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| London skyline from Coq d argent |
My thursday morning entailed a 6am visit to Heathrow airport to pick up a childhood friend visiting from the land of #Covfefe and fake news.The last time I saw Louis aka Timi ( always Louis to me mate ) was 4 years ago at his wedding in Virginia, so I was really looking forward to catching up on 4 years worth of stories. Yes I know there’s something called Face Timeth, but alas as these things go , we just never got round to it. A quick journey home from Heathrow and it was back out again to visit a restaurant near Bank train station that have always had on my foodie list. A private lift from the ground floor of No 1 Poultry building reveals a french restaurant with a roof top garden called Coq d’argent.
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| Coq d’argent |
A mutual friend of ours works nearby so he was waiting for us at the restaurant by the time we got there. It was also nice catching up with Diran who I hadnt seen in 2 years despite living 3 train station stops away from me. Yes yes, i’m the common factor when it comes to not catching up. I plan to fix this though.
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| Catching up with old friends |
We looked at the menu and decided to go for their set menu. The two course set menu we went for came up to £29.50, a pretty decent price for a restaurant of that calibre.
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| Coq d argent set menu |
Being Nigerian’s they had us at lamb shank. I tried to get everyone to pick something different, but only managed that for the starters. I was glad I didnt have to give a speech about how I had to taste their dishes in the name of blogging. They gladly shared, which is a lot more than I can say for my younger brother ( Lanre) who always gives me a death stare when I go near his plate. Years of fighting over sausages on our plates as kids seems to have fostered a lack of trust where food’s concerned.
For starters we had a
Fromage de chevre :poitou goats cheese pastry parcel, pepper piperade, honey and basil that tasted delightful. Cheese and honey’s always a match a made in heaven. My friend ” savoured every bite”
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| Tasty goats cheese pastry parcel with pepper piperade, honey and basil dressing |
Salmon Fume : London oak smoked salmon ,condiments and Melba toast. My good old friend Diran stared at the lemon in the bag, couldnt figure out what it was, then proceeded to open the bag instead of just squeezing it to let the lemon juice out. We laughed at him quite a fair bit when he finally figured out he was meant to squeeze it. I’m sorry Diran, hope I didnt kill your street cred. When he did finally get to taste it, he liked the citrus and salmon combination.
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| Figures out the lemon in the bag trick |
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| Lemon and salmon trick |
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| London oak salmon, condiments and Melba toast |
Caille aux girolles : pan roasted quail, parsnip puree , girolle mushrooms, Armagnac macerated prunes . The sweetness of the prunes and parsnip combined with the quail made this a tasty dish indeed.
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| Tasty Pan roasted quail |
For the mains, we had :
Souris d agneau : Rosemary and garlic slow cooked lamb shank , pomme puree and spring onions. The caramelised lamb shank fell apart at touch, with every bite melting in our mouth. A lovely dish indeed.
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| Melt in mouth lamb shank |
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| Coq d argent feast |
Diran had to run off to work, so we rushed towards the end a bit. Our host, the very friendly and helpful Adina (restaurant’s assistant manager ) arranged a tasty pre dessert of plum, caramelised pear and spicy short bread for our table. I wish I had more time to try out some of their desserts and other dishes on the menu. I had a great time at this French restaurant with a roof top garden.
