Restaurant: Le Sacré Coeur

Tonight, I was back with Let's Do This (LDT), for another restaurant trial. This time it was French - Le Sacré Coeur - and we were again meeting in The Crown beforehand. These Meetups are proving very handy for my knowledge of London restaurants!

So, as usual, when the time came to leave, I was caught up in doing something. So I left a bit later than ideal - took the Tube, to compensate. So crowded that I had to let two pass, before one came that I could reasonably get onto. Now, the last time I was headed for The Crown, I remember doing the same - and having Google Maps forget my route when I got off, and not being able to find an internet connection..! Fortunately, I had no such problems this time, and it seemed to take so much less time to schlep up the road.

So, we stayed there for one, and chatted convivially. In due course, it was time to head for the restaurant - a charming bistro, where we were shown to a table at the back. And perused a detailed menu:

Lots of starters, lots of mains, lots of changing of minds. For starters, I finally went for the mushrooms stuffed with garlic and topped with cheese. Yum. You could tell straight away that they know their sauces. Others had camembert, escargots, frogs' legs (for the sake of it!).

Main course for a couple of us was beef Bourguignon. Others had steak, or coq au vin, or one of a decent variety of vegetarian dishes. And..? Plates were finished, compliments were uttered, we stuffed ourselves and cleared our plates. Dessert was kind of obligatory, after such a good meal.. I was torn, but went for the lemon sorbet with vodka (Coupe Colonel). Which was excellent. My alternative would have been the chocolate mousse, which a couple of our group had, and which was good enough that they ran their fingers around the bowl so as not to miss any. Such desserts are worth piling on top of an already stuffed stomach. For sheer visual appeal, I'd have to recommend the Café Gourmand that one had, which is a selection of desserts, including an espresso.

Most had a Côte de Rhône to accompany the meal - I was on white. There are two choices for which you can get a carafe, which I did, being the only one - I had the Chardonnay, and perhaps it's all the Virgin wines I've had lately, but I wasn't hugely impressed. However, the complementary digestifs afterwards were most welcome - I had limoncello, for the first time in years. Gorgeous!

Afterwards, in the interest of not walking too far, most of us repaired to The Bull, where our organiser was kind enough to buy a round. And we repaired to the pleasant upstairs level, which we were chucked out of at 11 - we had time to finish drinking downstairs, though.

Back by bus. Tomorrow, I'm back to Ireland for a long weekend - had holiday days left over from last year that I had to use by the end of this month. Well, that's what the system said..! and who am I to argue? I fly back on Monday night, and on Tuesday, LDT just advertised discount tickets for The Crown Dual, in the King's Head! Well yes please, sign me up! And so now I'm going to that.

Next Wednesday, back with the Crick Crack Club! This is a performance by Jan Blake, at King's Place - and da boss having liked a clip of hers that he saw previously, he's taking the spare ticket I accidentally booked. Should be a good night.

And on the 28th, our team has our monthly social. This time, we're off to Tas.