Le Café Anglais (British)
Above: Rowley Leigh's Le Cafe Anglais at Whiteleys
It’s official: Whiteley’s is now Whiteleigh’s. The breathtaking gastronomic coup which has deposed Ronald McDonald and installed Rowley Leigh on the second floor of the venerable Queensway shopping centre is complete, and the louche denizens of Kensington Place, shiftless and stateless since Rowley left, finally have somewhere to call home.
The room is magnificent: perhaps the airiest, most beautifully proportioned dining room in London, its leaded panes flooding the room with light on even the dullest day. The slightly-too-swirly carpet at least has the merit of keeping noise at sensible levels, something Kensington Place never quite achieved.
The kitchen’s most eye-catching feature is the double rotisserie, with – on my visit – a couple of ribs of beef, a pheasant and a brace of partridge gently turning on spits; beside them, a sunburnt lobster lolled gently on its hook.
The menu is long – very long – and it will take me a dozen or more visits to do it justice, but I shall persevere. To start, choose from a selection of classic hors d’oeuvres at £3 a pop, or try – for example – a boudin of pike with beurre blanc, beef consommé with oysters and shallots, or mussels with lemongrass, chilli and lime leaves (a rare Oriental excursion for Rowley).
We chose the former course: anchovy toasts with a bowl of parmesan custard, a pudding for those who esteem salt over sugar; a fine vinaigrette of leeks with aubergine caviar; firm, sweet-fleshed sardines en escabèche; and a fabulous dish of rabbit rillettes with pickled endives, meltingly tender and pleasantly piquant.
All of which set us up very nicely for a gargantuan slab of beef: the aforementioned rib, which had been hung below a chunky cylinder of marrowbone while it turned, so that the juices from the marrow basted the meat. Served with a Beaujolais gravy and roast shallots, with side dishes of Béarnaise sauce, purple-sprouting broccoli and chips, and the essential lubricant of a bottle of La Pialade, a splendid red from the southern Rhône, we gradually reduced both rib and marrowbone to their inedible parts. For humans, that is: I suspect the canines of west London will be very grateful to Rowley’s rotisserie.
We had no room for pudding, which I realise is a heinous dereliction of duty, but you should have seen the size of the beef. I made do with a glass of Vieille Prune and a coffee, but I shall try the puddings next time. After a main course of fish, I think.Bill Knott
Lunch or dinner for two, with wine, around £90
Le Café Anglais, 8 Porchester Gardens, Bayswater, W2 4DB, 020 7221 1415