Full of ideas and surprises: a taste of france

On Sunday we went to Aubaine for a friend's birthday brunch. It's a place I'd heard about a couple of time but never had the opportunity to visit so it was nice to finally try the place out.

Aubaine on Heddon Street

Contemporary French bistro

Aubaine is a nice, cosy French restaurant on Heddon Street just off Regent Street. Its decor is a contemporary take on a French bistro with its rustic wooden furniture in creamy hues. It wasn’t too obvious but the look of the place was quietly elegant, true French chic.

We were a large group so we were able to book the lower ground floor which is perfect for private parties.

The choice of food was a little limited due to it being brunch but I chose the Egg Royal for starter. The egg was poached to perfection but I must admit that there was may be a little too much of the hollandaise sauce.

Egg Royal - poached eggs, salmon on warm brioche with hollandaise sauce

For main, I chose the wild Seabass which had a nice crispy skin but may have been slightly overcooked. The steamed mussels were a bit random and personally I don't think the tomato sauce went well with the fish.

Wild seabass with steamed mussels, artichoke, rocket with tomato sauce

Others were right in choosing the 35 days matured rib eye which was very juicy, tasty and well marinated. The accompanying chips were thinly cut and equally tasty and it seems that this was overall a much better choice than my fish dish.

35 days matured rib eye with crispy shallots, fries and bearnaise sauce

I knew Aubaine made their own bread so I was looking forward to this and I was not disappointed. The bread basket was full of different types and they were all very good! I particularly liked the white one (bottom left) which had a very dense texture, almost like a loaf cake.

bread tin full of tasty bread

And for dessert, no birthday can end without a big cake!
Made from white chocolate mousse with vanilla, strawberries and moist sponge on the bottom, it was lovely! I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate but this was GOOD!!