Blanchette, London

We planned a last minute New Years trip to the capital and after a frantic search for somewhere  to dine that wasn’t charging an arm and a leg for a ‘special’ menu, we finally settled on Blanchette in Soho. A cosy bistro serving French small plates and not a set menu in sight which was welcome, at short notice we managed to bag ourselves a table for four for an early dinner before heading off to find a good location to see the fireworks. 

Typical of most Soho restaurants where space is at a premium, the dining room is long and narrow with bar seats offered along the bar area. Blanchette was established by three brothers, Maxime, Yannis and Malik Alary and also draw on consultancy from another small plate London favourite, the Salt Yard Group who run Opera Tavern and Ember Yard amongst others.

The small plate concept encourages dishes to be shared, which in our opinion is more interactive along with the added benefit of being able to try more dishes! The menu is split between snacks, starters, charcuterie, fish, meat and veg. Dishes range from £5 - £10 and are worth it for the quality. We ordered a whole host of dishes to share including:

Crispy frog legs with bois boudran sauce

From the charcuterie section we tried truffle saucisson from Rhone

Octopus with burnt clementine, fennel and pistachio

Hot smoked salmon with beetroot, quail eggs, potato crêpe and truffle butter

Daube of pig cheeks with dauphinoise croquette

Braised lamb shoulder with anchovy, rosemary and soubise sauce

Confit duck leg with butternut squash purée, hazelnuts, chilli and star anise

Tournedo Rossini with foie gras en croute, shaved truffle and madeira sauce (a NYE special)

Roasted beetroot with pickled girolles, fleur de marquis and tarragon dressing

Brillat-Savarin salad with pear, red endive, honey and poppyseed

Hot chocolate fondant with salted caramel ice cream

Passion fruit vacherin

The favourite dishes of the night were the frogs legs, pigs cheek, salmon and salad dish, the desserts also hit the spot as well with the passion fruit vacherin being perfect foil for the sweet gooey chocolate fondant. 

Everyman Bistro, Liverpool

I was a little sad when the Everyman Theatre on Hope Street temporarily shut a couple of years back as I never got round to trying the highly rated bistro. However it reopened earlier this year after undergoing major refurbishment bringing it into the 21st century and it was time to make amends. The décor inside and out has been modernised with the exterior logo in simple letters huge letters in striking red. The spacious bistro is in the basement and is welcoming with a bar area and plenty of tables.

The menu is full of British classics with harissa and pomegranate yoghurt the only components of one dish which were inspired from elsewhere that we could see. Being a party of five this give us a chance to try as many dishes as possible. Most of the dishes came in a choice of small or big plates but we were advised the small plates would be adequate. Along with the normal menu there is a daily specials board which details the fish of the day.  The lemon sole with broccoli and fat chips and butter sauce sounded tempting at £10.50. The fish was deboned and well prepared, ideal with the butter sauce. The thick chips were certainly proper chips and fluffy in the middle, this wasn’t just the catch of the day but the steal of the day; I’ve not had fish this good at this price point anywhere else in Liverpool.

We had to try the Scouse with beetroot, cabbage and crusty bread. This seems to be a perennial on the specials and so it should be, it certainly hit the spot. Butternut squash, sage and walnut risotto was a really light vegetarian dish. 

A spin on an English classic; sausages and cheesy mash in red onion gravy. This dish went down a treat and the buttery mash was ideal foil to soak up the gravy.  It wouldn’t be complete without a Yorkshire pudding on top.  Beef shin chilli with chocolate was very flavourful and moreish, the quickest of the dishes to get mopped up with the crusty bread.

To complete the feast we ordered a fisherman’s board to share amongst us, smoked salmon, mussels with a spicy herb crust, fish fingers, potted shrimp and ciabatta and mussels & chorizo in a white wine sauce. Whilst the board did not hit the heights of the other dishes the mussels were big and plump.

All of the dishes bar the sharing board and lemon sole were small plates so I dread to think how big the large portions were. At an average of £5 for each small plate it certainly was value and quality for money. You will not leave the Everyman feeling hungry that’s for sure.