Roux at Parliament Square - Review

This is the new restaurant by Michel Roux Jr., who doesn't currently have a resident chef - Dan Cox left after a few weeks in the job.

Reviews in the papers have been mixed, but all agreed that the decor was really boring and "a sea of beige". I disagree! It is muted, yes, but the main effect is really comfortable in a classy way - nice. Not too much actual beige.



Pretty aperitif nibbles were followed swiftly by delightful amuse bouches of velvety baby carrot soup, and then starters. All a little too speedy and lots of flouncy table-waiting. Even the smallest of items seemed to require one waiter to hold a silver tray, while two others fussed around the table.

The Albert Roux (Lenoble) Grand Cru Blanc de Blanc champagne (£12 a glass) was excellent, with loads of flavour. It was so good, I'm going to buy some online.

My butter-poached langoustines were most enjoyable, but there were errors; not particularly buttery and one of my crustaceans wasn't cooked through - lucky I like raw seafood. The summer truffle accompanying the langoustines was thankfully boosted by some mushroom purée. I was looking forward at last to experiencing the elusive flavour of summer truffle, but I didn't. That's the last straw - I won't expect flavour from summer truffle ever again. I wish that restaurateurs would always use Italian white truffles or Périgord black truffles in winter, and truffle oil - even just nature-identical - for summer dishes. At least the fake oil tastes of something!

The veal main course was really outstanding. It would not be possible to find meat that was more tender and juicy. Everything - the fillet, summer vegetables and sweetbread - was perfectly cooked, and the smoked pomme mousseline was delectable and matched the rest of the dish perfectly. Great to be able to taste the smokiness, and the creamy potato was laden with butter but still light and delicate.

The pre-dessert was a lovely fruity concoction, but a bit unnecessary. It was unfortunately more enjoyable than my main dessert. The peach soufflé looked magnificent and was beautifully light, but it was far too sweet, and tasted of egg. I couldn't taste much peach other than from the few tiny cubes of peach at the bottom. The overwhelming sweetness was enhanced by crispy caramel bits, while my poor taste buds were screaming for some tangy peach coulis (or a cup of tea) to rescue them, but to no avail.

I even ate a petit four - dark chocolate flaked with gold, around a lovely strawberry 'crunchie' - to dull the sweetness, and it did help slightly!

The meal at Roux was certainly special. Critics have said it is well overpriced (£55 for three courses), but I'm not so sure - the ingredients and attention to detail were top-notch, and if there had been no mistakes, it would not have been overpriced. Maybe I caught them on an off-day? It is true, though, that for that price, there shouldn't ever be mistakes.

I'd have been happier with a less fussy service and no culinary errors, but the experience was generally very worthwhile.

Tunisian Wedding, Tunisian Fooood!

My brother married his Tunisian bride in the seaside town of Kelibia. It was a week of festivities and ceremonies, and a week of fantastic food and drink adventures.

I arrived at Tunis airport exhausted after a couple of days' travel and delays. It was hot and windy outside and I was relieved to be out of air conditioning and in warmth. There were several hours to wait before the rest of my family arrived, but my brother was there to meet me and take me out to lunch in the capital. We sped through the chaotic traffic and drove to a calmer part of town, by the sea. Our destination was a little place I had heard lots about - all good.

We got to the rather strong-smelling fishmonger's just before they closed but there were still piles of fantastic-looking seafood in crates on the counters. We bought loads of small red mullet, baby cuttlefish and fat prawns for about £2.

Then my brother sat down at the restaurant next door, where they were going to cook our seafood and supply us with salad, bread and drinks to go with it - all for about £3. No wine or beer - my first experience as an adult of a culture that discourages alcohol consumption.

I went into the kitchen to watch the seafood being grilled over a huge barbecue.







Feeling revived after gorging on that delicious lunch, we went back to the airport to collect the rest of the family. Then we had a three hour journey through towns and prairie, past prickly pears and shepherds, to our seaside destination.

Each day of the rest of the week followed the rough timetable of: greek coffee in bedouin tent café for breakfast; mint tea with pinenuts floating in it or fruit juice and shisha in lovely café overlooking the sea; lunch of harissa dip and olives followed by seafood next to the sea; a tourist trip (e.g. amazingly intact pre-roman ruins) or time on a white sand beach; family feast at Haifa's house in the evening.

Evening meals included baked fish, brick (deep-fried parcel of filo pastry filled with goodies like tuna, prawns and egg), salads, cous-cous with tripe, loads of salata mechouia (spicy green pepper salad, see pic above), and a wonderful cous-cous and lamb dish with hard-boiled eggs, sultanas, almonds, hazelnuts and chick peas.



Me and my brothers :)



Special cakes and blue minty fizzy drinks were served at the female-only henna party. All that, along with the tattoos, the mound of henna studded sugared almonds, the traditional clothes, incense and the rounds of "ayayeayayayayaye" calls made everything seem mystical and magical.



...We also stopped for mutton barbecued at the roadside - mechoui. We chose the joint according to weight and the man hacked it up. His son cooked the meat, and his daughter and wife served the meal. It was soooo good and we did very well in finishing the huge amount of food.

Back in Tunis at the end of the week, we had trouble finding open restaurants, especially as many look like private residences and lots had closed due to it (late July!) being their low season. Eventually, we happened upon one of those Islamic-tiled merchant house restaurants that you read about in any travel literature on North Africa; Dar Hamouda Pacha, 56 Rue Sidi Ben Arous in the souk.

The food was excellent and so reasonably priced - cheap, in fact. The service and attention to detail was superb, there were musicians playing local music ...and we pretty much had the enormous place to ourselves. My brother and I shared fish cous-cous and veal with tuna sauce - a very Italian dish (vitello tonato), but for much of the trip we were in sight of Italian islands, so the cuisine of each country must have mingled since time began. The veal was served with a delightful rice and pistachio dish. Dessert was a kind of pinenut blancmange, with plenty of mint tea to wash it down.

On my last day I was in Tunis alone, so spent hours exploring the souk. I came away with rose water, the special fragrant and floatable pinenuts for adding to mint tea (also delish with natural yogurt and honey), and ground smokey hot peppers for making harissa. I couldn't fit any more in my case, sadly.

My last meal was half a an extremely tasty herb-stuffed rotisserie chicken with salad and bread. I ate it in a local café and my dinner cost less than £2 - far cheaper than the touristy restaurants I'd been to with my family, and just as good. But tourist restaurants do serve beer and the fabulous Muscat de Kelibia wine...