La Brasserie Ma Cuisine Bourgeoise review
Yes, I admit it has an awful name, and the outside looks frankly hideous, but we dined very well.
The menu has loads of French Brasserie favourites, so many recognisably fun things that the choice was difficult. Daniel and I ordered a different starters each and swapped half way through. The little crispy cake of pig's trotters I had first was very rich and strongly flavoured, really very good, but blown away by the other starter. This was pan fried foie gras with lentils. The foie gras was cooked to perfection, a good crust and melting soft in the middle. Excellent.
I did not try the main course of our guest, but she reported the lamb with merguez and beans was perfectly cooked and flavoursome. Daniel and I can rarely resist ris de veau when they appear on a menu and so we both went for this option. It was perfectly cooked and the capers and celeriac surrounding it added a bite to the rich Sauternes sauce it was presented with. This was a truly excellent dish.
The main wine list is a bit pricey; it is really lacking anything one would wish to drink. They have a fine wine list which has some better offerings, but the prices are quite steep. Our bottle of 1998 Macon was getting a bit long in the tooth, but the red Vosne-Romanée 1995 from Rene Engel was excellent.
The food made this worth the trek out to Twickenham, so it was a bit of a shame they only had one other diner in that night. They deserved to be full.
Contact: La Brasserie Ma Cuisine Bourgeoise, 2 Whitton Road, Twickenham TW1 1BJ. Telephone 020 8744 9598.
David