Two weekend lunches - Trouvaille & Trompette

[Paul Bell]

Final post re: last weekend.

Lunch on Saturday was at La Trouvaille, it was the first time we had been back for about a year and the first lunchtime. The start was not promising as they have a Christmas lunch menu which is exactly the same as the menu outside their door three weeks ago but £6 a head more, someone is taking the piss!

Food was OK smoked salmon on a warm slightly rubbery potato pancake, steak with Ok chips, service was rubbish albeit there were three staff, two were very good one who was was a complete tosspot, guess which we had.

Overall the food was nowhere near as good as it used to be, I guess it is now at a good pub level (Angelsea Arms, Havelock etc) at considerably higher prices.

Sunday lunch at La Trompette was very good, it didn't hit the heights of previous meals but was very well rounded and enjoyable.

Grilled salmon with fennel fondue, followed by seven hour shoulder of lamb followed by baked alaska. Salmon perfectly cooked nice and light and fresh, the lamb rich and unctuous, the baked alaska was flamed at the table and was pleasant enough, with hindsight not really my thing, but it was worth ordering for the spectacle.

Paul

[Simon Majumdar]

Interestingly a colleague tried the new Bistro Trouvaille which opened yesterday and declared it "rubbish"

I have not been for about 4 months but am planning ( hangover post Xmas bash allowing ) to go on Friday.

[magnolia]

Weird...I also had lunch at La Trompette on Sunday, and I think that it's the bargain of the century at £23.50 for three very generous courses. I had never eaten there before though, so I can't comment on whether it's better/worse than before, but I can say it was pretty terrific and I'd definitely go back.

I was wondering about the fennel fondue, Paul, nobody at my table had it. Two of us had butternut squash soup which was creamy and delicious, and I was afraid it would take up too much room..but I had a little help from my friends, one of whom had pate on brioche (good but I thought it was a boring choice) and the other had spinach salad with blue cheese & pears. There were even a couple of other starters that I might have tried...so points for making it hard to decide. Pig's head was one.

I had magret of duck with sour cherries, and all I can say is, yum. Large portion, moist and meaty - with a bit of crispy edge. One person had chicken with wild mushrooms, which I didn't try because I'm not a chicken fan...and someone had the lamb which Gary mentions, outstanding. Still another person had venisonI believe - not my thing though. There were a couple of interesting-looking fish entrees, but I just don't know about ordering fish on sundays.

As for desserts, it has been a long time since I've been excited about a dessert menu before, and this one did it. Of course I had to go for the Baked Alaska. I have only had it twice before: once when I and my classmates made it in kindergarten (long story) which I don't remember, but my mother swears by it...and once many years later at The Monkey Bar in New York City. This one had a Christmas twist to it - panforte or something - that Italian christmas cake with dried fruit peel. I was also impressed by the cheese plate, lots of choices and proper presentation thereof...and profiteroles, which don't appear enough on menus these days in my opinion. Plus there was a twist on creme brulee and at least one other pudding that looked promising.

I will post on wines later...we had a fantastic odd-ball Champagne, a couple of reds, and a Chilean sweet wine that I'd never seen before.

Even the bread was good !

[Paul Bell]

La Trompette is indeed good value at £23.50 for three courses (albeit even better on Saturdays when you get the same menu for £19.50). Le Trouvaille on the other hand was definitely not good value at £22.50 for two courses of average food.

I wasn't saying the la Trompette was not as good as before just that when we have been before we usually come away thinking at least one dish was really excellent. This did not happen this time but they were all very good (and the Lamb was pretty close to excellent).

The leek fondue worked well with the salmon, although I guess it did make for a slightly 'sweet' tasting dish.

The chicken is very good, it is just that it is often on the menu and both of us had eaten it before.

The baked alaska was good because of the spectacle. I am not certain how keen the waiting staff are on people ordering it though.

Paul

[Vanessa]

Last Monday evening dinner @ La Trompette

Overall, somewhat disappointing with a few high notes. I have eaten better there.

I like the decor - the shades of brown and the textures which make walking into the place a pleasing experience. However the acoustics are not equipped for the loud, confident Chiswickian clientele.

Menu

Cream of butternut squash soup

Thinly sliced Angus beef with rocket, baby leeks & truffle oil

Baby spinach & Cashel blue salad with walnuts & spiced pears

Brochettes of duck hearts with chips cooked in duck fat and béarnaise sauce

Foie gras terrine with Pineau des Charentes jelly & toasted brioche (supp. £5)

Grilled red mullet with chorizo, fennel fondue & sardine vinaigrette

Confit of salmon with lardons, savoy cabbage, lentils & red wine

Deep fried sole fillet with tartare sauce

Duck magret with parsnips, griottine cherries & port sauce

Soupe paysanne with foie gras, duck confit, white beans & pistou

Seven hour cooked shoulder of lamb with chick peas & salsa verde

Free range chicken breast with wild mushrooms, cocotte potatoes & tarragon

Veal chop with black truffles, trompettes, creamed potatoes & meat juices (supp. £5)

Monkfish roast on the bone with pommes Sarladaise, caramelised endive & parmesan

Cod fillet with olive oil mash, red peppers, basil & aged balsamic vinegar

Roast skate with cauliflower puree, root vegetables & hazelnut oil

Assiette Citron

Chocolate profiteroles

Valrhona chocolate mousse

Caramelised banana with passion fruit & coconut

Baked vacherin with garlic, thyme, white wine & country bread

Prune & armagnac ice cream or blood orange sorbet

Sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream

Cheese from the board (supp. £5)

£30 for 3 courses, £40 for 4 courses incl. cheese

Coffee £3 Mineral water £3

12.5% service

I had the duck hearts - a risk for me as I'm not offal mad, but craved the chips & bearnaise. This turned out to be a complete surprise - the duck hearts were glorious - a generous portion, simply roasted over a fire, probably with thyme. Beautifully judged timing, delicate flavour, good texture. Bearnaise also quite delicious. But the chips, dear me, 4 (yes, four) geometrically cut rectangles stacked in a square; completely soft with no crust, tasting of slightly rancid duck fat. Either someone doesn't know how to cook chips, or duck fat is not suited to cooking them.

My companion was absolutely happy with his Angus steak salady thing - it looked good and tasted good.

Main courses for both of us were a real disappointment - I had the skate, he the monkfish. I am coming to the conclusion that fish is to be avoided in higher end restaurants until fashions change and they stop treating fish like meat. Particularly after my experience with Rosie's brill at the Sutton Arms. It is so rare to find that kind of well-judged fish cooking in the country with absolute respect for the main ingredient. My skate was grossly over-cooked, although the thinner underside next to the plate was better. The chef had gone for a crispy crust just like Eric Ripert talks about on his Q&A session here, but he had destroyed the inside of the fish along with it. And the crispy crust was hard and barely edible - I just couldn't see the point in it. The flavour of the fish was completely swamped by the meat jus used in the saucing. My dining companion had the same problem with this. Vegetables were in dice - looking like frozen veg but of course not. But I don't think serving them like this does anything for the eating experience. And the cauliflower puree, although tasting OK, had been turned into such a finely homogeonised(sp?), murky-coloured substance (with a hand-held blender?) that it gave me the willies eating it.

On a previous visit I had a very good experience with the cheese, so, knowing that my friend was paying, that he was feeling rather poor due to ridiculous car-repair bills, and bearing in mind his preference for white wine, I had ordered one of the cheapest - a Jurancon sec. Yellow and alcoholic is about all you could say about it, but I blame us for being cheap, rather than the restaurant.

This allowed me to have both cheese and dessert, in retrospect not a wise decision. Cheese turned out not a success. By then it was well after 10pm and the cheese board was tired, sweaty and depleted. Most infuriating was that after serving me they went and added a whole bunch of new cheeses and completely rejuvenated it. Also the French boy serving had no idea what the cheeses were and was bullshitting:

Boy: 'and this is an English cheese, Explorateur'

V: 'English?'

Boy: 'yes, English, Explorateur'

V: 'This is an English cheese?'

Boy: 'yes, English, Explorateur'

and so on. So I gave up. Then I pointed out a large piece of English hard cheese, he looked at it, I could see the wheels turning in his head as he was thinking what to say, and he announced 'Cheddar'. I suggested it was a bit pale for Cheddar but he insisted. On tasting, it certainly wasn't Cheddar and after a lot of toing and froing it turned out to be Kirkham's Lancashire - the worst bit of Kirkham's Lancashire I have ever tasted. All the cheeses were out of condition except for a bit of Epoisses. These guys could learn something from The Capital here, especially about having a cover for their cheese board. The investment would save them a lot in dead cheese.

Dessert: Assiette Citron for him, Sticky Toffee Pudding for him (he's a bloody foreigner, so that is exotic for him). I couldn't criticise my assiette: small scoop of lemon sorbet, small cylinder of lemon cheesecake and small tarte au citron. It's just that I'm not crazy about desserts in restaurants. It just isn't what I want at the end of the meal. I would have adored those things some time in the day, away from a main meal.

Espresso for me at the end.

Bill: £106 incl. 12.5% service. They don't leave a gap on the credit card slip

In general service was very good except for bullshitting cheese server. I'll be back, but the spectacles will be less rose-tinted and I will avoid the fish.

v

[macrosan]

I agree with you about fish, Vanessa. High end restaurants, unless they're fish specialists (such as Bernardin) have always disappointed me with fish. By contrast, any decent Italian restaurant in London seems to deal with it admirably. As they say in foreign lands, "go figure"

I can't believe you let the cheeseboard incident go by. Why didn't you insist they replenished the board ? Why did you pay for it ?

I thoroughly enjoyed my one visit to La Trompette, and I shall go again soon. But I'll avoid the fish, and maybe the cheese too

[Vanessa]

I agree with you about fish, Vanessa. High end restaurants, unless they're fish specialists (such as Bernardin) have always disappointed me with fish. By contrast, any decent Italian restaurant in London seems to deal with it admirably. As they say in foreign lands, "go figure" 

I can't believe you let the cheeseboard incident go by. Why didn't you insist they replenished the board ? Why did you pay for it ?

I thoroughly enjoyed my one visit to La Trompette, and I shall go again soon. But I'll avoid the fish, and maybe the cheese too 

I had excellent experience with the cheese board there before, which is why I went for it especially, and was completely flummoxed with what I got. I find it difficult to complain on the spot unless there is a clear case of something being (e.g.) uncooked, or not what I ordered. But at least I get the pleasure of complaining vociferously here .

v

[Scottf]

Write or email them Vanessa. I'm sure the chef/manager would appreciate hearing your comments. If you don't complain and they don't realise what's going on they can't do anything about it.

I've just emailed a restaurant I went to last night that gave Sam the most expensive wine by the glass without giving a choice, especially as there were less expensive options available. If that's their standard practice fine, there's plenty of other restaurants. If a mistake's been made at least they know.

[Kikujiro]

Re. the skate and monkfish -- not that they have an excuse, 'cos they don't, but I tend to avoid fish on a Monday.