Visiting the Burbs, Sunday Lunch at Le Cassoulet, Croydon

I have a tonne of posts that I have been meaning to write up. You know how it goes, good intentions, but then something gets in the way (in my case, probably something food related). Some of these I can let go. They probably weren't that interesting and would probably have consisted of me going "Well, it tasted OK. It looked alright, service was fair to middling, ambiance was mediocre etcetera...." Rinse and repeat.

Well some places definitely do deserve a write up and I am going to do my damnedest to get through some of my backlog. Le Cassoulet is a perfect example of my laziness. All the way back in September (yep, that's right, September), I escaped the confines of central London and boarded a train bound for South Croydon.



Part of the Malcolm John chain of restaurants, I have already written up a very disappointing meal at nearby Fish and Grill here, but thankfully Le Cassoulet was infinitely better. Serving very traditional French cuisine, I was stunned by the sheer amount of choice on the set menu. Seven different starters, no less than eight mains and a respectable six choices for dessert, three courses for a very affordable £19.50.




Most dishes went down very well. I remember my extremely decadent main of rabbit pie fondly, with an even more luxurious mash accompanying it. I swear it was 50% potato and the rest was made up of cream and butter. James Martin would have been proud. However, the highlight had to be the Chateaubriand. Shared between two with a £6 a head additional supplement, my dining companions were presented with a platter of tender pink meat, bone marrow and Bearnaise. Offered a taste, I couldn't resist and the moment I started chewing on that perfectly prepared meat, I knew I would be enduring food envy throughout the rest of my meal. My rabbit and mushroom pie may have been good, but this was amazing, and I don't say that lightly. No pics from me, but please check out Kang from Londoneater's post here, says it all really.

I don't take to travelling outside Zone 2 too happily, after all I'm just a city boy, but I would gladly do it again to go to Le Cassoulet. Outstanding value, I wouldn't go as far as calling it a "destination" restaurant, but the residents of South Croydon are very lucky.

Le Cassoulet (website) - 18 Selsdon Road, South Croydon CR2 6PA

Sunday Lunch at Fish and Grill, South Croydon

Malcolm John is building up quite an empire. Focusing on local, neighbourhood restaurants, he now has three under his belt, all with high acclaim. Le Vacherin in Chiswick has had high praise and has earned itself a coveted Michelin star, whereas Le Cassoulet located in South Croydon has endeared itself to the locals (and me on a previous visit), having previously won the Time Out best local restaurant award as well as a bib gourmand.



So I wonder how Fish and Grill could get it so wrong. The third and newest Malcolm John restaurant, also located in South Croydon, specialises (unsurprisingly) in a variety of fish and grilled meats. I was there for Sunday Roast, a mere £15.95 for 3 courses, on paper very good value indeed.



And you know what, it all started quite well (if you ignore the grumpy waitress who semi-served us). The smoked salmon starter was actually quite appetising, high praise coming from a recent smoked salmon convert, and I felt that the accompanying horseradish cream was well balanced and a good accompaniment. Even the wine, a bottle of the house white, was tasty, slightly sweet and most importantly, was going down a treat.



But that's as far as it goes. The main course of roast beef, Yorkshire puddings and veg was curious to say the least. The ample slices of beef appeared to be a strange shade of pink, and upon incision revealed itself to be an overcooked waste of cow. It had the texture of a piece of meat which had been sitting under a hot light for a good few hours, pleading to be served. And don't get me started on the abomination that they called a "Yorkshire Pudding". It was heavy, stale and had a much closer resemblance to a muffin than a "pudding".

I can't go over the top on this one. One of us ordered off the main menu and received the worlds largest battered haddock, although the "chips en papillote" was an interesting concept (chips wrapped in a paper basket, basically). And looking around, the seafood platter looked highly appetising, as did various large hunks of fish.



So, all is not lost. I had a bad experience and hope it was a one off. I had hoped that the apple crumble would cheer me up but I had lost my appetite by then and finding large amounts of apple skin made me abandon it. Even a perfectly adequate custard couldn't lift my spirits.

A recent conversation amongst other food fanatics on Twitter came to the simple conclusion that you just can't beat a home roasted Sunday lunch. After this meal, never a truer word said.

Fish & Grill (website) - 48-50 South End, Croydon CRO 1DP