Thursday 11 February 2010

Racine – Knightsbridge, Thursday 14th January, 2010

On the off chance as the other half and I wandered through Knightsbridge, we stopped in Racine for a quick bite to eat after a little January shopping. Racine was not a restaurant I’d heard of before but it looked pretty classy, with an array of French standards on offer.

Had this been a planned, dressed-up Friday night affair, I sense our meal choices may have been different. We shared a starter and dessert and shared two main course dishes. The overall course of the evening started and finished well, with a dip in the middle.

Our starter of cold eel was excellent, served with some potato salad and crème fraiche. I have really gotten into eel this past year, and I’m delighted to be able to add it to my list of culinary preferences.

I’d never eaten a plate of choucroute before now, and having tried one, it isn’t something I’ll be rushing back to. What sounded amazing – a variety of sausages, pork belly and cuts of meat – turned out to be various pork subsidiaries boiled and lumped on a plate with some cabbage. Maybe this means that choucroute is not my dish, or maybe it’s always rubbish, but we did not enjoy.

Some rabbit with new potatoes, mustard and green beans looked and sounded great, but tired very quickly. It wasn’t a bad dish per se, but I had hoped for more. It was edible but not enjoyable.

Fortunately our shared dessert of chocolate terrine with some sticky white chocolate sauce restored a little quality to the proceedings. It was expertly textured, flavoured and balanced.

The place itself is a brimming and bustling local eatery. It’s pleasant, graciously staffed and welcoming. I think I will be going back there to have a proper go at the a la carte menu too, because I’m convinced we just picked the wrong main courses.

Biased, me..?


Racine

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