Café des Irlandais

So Café des Irlandais is open a month or two now and things have settled down nicely. The original chef (Fred Souty) has moved on due to creative differences and duties have passed to Alan Hamilton who has worked in the likes of Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud and Guilbaud's baby bistro cousin Venu.

Sadly also departed is the meat jelly that Souty used to put in his salads - an intriguing mix of rich meat juices from the rotisserie mixed with agar agar (Japanese gelatin made from seaweed). I was ready for an aspic revival but I am probably in a fairly small minority.

Pictured above is my lunch which could have fed 2. The oyster has a small subtle spoon of lime jelly to add some zing and aromatics and cut through the briny juicy oyster. Of course we are all supposed to like our oysters au naturel and decry anything that takes away from the pure simple flavour, I beg to differ. Why not take the occasional oyster and deep fry it in bread crumbs and make a New Orleans Po'boy sandwich, why not add a dash of tabasco if you feel like it. I don't want to eat my steak with pepper sauce every time. The lime changed the oyster and added an ethereal hint of sweetness to it, a little limey accent if you will.

The Lyonnaise salad had good meaty bacon slices, a melting, barely cooked poached egg and crisp, lightly dressed salad leaves. The bread was airy and light and the glass of Grand Metaire Bordeaux Blanc (6.50) was crisp, lemony and fragrant.

My trainee chef companion (son's babysitter) almost managed to eat her oyster but couldn't quite manage it. She is young yet and has plenty of time to learn to love such things. She did however gobble her way through her 7 hour braised lamb and most of her creamy mash, enormous roast potato and various veg.

This is comfort food. We felt the need for just a little more comfort so we ordered a pear tart to share with an espresso and hot chocolate. Sweet moist pear, crumbly pastry, rich creamy inside.

fine espresso and creamy hot chocolate left us more than comforted, we felt cosseted.