L'Etranger opened around five years ago in a well-heeled area of Kensington in Gloucester
Road. A big emphasis was placed on their wine list, but another USP was the intriguing
food philosophy of chef Jerome Tauvron. Jerome is French through and through, but
he always had a great respect for Japanese food, so when he got the opportunity to
do his own thing, he set about creating dishes which combine the cuisine from both
countries.
On our two visits there for lunch we found some impressive dishes that were certainly
not over the top as far as combinations were concerned and the Japanese elements
of the cuisine were sensibly integrated into the French. For example a salmon tataki
salad with sesame sauce had the salmon correctly seared on the outside and sliced
to produce a super-fresh, moist inside. (Tataki is usually done with tuna, but this
was a perfectly acceptable alternative). Another starter could be a Pak Choi, Edamame
and Shiitake salad, with the Edamame ( a tasty and delicious soybean) setting off
the contrasting flavours of the Pak Choi and the Shiitake very well. More conventional
starters to be found may include a cèpe velouté or a pig's trotter salad with black
truffle. East meets West main courses could be braised fillet of sea bass with ponzu,
ginger and coriander - very aromatic, or a plum and red wine poached cod.
More conventional is a confit shoulder of lamb with grilled aubergines or a cèpes
risotto. There's perhaps less scope for combining east and west flavours in the desserts,
but the chocolate fondant with green tea ice cream is at least a good attempt. All
this is excellent value at £14.50 for two courses and £16.50 for three (plus 12.5%
"discretionary service charge") with a choice of four dishes in each course so you
are not hemmed in with a no choice situation if you want to go for the lunch menu
option. The lunch menu does change frequently, so you may not find any of these dishes
there when you go, but there will always be a choice of east meets west cuisine as
well as more conventional French.
The main menu continues on the same themes - in fact there are even more Japanese
choices than in the lunch menus, such as Shabu Shabu, Wagyu beef and sashimi platters
as well as mixtures such as magret de canard à l'orange with a white miso paste,
but we haven't tried any of those. You can also go mad on caviar (at a price) if
that is your bent. Of course, you can go à la carte at lunch time if you wish.
One of the big plusses of L'Etranger is its wine list. Nearly 1,000 bins embracing
wines from around the world, 20 dry wines by the glass, a good dessert wine list
and even a page of sakes just to keep you in the Japanese mood. The minuses are the
poor choice of half bottles of dry wines and, of course, the prices, which operate
on a pretty stiff mark up, although by no means the highest you will see in London.
But the really big plus for lunchers is some 25 wines on the "Lunch Wine List", where
an ever changing choice is put in at discounts of up to 50% off the regular price
of the wine. For example, you can drink Don PX Gran Reserva Bodega Toro Albala 1971
for £20 a half bottle instead of £40, or a bottle of Riesling Grand Cru Muenchberg
2002 from Domaine Ostertag for £35 instead of £69 in the evening, but you don't do
so well with Laurent Perrier N.V. Brut at £50 instead of £65, although I suppose
the £15 is not to be sneezed at if it is Laurent Perrier that you must have. Discounts
on other wines fall in between these two extremes.
Service is efficient and mainly French and the room, whilst being rather dark as
it is decorated in dark grey, has a fairly comfortable feel in a modernistic sort
of way, with reasonable space between tables. There is a small private room at the
end of the restaurant where you can practise power lunches. All in all, this is a
very pleasant way to spend an afternoon providing you forego the caviar.
Restaurant Ratings...
Food 42
Winelist 16
Service 9
Ambience 3
Value for Money 13
Total 83
L'Etranger 36, Gloucester Road London SW7 4QT. Tel: 020 7584 1118.
Open for lunch Sunday to Friday, 12:00 to 2:30, dinner Monday to Saturday, 6:30 to
10:45.
Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Amex.
Fixed price menus: £22 for Menu du Jardin (2 courses), £14.50 & £16.50 for 2 & 3
course set lunches. A la carte: Around £40 without wine, unless you go for the caviar
and the Wagyu beef, when it could go up to £200! There is a 12.5% "discretionary"
service charge added to each bill.
