BRASSERIE BLANC, COVENT GARDEN

As soon as the sun comes out, I dream of a lovely lunch in the sunshine, with a gorgeous bottle of Provence rose at somewhere not obscenely expensive but with tasty food….is this too much to ask?? There are some lovely pubs with gardens near us but terrible ribena coloured rose and there are some lovely restaurants that sell gorgeous rose but have no gardens or terraces. I tried square meal, google, urbanspoon etc and one restaurant kept popping up but it didn't come under the "reasonably priced" category…Coq d'Argent! In the end we decided to head over to Brasserie Blanc in Covent Garden although as you can't book a table on the terrace (another peeve) we had to wait half an hour!

Anyway Covent Garden is one of my favourite places in London and we enjoyed people watching and having a drink while we waited. Brasserie Blanc is an amazing setting, with a fab bar, a great terrace and a conservatory style restaurant all over looking the market.

The place was packed - lots of pre theatre goers and tourists. The restaurant has a varied french based menu and also does a very reasonable set menu - two courses for £14.00 and three courses for £16.45.

We decided to share a charcuterie board to start and then I had mussels and Pascal had a burger. Service was very swift although all the waiters / waitresses were rushed off their feet and would very obviously only work "their section".

The charcuterie board arrived very quickly and while it all tasted very good, it wasn't as impressive as it sounded on the menu. It was described as having Bayonne ham, Rosette de Lyon salami, pork rillettes, coppa, herbed Savoyard sausage, pickles and sourdough bread.

It was just one piece of each meat - I was expecting more, It was definitely enjoyable although they need to improve their pickles!

We had it with a rocket and Parmesan salad which was perfect.

I was torn between the moules mariniere for main or the burger - I went for the mussels and I am very pleased I did. They were brilliant, a great white wine and onion sauce which I ate like a soup and I enjoyed the fries with mayonnaise too….a very Belgium meal….makes me think I need to make a foodie trip over there one day.

Pascal had the cheeseburger - they could only cook it medium (he likes it blue) and he said it was OK, not exceptional. He regretted not having the mussels like me.

It was a pleasant meal - not the best but a nice way to join the sunshine.  Now my new mission is to find that restaurant with a sun terrace, nice food and good rose - the weather forecast for the week is rain so no rush. If anyone can recommend somewhere else to go….if we do have another sunny day….I would greatly appreciate it!

Brasserie Blanc

35 Market Square
Covent Garden
London
WC2E 8RF
Tel: 020 7379 0666