Cote Brasserie Islington Upper Street review - cheap and cheery French cuisine

Address: 4 - 6 Islington Green,
London N1 2XA
Tel: 020 7354 4666
Nearest Tube station: Angel

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £20pp
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: ****
Service: ****
Ambience: ****
"What time are you closing tonight?" I asked the waitress casually. "12 am," came the answer, "but luckily I'm not doing the closing." As our lunch progressed into the late afternoon, another shift gradually took over. Cote Brasserie, newly opened along Islington Upper Street, must be the only restaurant running after 6pm on Christmas eve - a relief for those who are staying put in London instead of braving the commute to families hundreds of miles away for Christmas.

"KJ is experimenting on the recipe I passed her," YQ murmured wistfully. He was in town again for a couple of days on a work trip. Well, KJ, if you are reading this, he was eying his phone half the time during the Christmas eve lunch we had with him, just in case you messaged him.

I recall Wife was quite excited about Cote Brasserie opening up a branch at our doorstep and rightly so. Already hailed as an affordable decent French restaurant chain, it won the "Best value restaurant" award given out by the Good Food Guide in 2009.

Other than the workers' cafes found along Chapel Market, there is hardly anything else to be had in the early morning within a five minute walk from Angel tube station. Cote Brasserie, which starts dishing out breakfasts at 8am, is a godsend in that respect.

However, the real deal is Cote Brasserie's set lunches - two courses for under a tenner from Monday to Friday. If you stop by during the weekends, you could elect to have either half a roast chicken or steak frites for just £9.95.



That was exactly what we had for our Christmas eve lunch. Both YQ and Wife was quite taken by Cote Brasserie's frites steak. Very thinly cut, still pink in the centre with grill lines cutting across it - a testament of flash grill the slender (and tender) steak had been subjected to.

In many ways, the dish is what you would imagine the French to feast on. Not a single ounce of fat on the steak (at least not visibly so). Even the accompanying frites were slender. Fried to a crisp, they are something for you to munch on if you so desire to spend the entire afternoon at the brasserie reading the newspapers laid out on the front table.



The old adage of food that tastes good probably isn't healthy surely doesn't apply to Cote Brasserie's roast chicken. Instead of overly marinating the chicken, the creamy gravy provided the taste to the evenly roasted chicken. I thought the chicken goes extremely well with a smatter of French mustard. For a carbo fix, there is always the potato gratin on the side.



We asked for a calamari and a creme caramel to share. The calamari (£5.95) was battered nicely with the right balance of salt and pepper. Juicy and fresh, it left me wanting more.



Creme caramel (£4.50) was a fitting end to the simple meal. Smooth and creamy, the caramel wasn't over the top - the lump in the throat feeling is the one thing that I abhor.



Cote Brasserie is known for its fuss free and affordable French cuisine and it didn't disappoint. The staff's service was all smiles and it is something that I can get used to. One more addition to the Angel's dining scene, I am already looking forward to the next year.




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Grand Imperial London Restaurant review - of scallops, prawns and abalones

Address: 101 Buckingham Palace Road,
London SW1W 0SJ
Tel: 020 7821 8898
Nearest Tube station: Victoria

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £100pp (ala carte)
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: ****
Service: ***
Ambience: ****
Mark Wood, the manager of Grand Imperial's London branch was a bit surprised that I have not been to any of the seven Grand Imperial restaurants in Malaysia with the first opened in Kuala Lumpur's Bangsar Shopping Centre despite my many visits there when I was back home.

What I didn't tell him is that I was at Kuala Lumpur (more affectionately known as KL by both Singaporeans and Malaysians) for the shopping (yes, Petronas Tower) and perhaps authentic Malaysian street fare rather than fine Cantonese dining that Grand Imperial has come to be known for. I can still vividly how long Wife and I spent roaming the streets and ducking into alleyways looking for that elusive Ampang yong tau foo and Hainan chicken cutlet. We weren't disappointed to say the least when we eventually found them.

YQ was in town again, just in time for Grand Imperial London's invitation for dinner. As always, we requested the staff to order on our behalf while we sat back and take in the ambience. Chinese pop music of the 80's and 90's were playing softly in the background. "I used to sing that at karaoke sessions back then," YQ recounted wistfully. I wouldn't be surprised if we are able to name the entire playlist that evening between the two of us.

There's this stigma for a restaurant being associated with a hotel; dowdy venues for buffet breakfasts immediately comes to mind. In this case, Mark was quick to point out that Grand Imperial London doesn't do breakfasts and it certainly isn't a hotel restaurant.



First up - roasted Peking duck (half for £24). The duck was first presented to us before having its slightly crisp skin sliced and choice cuts served on a platter. We were each provided with some wraps with sweet sauce (check) and cucumber slices. There was ample fat beneath the crisp skin; it just melts in your mouth.



As with most decent restaurants, the remaining bits of roast duck was diced and sautéed with garlic and mushrooms, and used as a filling for palm size iceberg lettuce leaf. A refreshing crunch that was though I thought the stir fry could do with a tad less garlic.



Sichuan hot and sour lobster soup (£8 each) was an apt appetizer. YQ pointed out that it wasn't as starchy as those served by run of the mill restaurants, which used it to hide the lack of fresh ingredients. With thinly cut red chilli stripes (and chilli oil for good measure) in the mix, this is not for those who can't take their chilli. Full bodied, the soup is the spicier version of the more familiar lobster bisque without the single cream.



The staff was quick to point out that the abalone used in the next dish was fresh unlike "those come in tins and require soaking overnight in water". The original abalone shell sat prettily on the dish for good measure. Thinly sliced, the abalone (£38) was braised with sea cucumber, prawns, dried scallops and shitake. This is one delicacy that is reserved for those who an appreciate the subtlety of abalone on the palate.



Sauteed beef cubes (£18) is another specialty at Grand Imperial London and it is easy to see why. None of that tough chewy steak chunks that are commonplace in London, we are talking about tender medium grilled beef chunks marinated with peppery sauce here. They almost tasted like tofu but with more texture. I would recommend going for this if you were to stop by Grand Imperial London.



Deep fried pork ribs (£12) was a request from us. After being spoilt by earlier dishes, the ribs paled in comparison. However, their succulents would make any Chinese restaurant proud. Borrowing the phrase from KFC, they were "fingers licking good", especially with the crispy ginger bits sprinkled on them.



Other than the usual oyster sauce and sesame oil, the "premium XO sauce" is another that features regularly in Cantonese dishes. Made mainly from dried scallops, fish and shrimps, the slightly spicy sauce is sold in small bottles usually under the Lee Kum Kee brand and is used as a flavor enhancer. Apparently, Grand Imperial London made theirs from scratch for the next dish, which I must say was rather overwhelming. Large scallops and huge prawns with broccoli (£24) jostling for our attention, all balancing precariously on a relative small bowl. I thought the scallops were a tad overcooked though we had a field day picking off the fresh juicy prawns.



Dessert was ginger tea with sesame ball (£7) and chocolate dimsum platter (£6). I was a bit skeptical about the dumplings (or sesame balls) initially and asked for that because like many Chinese restaurant in London, Grand Imperial London doesn't feature many other Chinese desserts (ice-cream sorbet and puddings form bulk of its dessert menu). Forget about those ten for £1.35 frozen packs you get from Chinese grocery stores for the dumplings at Grand Imperial London are the real deal. A thin silky smooth exterior with a generous helping of slightly sweet black sesame, each dumpling was easily the size of a small chicken egg. The accompanying ginger soup was nicely boiled and it did warm us up quite a bit. The staff assured us that everything is handmade in the restaurant's kitchen. That is reflected in the pricing as well - at £7 for two dumplings, they certainly don't come cheap.



I was curious about the chocolate dimsum that Times' Giles Coren came to Grand Imperial London specially for in his review of the restaurant. Essentially your average dimsum but instead of meat fillings, they are stuffed with milk chocolate (supplied by Divine chocolate as pointed by Mark). Grand Imperial London is also experimenting with stuffing mochi with chocolate and it was presented on the platter as well.

One thing about having someone on the same table is that you can always rely on their take on the dish. In this case, YQ summed it up in a sentence - "It feels a bit queer having chocolate stuffed in dimsum pastries, it's like your mind playing tricks on you". Likewise for the chocolate stuffed mochi, it would take some getting used to. Unlike the dumplings, Grand Imperial London's dimsum chocolate is clearly created for the local taste buds. Even so, don't pin too much hope on this.

Curiously, the Grand Imperial London's tea came in one of the largest teapots I have ever come across. While it doesn't require multiple fillings, it certainly gets cold easily - a minor inconvenience especially for those who are particular about their tea.



I spied a sizable private room on the side of the restaurant. The room concealed by inconspicuous sliding doors can easily seat twenty and is perfect for private functions. An full ala carte dinner at Grand Imperial London would probably set you back by just under £200 for two. Not exactly the place you would go for dinner every weekend though it does offer a couple of prix fixe menu starting from £35 per person (before service charge) if you prefer not to splurge. Besides, the restaurant has some decent deals with Toptable too. With the addition of a couple of Sichuan dishes, Grand Imperial London is departing from its Cantonese roots. But the thing is, we can all do with some of that Sichuan heat in London's wintry weather, can't we?




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C & R Malaysian restaurant - the original Malaysian restaurant in London's Chinatown

Address: 4-5 Rupert Court
London W1D 4DY
Tel: 020 7434 1128
Nearest Tube station:
Piccadilly Circus / Leicester Square

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £10pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: ***
Service: *
Ambience: **
It was the typical tropical afternoon. Though there was a light drizzle outside, it was still hot and humid in the building. Even with the absence of walls, the man's singlet was soaked through with sweat. He did don a light shirt, which original colour was barely discernible.

He was furiously at work. Honed by years of practice, he reached behind him and whipped out a bottle of dark soy sauce, a swig of that into the wok and the bottle was back in its place the next moment. He took a stab at the kuay teow (flat vermicelli noodles) followed by another and another in quick succession, further tossing it in the wok each time. Last added was a small scoop of still bloodied clams.

The dish was served on a waxed brown paper and quickly tied up with a piece of raffle string, carefully measured and cut the day before. Barely taller than the counter, I handed over the money that Mum entrusted me with and balanced the piping hot char kuey teow through a loop in the string that the 'char kuey teow man' had thoughtfully tied for me.

During my last visit back home, I travelled halfway across the island just to revisit the hawker centre at Stirling Road opposite Mei Chin School. I half expected the char kuey teow man still slogging over his wok. Wishful thinking on my part perhaps but not only was he was no longer there, his stall made way for an escalator, reflecting the aging population in the neighborhood after twenty odd years.

That was my memory of char kuey teow. To me, it's much more than the dish itself, it's the heat, humidity and the char kuey teow man of my childhood. And that was probably the sole reason why I ordered that at C&R when I had lunch alone that afternoon.

C&R needs no introduction; its reputation of being the place to go for Malaysian food in Chinatown is spread solely by word of mouth as it is tucked in a dingy alleyway (Rupert Court) along Whitcomb Street. Even with the opening of Rasa Sayang a couple of years, C&R retains a loyal following.



Even so, since we came to London, it's only the second time I've been to C&R. Having heard about C&R from a fellow Singaporean, Wife and I dropped by for some comfort food within a month of reaching London as we were terribly homesick by then.

Long story short, the experience while wasn't terrible, it wasn't far from it. I guess we haven't quite got used to the idea of having to pay almost ten times the price (compared to back home) for street fare and service that was dismissive at best.

The staff at C&R raised her eyebrows at me when I walked in last week, some things just doesn't change. She led me to a corner seat mumbling that it was less cold than the one right by the door. Bravo, things were looking up already. She took my order without a word and turned away as soon as I was done. No time for that, as she returned to carry on her conversation with three other waitresses by the counter.

C&R has since expanded to occupy the small shop space opposite. Given a choice, I would very much prefer not to be seated over there. Imagine having to wave frantically to attract the attention of a staff (deep in conversation no doubt) across the alleyway.

The teh tarik (£2) arrived soon after. The pipping hot concoction was more evaporated milk than condensed milk and thus could be sweeter. It did smell great though. Not nearly as good as the one at Malaysian Kopitiam but it did stave off the wintry blues.

Char kuey teow at £6.50 is probably the cheapest in central London. Despite that, I suspect most growing up eating the dish would still baulk at paying almost five times the price in London for a standard hawker fare back home.

As if to preempt that, C&R's char kuay teow is generous in portion. Not only that, I lost count of the number of prawns in it. Before you get too excited, those prawns would be labelled as large in your local Tesco, which doesn't really say much about them - anything other than the "jumbo" label would simply be large shrimps. Neither were they fresh. One can quickly taste the difference between really fresh prawns and those pumped up with preservatives. The latter just lacked the meaty texture and taste oddly flat.

There was a slight hint of the ever elusive 'smoky' taste that is much sought after in char kuay teow (the best I've tasted is at Kiasu). The sliced fish cake, which curiously was more scarce than prawns in the dish, was perhaps the redeeming factor. Smooth, firm and cooked nicely, if only there was more of it. Also absent was sliced Chinese sausage, which would have added a sweet tinge to the mix.

Two ladies settled down on the table next to mine when I was halfway through. When asked by one which dishes were recommended, the other declared, "everything is good". Nudging the other while half pointing to my half eaten char kuay teow, "want to try char kuay teow or not?" she whispered rather loudly. A quick nod was the reply.

C&R personify the typical impression of a Chinese restaurant in London - if the service is good, the food probably isn't good. If the food is good, it probably isn't cheap. Service? Forget it. There's no service charge if it pleases you. Food served isn't too bad but C&R definitely offers a great deal if you factor in the price.




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Galvin la Chapelle Spitalfields Market - the grand old dame

Address: 35 Spital Square,
London E1 6DX
Tel: 020 7299 0400
Nearest Tube station:
Shoreditch High Street/ Liverpool Street

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £30pp (3 course set lunch)
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: ****
Service: *****
Ambience: *****
Parents would have to admit it gets a bit trying going for a nice meal (frankly, your weekly trip to Giraffe doesn't really count). If not for L's recommendation, we probably would have hesitated lunching at Galvin La Chapelle, at least not without splashing out a small fortune for a babysitter. "They are really nice to young children!" L assured us. Well, we took her word for it as she's in the same boat too.

Housed in St Botolph's Church Hall, a Victorian building, with its tall windows, high ceilings and exposed roof beams, few restaurants, perhaps other than Gilbert Scott, could rival Galvin La Chapelle in terms of ancient grandeur. Although the famed Galvin brothers sought to fit the full service restaurant into the confines of the former hall, they couldn't resist filling the area just above the kitchen with more dining tables. Which is just as well for it does break the monotony of the tall stone walls.

The host quickly came to our aid when he saw me struggling with LO's stroller and managed to lift it up and down the stairs without waking her up, which takes some effort. Having got its first Michelin star in 2011, Galvin La Chapelle comes with all the bells and whistles. The service was efficient and friendly without being patronising - when a staff tried to open up a champagne bottle right next to LO who was still sleeping, he reassured me that there should not be any sound if he did it the right way. Nevertheless he opened the bottle a couple of tables away instead and we didn't even realise when the bottle was popped. Bravo.

Galvin La Chapelle offers a 3 course menu, which is very reasonably priced at £25.50pp and we went for that. Starters came in the form of Jerusalem artichoke verloute and terrine of autumn game. Diced artichoke was first presented in a huge soup bowl with the verloute slowly poured in, finally engulfing it. The white creamy sauce (cooked with fish stock if my tastebuds served me right) made for a good appetizer with the tuber bits adding that extra crunch. The terrine came across as a tad meaty but was well tempered by the white raisin puree's acidity.

The starters got our hopes up high for the mains, and we weren't disappointed. I was a bit nervous going for roast chicken breast. Chicken, on its own, is rather bland. Galvin la Chapelle's roast breast of corn fed chicken is anything but. Served neatly cut with a thin sheath of slightly crisped skin on boiled greens, the tender chicken breast was flavoured by frothed mushroom verloute. What impressed me the most was the shallot tatin that laid alongside the chicken breast. The pastry, lightly baked, provided a nice twist to the dish. Sea bream, as Wife quickly pointed out, was cooked to perfection. Thin crispy skin, lightly salted, masked the fresh sea bream, which pulled cleanly away when cut. The samphire was a nice touch, nibbling it brought forth the salty goodness of the shore. 

Dessert was pont leveque with pear chutney and caramalised quince on sable breton. Unfortunately, neither cheese nor fruits is my idea of dessert so the pont leveque and quince were lost on me. I thought that the savoury cheese was a curious desert selection but maybe it is just me. Nevertheless, the pear chutney balanced it off nicely.

In my humble opinion, the true mark of a great restaurant is that you remember having a great time there even long after but couldn't really remember why. I've always believed that a meal is much more than the food placed in front you. Ambiance, service, the company that you're with, even which side of the bed you got off in the morning affects the meal itself, which is why it's coined as the dining experience. What I do know however is that we did have enjoyed ourselves quite a bit despite LO fussing halfway through the meal. This is one restaurant that I would wholeheartedly recommend you to.




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