Memoirs of a Geeza: Pukka Tukka

at 8.30 in the morning, waking up to a nasty hangover.......

Faheem: hey,where the fuck are you?

Joe: err, what? what time is it? im at najs`.

Faheem: the taxi leaves from Ealing at 10 for Bray. Cepat lar bodoh.

Joe: Oh shiiit. ciao

Thats how the day started. I was on the other side of London and i was gonna miss my ride Waterside Inn in Bray. Thank god, i made it and had enough time for a quick wash up. (diana was pissed as i was 30 mins late)
We were off to wine and dine at Michel and Alain Roux`s 3 Michelin star restaurant in Bray. It was a class trip and we only had to pay 20 quid for lunch.( shit the things i have to do for class! hehehe)
The place is by the Thames, really nice and quaint town, and awfully picturesque for the 20 jakun londoners.

We started off with champagne and canapes in their lovely garden with a extending jetty. The platter consisted of:

deep fried extra thin chips of basil, purple potatoes,etc
whole anchovies on toast with a basil oil
quenelle of foie gras on toast (i didnt get any. faheem polished them all)
a type of olive bread stick

group picture

with apek

canapes

Alors we were ushered in by the extensive amount of penguin dressed captains and servers to our tables. it was as if there was a server to do one job each. a dude to serve the Chablis 2003, one for uncorking the Chateau Falfas 2004, one for pouring stilled water,and one to serve the sparkling.

Starters was a delightful choice of:

Broad bean soup with prawns and mint

Ballotine of foie gras cooked in a cloth, flavoured with a damson compote, brioche toast.

Main course was a choice of:

Pan fried fillet of sea bream with an olive crust, gnocchi with herbs, virgin olive olive oil sauce with pesto.
or
Sliced breast of guinea fowl poached and served in a lemon thyme scented consomme, garnished with farfalle pasta and seasonal vegetables

Dessert was a choice of:

Selection of chocolate desserts

Rasberry tart "Princess" served with a sweet basil sorbet

The meal was ended with wicked french coffee and petit fours.

Overall the food was really good. I felt the dishes were assorted with really distinctive flavours complementing each other. Really enjoyed the foie gras(havent had much of it in recent times), the fish was good and the tart went miles with the pukka sorbet.

I think i enjoyed the whole visit as a whole and not just concentrating solely on the food. The whole experience of being pampered by french servers, the ambiance, the location, the reputation and the company at the table. hey, how often do u get to a 3-starred michelin restaurant to wine, dine and all that.