The wife and I have many food traditions, some of which fall around winter. There's the early winter group meal, the home-cooked one with just the two of us, the big celebratory family efforts over the holidays and there usually is a meal for two at a restaurant just around finishing for the year. The wife tends never to have a long Christmas break, given that she works in retail. I do get the week off work though, which is always appreciated and gives a nice 'end of term' feeling to mid-December.
Usually we tend to vary between something rather extravagant and something more modest depending on how pre-Christmas spending has gone, but 2012 was a middle ground to galvanize our appetites in the best way. Sunday lunch at Launceston Place is just about the best Michelin-Starred deal in terms of both value and consistency in London. Three courses for around £30 is nothing to sniff at and the food is almost always worth it.
To start things off they gave us salted cod bon-bons and some choux pastry buns filled with a blue cheese bechamel sauce (left). As far as canapé morsels go, these are just right in terms of being simple and comforting, yet bringing a depth of flavour which make one pause to savour as they are scarfed down. Bread and butter, as always, is something I ate dangerous amounts of before menus were even on the table.
Since Launceston Place got its Michelin Star, it has been a generally great place to eat. The one thing I really miss, though, is their amazing starter of poached duck egg with truffles on toast. Whilst that now appears to be a fond memory, they often do throw an egg dish on their starter card these days which the wife ordered (right). Slow-cooked duck egg served in cep cappucino (mushroom soup to you and me) with lardo of Pata Negra pork (ham fat to you and me) and white beans was a winner. The salty, smooth white fat combined with the delicious egg to provide a gorgeous classic combination. The beans added body and texture while the ceps were a solid and earthy base.
My starter was something which appealed in terms of the content if not the initial description. An autumn vegetable salad is not something I would usually order, but when the ingredients include pickled carrots, truffled cream cheese and beetroot, I was convinced (left). The carrot and beetroot were both perfectly flavoursome, salty and sweet. There was pickling, salt-baking and some simple cooking in there, which provided a contrast of textures and subtle differences in taste between the main ingredients. The honey-mustard dressing, gentle leaves and truffle cheese running through the dish were perfectly-judged and exceptional support to finish off what was an unexpectedly delicious starter.
One of the joys of Launceston Place is that they can take something seemingly luxurious and give it a very low-lit, comfortable feel. "Pan fried pigeon" on a menu is usually something I would assume to be quite upmarket and pricey but here it becomes more a plate of Sunday lunch which suits anybody (right). Nicely served pink and very moist, the soft shallots were a good dressing to add to the green beans and garlic mash. Whilst it wasn't spectacular, it was a pleasant and warming dish.
A roast on a Sunday is a cliché I am delighted to indulge in as often as possible. There is something about proper roast chicken that makes me very happy and this was an interesting take on it (left). In lieu of a proper and substantial gravy (which I would usually insist on), mushroom purée was a thick, creamy and perfectly complementary alternative. Potatoes flavoured with Douglas fir were soft and rich, whilst crispness came from the chicken skin and greenness came from brussels sprout leaves.
The wife picked a dessert that had been put together with such obvious appeal it was either going to be a total bust or as good as it sounded. 70% dark chocolate mousse with poached pear, pastry, salted caramel and milk ice cream was happily as great as it should have been (right). The mousse was thick yet light, the caramel tempering it with a savoury hint. The pear added a subtle, fruity note with the glorious creaminess coming from the ice cream.
My dessert was totally fitting coming just before Christmas: winter fruit strudel with cinnamon ice cream (left). It was something of a risk since the description was rather vague, but every bite into the soft pastry was reminiscent of fragrant spiced fruit associated with the festive season. Alternately sweet and tart, the citrus fruit and rind was an interesting yet familiar flavour, served in a creative and appealing way. It was a taste of Christmas just as the working year ended.Whilst Launceston Place may be phoning it in slightly with some of their menu construction for Sunday lunchtime, the execution and quality is consistent and satisfying. The dishes justify the reasonable value, the venue is pleasant, the staff are on point; it's a great weekend meal. There's a reason the wife and I have been going back to Launceston Place so much in the last few years: it's a lovely restaurant which bears re-visiting time and again. If you haven't eaten here, find a free Sunday afternoon as soon as you can.
Launceston Place
