Angelus

I recently had dinner with EC, her boyfriend JB, CL and YY, and one of EC's friends at the recently opened Angelus. The owner, Thierry Tomasin, used to be chief sommelier at Le Gavroche, and then manager at Aubergine. The chef is Olivier Duret in his first gig as head chef, and in his first gig in London.

The restaurant is located in Lancaster Gate, in the Bayswater area that's starting to get gentrification spillover from Notting Hill. It only took 9 years. I believe the restaurant used to be a pub, but it has been entirely redecorated to an Art Deco style. When the Pretty Lady and I arrived, we were waved through to the lounge, which smelt strongly of jasmine and lavender, which was nice but not great for drinking wine. I thought about having an aperitif, but the whiskies were run of the mill official bottlings, although the armagnacs looked interesting. However, the rest arrived and we were soon shown to our table downstairs.

Angelus
4 Bathurst Street
London W2 2SD
020 7402 0083

No amuse-bouches or petit fours unfortunately. I don't agree with this - after all while representing a cost to the restaurant they are an opportunity for the chef to show off his talents. Maybe it's teething pains.

Having said that, the sommelier was helpful. While our table of seven had a variety of main courses, from fish to duck to veal, he was able to select a red wine to suit. The wine was served in large balloon goblets, almost resembling brandy glasses, but with a more rounded bottom. My friends were less inclined to drink than I was, and so (sadly), we only ordered a single bottle.

I found the menu quite interesting, but because my system is to order what everyone else isn't ordering (so that I can try as many dishes as possible), I ordered fairly regular stuff. Unfortunately I only tried the Pretty Lady's food, as conversation was flowing all around, and it would have been rude to interrupt. I regretted missing the foie gras creme brulee, which seemed to be the most interesting and popular dish.

Anyway, I started off with foie gras and veal terrine. The menu on the website insists it comes with celeriac remoulade, but mine came with a salad of mixed leaves - slightly disappointing, although the terrine was impeccably excuted and the toast fingers were perfect. I then had parsley crusted veal fillet, stewed girolle mushrooms and parmesan cream. Again, the menu on the website asserts that there was bacon "lou capou", but I have to confess that I don't know what that is, much less if it involves mushrooms. The veal was slightly disappointing - tough, a little stringy, and flavourless, like a poor cut of pork. I then ended with the cheese plate. It had 4 cheeses, roquefort, comte vache and 2 others which I can't remember - the best dish of the night really. Superb quality, loads of flavour, and raisin bread! Overall, good, but not great.

The Pretty Lady fared better. She started out with scallops with watercress veloute and avruga caviar. The scallops were sliced thin (slightly more done than I prefer, but just the way the Pretty Lady likes it), layered in a plate, drizzled with the bright green veloute, and each slice topped with a sprinkling of caviar. Fresh, clean tasting seafood accented by the watercress and with a burst of flavour from the caviar.

She then moved on to duck l'orange, minced leg of duck and herb salad, which was done to her taste (less pink). I couldn't taste the orange, and the herb salad was run of the mill, but she liked it. Again, the verdict seemed to be good, but not great. For dessert she had 2 chocolate mousses, a brownie and caramel ice cream. The caramel ice cream was excellent - caramel in the ice cream itself, not a swirl or in chunks. That's quite unusual.

Good but not great sums Angelus up nicely for me. There were splashes of brilliance, like the wine, and the Pretty Lady's starter, but they were balanced out by disappointments, like my veal. I thought the meal was expensive at the price, especially when there were few of the little touches that make restaurant dining enjoyable.

Scores:

3 May 2008: TFQ = 21, CS = 24, S = 16, AD = 7, VfM = 5. Total = 73 points.

What does this mean?