Zoe (London)

For her 22nd birthday, my friend chose to go to Zoe, a French restaurant nestled in Islington. I don't normally venture to Islington as it is quite far from where I live, but I'm going to make it a point to explore it more. On the way to Zoe we saw an eclectic mix of restaurants, ranging from cute and cosy looking cafes to hip places that resemble those you might find in New York's meatpacking district.

Zoe itself is a small place, we even almost missed it as we walked by. But you definitely cannot give this a miss! I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of food and the diversity and variety of the menu. Starters included frog legs and mussels, whilst the mains ranged from kangaroo to pork belly. I myself ordered the pork belly, but I managed to try the kangaroo and the gateau topped with goat cheese. I did enjoy my pork belly, which was soft and crispy and accompanied by a smooth mash and a dijon mustard sauce, but the gateau (grilled vegetable stuffed with aubergine and pepper mixture) was the absolute winner for me. I'd go back to this restaurant just to order this dish, which was a perfect combination of flavours. For dessert, we ordered the cookie dough collision cheesecake, which was another winner.

Not only were our dishes absolutely delicious, the portion sizes were huge and the prices were cheap. You can get a 2 course meal for £18.50. The service was also absolutely excellent. They provided my friend not only with a dessert for her birthday, but also flowers and a cocktail. Our servers were also attentive to the rest of the dinner guests throughout the night. Because London has an endless supply of amazing restaurants, I rarely find myself wanting to return to the same place. However, I will definitely be back here again.

Crispy pork belly with mash and a dijon mustard sauce

Food: A

Ambience/Deco: C (The very casual, almost tasteless, design of the restaurant seems incongruous to the quality and type of food they offered.) 

Service: A

Price: $$ (2 courses)

Boulevard Brasserie (London)

I was recently able to visit Boulevard Brasserie in Covent Garden, which was a nice change from the student-y meals that I've been subsisting on recently (Tesco Meal Deal, anyone?). Boulevard Brasserie is a small, simple restaurant serving your classic French-style dishes, like moulets & frites and duck confit. Quiet and candle-lit, it would be a nice place for a close gathering with friends or a relaxed date.

I personally went for the baked brie in filo to start, followed by seafood linguine with king prawns, mussels, and clams. The appetiser was absolutely delicious - I may have to go back to this restaurant just to order this again. My main course was definitely a generous serving, but the sauce was a little oily and overall was just unable to live up to how spectacular my starter was. My dining companion had the same critique for his set (he ordered grilled goat's cheese and the duck confit).

Luckily, through Top Table we were able to receive 50% off the entire meal, which made up for the relatively average food. Ultimately, I'd recommend this place if you're able to get a deal but for the full price, I'd go elsewhere in Covent Garden.

Sorry, back to the iPhone photos!

Food: B+

Ambience/Deco: A

Service: B (Took a while to get the cheque and they made an error with our reservation)

Price: $$ (Only if on deal!)

Balthazar (London)

I recently had the pleasure of sampling the French-brasserie inspired restaurant Balthazar, situated in Covent Garden. This is one of those restaurants where I can safely say that absolutely everything on the menu sounded enticing. It was so hard to choose between the dishes that even though our party was small and admittedly we were not too hungry, we ended up ordering an array of appetisers, including fresh scallop, oysters, escargot, steak tartare and onion soup. Each of these dishes arrived together promptly (a major plus for me in restaurants is always when food arrives at the same time), and were wonderfully presented - simple yet appealing. For mains, I ordered the grilled salmon, whilst the others had beef stroganoff and duck shepherd's pie. Again, the presentation was simple but the food itself spoke volumes. Everything was fresh, well-seasoned and generally delicious.

Balthazar is a more upscale restaurant. It has an intimate setting and wonderful interiors, with a luxurious, deep red colour scheme and dark furnishings. The wait staff are not only attentive, but sociable and friendly. My one complaint would be that the mains took a while to come; but ultimately they were well worth the wait. I would recommend this restaurant if you want to go somewhere for a special occasion and overall nice dining experience.

Scallops and oyster platter.

Grilled salmon on spinach with lentils and walnuts.

Beef stroganoff and duck shepherd's pie.

Sorry that these photos all have a yellow hue, the lighting in the restaurant was quite dim.

Food: A

Ambience/Deco: A
Service: A
Price: $$$$ (It is slightly expensive, but worth it)

Laduree (London)

I usually love, love, love Laduree. But maybe that's because I've only ever tried their famous macarons. The other day, I visited the Laduree shop in Covent Garden and ordered the Covent Garden breakfast set. Hate to say, I was terribly disappointed. The bread was hard, the hot chocolate was too thick I had to use it as a dip rather than a drink, and the pan au chocolat was nothing special. The best part of the meal might have been the lemon cake, but our waiter had accidentally served us this - it is not actually part of the set. Therefore, I'd say forego the breakfast and just go for a cake or macaron.

I do have to comment on the ambience though. The seats are plush and comfortable, and the pastel green colour scheme makes you feel as though you were in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette set.

(Sorry for the image quality, have had to resort to using my iPhone since I have left my DSLR back home)

Food: C

Ambience/Deco: A

Service: B

Price: C

Laduree

1, The Market, London, WC2E 8RA

Le Salon (Hong Kong)

Hysan Place, a new mall in Hong Kong, opened about two weeks ago. It's all the rage with the locals, with its 24/7 book shop (an idea borrowed from the Taiwanese) and because of the very fact that it's new - Hong Kongers love this sort of thing. I personally skipped the Sunday crowds and headed straight to the more promising upper levels of the mall, which holds a bunch of interesting looking restaurants.

The first restaurant I sampled was Le Salon. It's a quiet haven amidst the bustling Hysan crowd. A very classy looking place, with its striped walls and dark furniture.

I ordered the High Tea set on the waiter's recommendation, and it certainly looked delicious when it arrived. However, to my dismay, it was one of those things that look a lot better than they taste.

The creme brulee was sour (I think the milk must've curdled or something), the macaron wasn't particularly well made (in my opinion, it should be light with a crunch - this was heavy) and the croissant was overly sweet.

Although the bagel and the scone were redeeming aspects, overall, better high tea sets can be found elsewhere in Hong Kong - like at LGB, for example.

Food: B

Ambience/Deco: A

Service: B

Price: B

Le Salon

Shop No. 1302, 13/F, Hysan Place, 500 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay