L'Esperance Restaurant,
Surbiton - Reviewed By Paul Blake
L'Esperance
158 Ewell Road
Surbiton
KT6 6HE
Tel: 0208 3907564
One
of the challenges of writing a
restaurant review is knowing
quite where to pitch the praise
and quite when to pull the punch.
The problem, you see, is the big
E - Expectation. Time after time
one can sit
down to dine "knowing" that
it's going to be grand only to
find that, well
it really wasn't all that. Why?
It's that big E again.
As I type I glance down the list
of popular restaurants and I see
two that I know well (one
local to my parents, the other
nearby where I used to live) and
I
guarantee you won't get a "bad" meal
at either, but is the overall
experience really that good in
either? I'd say not.
"Where is all this leading?" I
hear you ask. Or perhaps that's "Get
on with it!"
Well, OK, I will.
We were taken on
this thirtieth of January to L'Esperance
in Surbiton.
A
new venture in an old venue it
was, until recently, a lack-lustre
eatery,
before that a purveyor of musical
instruments where Clapton bought
his
first guitar and going back to
the 20s and 30s it was even a Waitrose.
The decor and layout is understated
with few frills but it's stylish
and
the boss (who seems to do absolutely
everything except cook) is friendly
and relaxed and charming.
We arrive early and
the chef is front of house and
gives us a friendly
smile as we are shown to our table,
for a while it's just us.
Before the menus
arrive there is a moment to check
out the mercifully
short specials blackboard. Things
look promising with the offer of
Sea
Bream with asparagus and crayfish,
but the menu entices more.
A little amuse bouche
of tomato and mozzarella with a
thick pesto
of mint,
coriander, garlic and almonds,
sets the scene for an eastern-med/middle
east kind of event which is quite
at odds with the French-style menu
but
was a real appetizer and so I'm
just being picky.
Back to the menu
and between us we go for Cappucino
of Pumpkin
with Smoked
Bacon, Tarte Fine Nicoise with
Salmon and Terrine of Foie Gras
with Red
Onion Marmalade. For myself and
Mrs B the pumpkin soup was a winner,
but
it was so much better than just
that. It was light without being
watery,
it was big on flavour but not overloaded
by the smokiness of the bacon and
seasoned perfectly it was so good
that a little bread was required
to send
the bowl back clean.
On to the mains and
we ordered two of the Tuna with
Creamed Leeks
and
Sauce Vierge, one Sirloin with
onions and thyme spuds and I had
Sea Bass
with pureed Jerusalem Artichokes
and seafood sauce. I have to say
I was a
bit nervous of "seafood sauce".
These days heaven knows what one
might be
served in such a thing, but I needn't
have worried.
It's rare that I
choose the best thing on the menu
(my wife seems
to have
that knack, or is that just plate
envy?) but tonight I think I got
it
right. I had two fillets of Sea
Bass which was an unexpectedly
generous
portion, but I ain't complaining.
The artichoke puree was almost
a foam,
and with the bisque-like seafood
sauce it was absolutely delicious.
The
fish was cooked well too with a
good deal of browning and crisping
to the
skin (which I love) and yet the
flesh was soft and not even close
to being
overcooked. I snuck a bit of creamed
leek, thyme potato and sirloin
from
my friends' plates and nothing
negative to report there. The steak
had
the most fantastic char grilled
flavour but I was keen to get back
to
Bass.
We downed a Chilean Merlot at £17.75
which was a reasonable price for
a
reasonable wine. The wine list
was a little disappointing, although
if
I'm going to be down on a French-style
bistro for be a little up on French
wines then perhaps I should hold
my tongue. Then again, I might
have
ordered French if the selection
had been a bit more eclectic and
less
run-of-the-mill. But it's a personal
thing.
For pud we tucked
into Vanilla and Armagnac Creme
Brulee (beautifully
smooth with a lovely crunchy top)
and a tarte tatin which was huge
and
well flavoured with a good bite
to the apples but the pastry was
flat and
flabby and all in all it let the
side down.
We passed on coffee
but were treated to a little glass
of the boss's
favourite dessert wine which was
a lovely touch.
Service wasn't included
and the whole meal came to a really
very
reasonable ninety-four quid including
wine.
The place was quiet
with fifteen covers including ourselves
by the
time we
left but it was, after all, a cold
Wednesday in January and the place
is
newly open.
But herein lies the rub and the
business with the big E.
We weren't expecting
much from L'Esperance but what
we got was
lovely, so
a big tick from us. But, if I tell
you you've got to go and you'll
love
it, well maybe you'll go with the
big E on your shoulder and you'll
think
it's not so good. So this is my
recommendation. Go and make up
your own
mind - but I DO recommend you go.
