I met up with some of my oldest school friends last week. They are usually scattered all over the world, but currently a handful of them find themselves distributed around London. We decided to meet in Central so I suggested one of my favourite new venues just off Picadilly Circus.
Even over text message, I could sense the raised eyebrows of
my discerning lady friends upon this suggestion. Picadillly Circus comes with
all the stigma of 5 years of Jewel Bar and China White style awfulness, the
try-hard and touristy Smirnof Ice Bar *shudder*, The Trocadero (enough said)
and all the sleaze and grease that they bring.
These associations, when combined with the word “Brasserie”
was nearly enough to put Dunya off coming all together but upon descending the stairs to
the high ceilinged, cool marble welcome of Brasserie Zedel she text me “I’m inside… amazing place.”
So the location is only the first surprise at Brasserie Zedel.
The interiors are overwhelmingly beautiful – done up in nineteenth century
French decadence; gold guilt ceilings, long marbled bars, mahogany accents, the
works. Just walking into the room is enough to make anyone feel like Owen
Wilson in Midnight in Paris (sorry to those of you who hate the film.
Personally, I enjoyed it).
The next surprise is the menu, swiftly followed by the
price. The starters are simple, fresh, shareable and classic – egg mayonaisse,
celeriac remolade, foi gras parfait, oysters etc. They are priced between £3
and £7, making it easy enough to sample what you want within a group.
The mains are simple and less rich than you might expect
from decadent French Style cooking – we had bream in sauce vierge and cod
goujons with light, piping hot pommes frittes and tender stem broccoli coated
in almonds.
Wine varies in price but at an entry level of £6 for a
carafe of good pinot blanc, will suit all budgets and tastes. I always like to
see a good cremant on a menu too – at £21 for a bottle, this is what you might
pay for a champagne of equal quality in an Odd Bins.
The cocktails really deserve a dedicated post, but for now I'll stick to telling you about The Calloway. This is more desert than cocktail and far sweeter a drink than I'd usually go for, but it deserves an exception. It's made from port, egg white, bourbon and crème de figue shaken together in a boston, poured into a martini glass and garnished with chocolate shavings. It's like drinking silk.
We finished with a blackcurrant sorbet - replacement for the passion fruit one
that was ordered but had sold out due to high demand. This news was delivered
by a chiselled French waiter with a voice like salted caramel. “We are sorree,
but zere eez no passion fruit, wee ‘ave run aut of zee passion fruit. Would you
mind ‘avin zee blackcurrant’. Needless to say, no one minded. We considered
ordering more just so he’d come back but by that point, were achingly full and
giggling like that again seemed too much effort.
Zedel solves the age old problem of where to hold a birthday
party that everyone can afford to attend but feels special too. It also creates
an occasion to dress up in itself – well you wouldn’t want to be out-shone by
the venue would you?
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