei’s was certainly one.

What We Ate: One of Baiwei’s signature dishes, the catfish with sizzling chilli oil (£8.90), actually made from fresh cod on our visit, was served in a huge earthenware pot in chillied oil and beans sprouts, the cod was succulent and delectably flavoured with cooling, lip numbing Sichuanese pink peppercorns. A delicious and umami-laden dish.

Smacked cucumbers with garlic and fresh coriander (£4.90) is a favourite of mine and a must for any Sichuanese meals – Baiwei’s did not disappoint, it was a refreshing, cooling accompaniment to the other hotter, spicier dishes.

The twice-cooked belly pork with black bean and chilli (8.90) stir-fried with peppers and leek was also flavoursome and tender.

Another Sichuanese favourite is the fish fragrant pork slivers (£8.90) with picked chilli, ginger, garlic and spring onion. This was very good, with mildly hot and refreshing sourness and acidity from the fish fragrant sauce.

The spicy stewed beef with tofu knots was both intriguing and well flavoured (£12.90) – the stewing broth had an intense richness with flavours of star anis, cinnamon and Sichuanese peppers, while the brisket beef was meltingly tender and gelatinous, a real joy.

However the tofu knots had a chewy and unfortunate stale flavour about them – this is something I sometimes encounter in Chinese dishes with deep-fried tofu as factories will sometimes re-use oil which should have been discarded for deep-frying. This stale flavour can be partially avoided by rinsing the tofu in running boiling water before cooking, something I always do when cooking deep-fried tofu.

The Northern Chinese dish of spicy sizzling lamb with cumin (£14.90) is such as staple and one I nearly always order. Baiwei's take was good despite being served with green peppers rather than green chillies as described on their menu (none the worse for that though in my opinion).

To accompany this protein-chilli laden feast, we had our token vegetable dish - dry fried green beans with minced pork and preserved mustard greens (£8.90), which was a perfect example of its kind and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What We Drank: We enjoyed brown rice tea at £2 per person. The restaurant has a limited drinks menu with soft drinks and juices at £2.50 per glass, bottled water at £2.50, and one beer Tsing Tao for £3.50 a bottle.

Likes: The menu is large and well-illustrated, with a good range of Sichuanese, Hunanese and Northern Chinese dishes, with abundant dried and fresh chillies, Sichuan pepper, garlic and gelatinous cuts of meat.  Service is friendly and informative. 

Dislikes: Drinks menu is a tad limited – a glass of Coke for £2.50 is a little steep too. Tap water should be offered free of charge.

Verdict: A good & very affordable addition to the growing number of Sichuanese restaurants in Chinatown, introducing Londoners to regional Chinese dishes beyond the more familiar Cantonese staples. Recommended.