Review: Brasserie Zédel

Brasserie Zédel situated in Piccadilly Circus, London was once part of The Regent Palace Hotel. Once the largest hotel in Europe with 1,028 bedrooms, The Regent Palace opened in 1915. Built by ‘T Lyons & Co. Ltd‘ it was designed in the Beaux Arts style with a marble entrance and a Winter Garden decorated with palm trees and rattan chairs. The french brasserie is described nowadays as a grand parisian eatery serving remarkable value, traditional French food in a historic art deco / art beaux surrounding.

My first trip to Zédel was with my Grandfather as he was stopping in London for the night and said he’d like to take me out for dinner. He told me to choose a restaurant and that he’d kindly pick up the tab. Knowing that his favourite restaurant is La Colombe d’Or in Nice, France – I thought I’d stick with ze français theme and see what I could find in London. That’s when I thought of Brasserie Zédel, food bloggers always go on about it’s awesomely good value and I’ve seen many-a-mouthwatering foodie photo on Instagram.

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When you step inside Brasserie Zédel the first thing you notice is it’s vast size! With a lavish interior, gold decor and pink table cloths, it really is fantastically over the top! I’d booked a table for 6.45pm, despite it still being early evening on a Wednesday night the restaurant was full of diners. I was impressed with the level of staff, they were all attentive and doting on our every need.

The menu is presented on a large sheet of A3 and the whole thing is in french. Yep, for those of you that don’t know your cuisses de grenouille from your escargots you’re going to have to request an english menu to make sure you don’t order frogs legs instead of snails 😉

I was still munching on the delicious fresh bread with salty butter when our starters arrived at the table. My Grandpa ordered the Soupe de Poisson et sa Rouille (Fish Soup) to start and I went for the Cuisses de Grenouille Panées. General table manners when eating out with your grandparents are not to shove your iPhone in front of their face and snap a photo of what they’re about to eat, so unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the fish soup – nor can I tell you what it tasted like. But for the record, Soupe de Poisson et sa Rouille is a Provençal style Fish Soup with saffron and chilli mayonnaise.

Having never tried frogs legs before, I had to order the Cuisses de Grenouille Panées. I’m so glad I did because they were delicious! Served deep fried alongside a spinach and garlic mousse they were full of flavour. For anybody wondering, yes they do taste like chicken, but with a squeeze of lemon you’re reminded of it’s amphibious past.

For the main course, I chose the Steak Haché, Sauce au Poivre et Frites. Steak haché, or chopped steak, is the posh hamburger of France. Hache is actually prime steak meat that’s been minced and then rolled which owes everything to the quality and freshness of the meat. Pan fried and served in the centre of a plate laden with peppercorn sauce. A medium sized portion of frites come on the side.

My Grandpa chose the Bœuf Bourguignon, beef braised in red wine with bacon and mash. A classic dish when done well can be top notch! Served in a shallow bowl is was a reasonably sized portion, ideal when ordering three courses. For dessert, he chose Tarte au Citron which I’m told is amazing at Brasserie Zédel.

I was feeling slightly more devilish and went for the Profiteroles et Sauce au Chocolat. The choux pastry was full to the brim with cream, coated with a smothering of warm chocolate sauce poured over them once they waitress had delivered our desserts – they were gorgeous. Deliciously sweet. 

I had a wonderful evening at Brasserie Zédel, the service was unrivalled, the food was beautifully simple but exquisite. It was lovely to catch up with my Grandpa and be spoilt for the evening. We both agreed that it was a excellent meal, I know I’ll certainly be back. Thank you Zédel!

Details

ADDRESS: 20 Sherwood Street, London, W1

CONTACT: 020 7734 4888

OPENING HOURS: Monday – Saturday 11.30am – Midnight // Sunday 11.30am – 11.00pm

WEBSITE: www.brasseriezedel.com

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/brasseriezedel

TWITTER: @BrasserieZedel