Les Deux Salons @ London

One is really spoilt for choice when it comes to dining in London. There's so many good restaurants and you'll have to scratch your head if you only have 2 nights there. On the first night, I didn't feel well and ended up spending my dinner time at the hotel room and ate the instant noodle that I lug around in my bag for the past 1 week. I decide not to bring it back to KL. Yeah, that's super duper foolish to bring instant noodles to a city filled with so many restaurants.

I had a long list of restaurants to try as recommended by friends but in the end, Les Deux Salons was chosen as "the dinner place" for my last night there. I had a little adventure while locating this restaurant. I got off from the train at Leicester Square and begin my quest to locate this street using a map and asking for directions. After getting nowhere after 20 mins, I decided to take a cab. I hailed a cab, got into in and asked the driver to take me to this restaurant and he looked at me and said "Miss, it's just down the road from here". My faced turned pink, apologized and I walked down the road. Well it's not exactly DOWN THE ROAD because I had to make a left turn and then another right turn after some distance! But I managed to find it!

This is the 3rd venture of Michelin starred duo - Anthony Demetre and Will Smith who has already impressed London diners with Wild Honey and Arbutus. Les Deux Salons occupies a big, two-floor building just off Trafalgar Square. It has a private dining space upstairs which is quieter and a noisier, buzzier, more brasserie-ish downstairs. It gives me a very lively Parisian brasserie feel and you might think that you're in Paris while dining here.

Hand-chopped Scottish beef tartare £8.95
It's a wonderful piece of meat that had been chopped so finely but I am not a big fan of beef tartare and I think I'll never learn to love it too.

Brouilly Vieilles Vignes, Domaine Dubost, Beaujolais 2010 £40

Wines here are so cheap (that's provided you stop converting all the pounds to ringgit). Even if you get a 30 quid bottle, it still tastes better than some of the RM300 wines we get at the posh restaurants here. This is a very nice bottle with spice-laden notes and cherry fruits.

A unique feature of their wine list is that all the wines are available by carafe (250ml). This allows diners the opportunity to sample several wines throughout their meal and even allowing them to be adventurous in exploring the different wine labels.

Pork cheeks, autumn vegetables,
honey & sherry vinegar £17.50

I asked the waiter to recommend and he was telling me that their slow cooked beef was really beautiful but in the end I opted for a plate of pork cheeks. I've tried numerous beef cheeks but pork cheeks sounds interesting and rare. It's indeed very good. The cheeks are tender and smooth and with the sherry vinegar, it's just delicious!

Shoulder of Welsh lamb ‘Navarin’,
white beans & parsley £17.95

Spinach & Potatoes as sides £3.95

This is really a wonderful restaurant. Although its white table cloths would make you think that it's a high end fine dining restaurant, surprisingly the prices here won't really make you wince too much when you get the bill. I think it's a great restaurant, cosy, lively and delicious offerings.

Les Deux Salons
40-42 William IV Street London
WC2N 4DE,
United Kingdom
Tel: +4420 7420 205
www.lesdeuxsalons.co.uk