L'Autre Pied

We're not done with Canada yet, although we have concluded all four posts for Montreal. We'll take a brief break from Canada today as we whisk over to London briefly before returning to Toronto and Vancouver next week!

Whenever I'm in London, I find myself passing through Paddington Tube station a lot.

Why?

Many reasons, actually. First, the Heathrow Express runs straight into Paddington from the airport in a zippy 15 minutes. It is undoubtedly the fastest, most traffic-free, and most convenient way to get into the city.

Second, I go to London mostly for business, and my company is actually closer to Oxford. Again, the train that runs to Oxford leaves from Paddington Station. So I find myself near Paddington a lot.

Invariably, the question comes up about where to eat near Paddington. Is there good food in that area?

The last time I was in London, British colleagues of mine took me to a fantastic little French restaurant right in Marylebone, an area that's only about a 10-15 walk away from Paddington Station.The food at this one-Michelin star French restaurant was fantastic, and I was actually quite surprised at how reasonable the prices were.

L'autre Pied is the little sister restaurant to Pied a Terre, the fancier, upscale French restaurant. This (literally) "other Pied" serves excellent food at a fraction of the price of its two-Michelin older sister. We ordered the 9-course tasting, which only cost 49 pounds (about $78). This is even cheaper than the 7-course tasting for $85 at Luce, which Bryan already thought was a reasonably good deal.

We began with a creative and cute amuse: Beetroot cup with lemon mousse. The lemon mousse most definitely was blended with something that had a strong liver essence. Not being a huge fan of liver, I did not love the amuse, though I could see a foie gras lover thinking it was pretty good.

The next course, Avocado Cucumber Cream, was light and airy, and came topped with miniature olive sprinkles and micro chopped herbs.

This next dish totally shouted spring! (it was April, after all). Shaved English asparagus and grated Belper Knolle (a firm, unpasteurized cheese) were served with mizuna cream, lemon puree, and crispy shallots. I loved the intense shots of flavor that came from the various "creams" and "purees", which came as fun spherified balls on the plate.

We soon noticed that the chef really liked to present his sauces in many different forms. The next dish, Roasted Scallop and Tartare, came with black quinoa and "sauces" such as fennel & ginger jelly and red pepper & Kaffir lime "dollops." Everything was executed exquisitely.

Next came Squid "Linguini", which was served with gremolata, smoked anchovies, pine nuts, and semi dried grapes.

The fish course was a Pan Fried Cod, which came with broccoli puree, pickled cauliflower, ruby grapfruit, brioche and black onion seeds. Again, note the creative presentation of the purees and sauces.

For the final meat course, Loin of Roe Deer (venison) was served with baked crapaudine beetroot, smoked bacon puree (another pink dollop!), and tapioca and walnuts cooked in Cabernet (hence the deep red color). The venison was cooked a perfect medium rare, though the baked beetroot was a bit bland in flavor and definitely not a favorite at the table.

We enjoyed a lovely selection of French and British Cheese.

These came with thin, airy crackers (which I loved) and a bit of honey or jam.

Our "pre-dessert" was a great palate cleanser, consisting mainly of fruit.

Our final course was a Baked Vanilla Cheesecake, which came topped with gorgeously caramelized banana slices and passion fruit mousse. Everyone raved about this dessert.

I came out of this restaurant thinking that I would definitely consider coming back. I really enjoyed how the meal focused on generally lighter fare (venison and fish versus pork and beef, for example). I thought some of the courses, such as the asparagus course or the scallop course, were absolutely phenomenal. Other courses, even if they weren't "wow" dishes, were still solid. I even looked back at it fondly after our Michelin experience in Rome, which, although good, was just a tad "lower" than this one in terms of creativity and execution.

Considering how weak the dollar is right now, this is a surprisingly good one-star Michelin "deal" (if there is such a thing!). Perfect if you're passing through Paddington Station and want to enjoy a very good meal in London.

L'autre Pied