Sometimes eating in a restaurant isn't about trendy food, fine dining and small plates, but about comfort food that makes you happy.
Recently I went to a small restaurant in Angel: le Sacré Coeur where one of my French friends invited me. It was a good occasion to catch up a lot of years in an familiar and simple atmosphere.
To start the meal we shared a platter of mix marinated olives, cheese with mustard and bread & olive oil, as our waitress told us the main courses were quite big.
The cheese was good, served at room temperature, two disappointing points about this platter : the quality of the bread wasn't good, such a shame for a French restaurant and where was the saucisson?
Mix marinated olives, cheese with mustard, bread and virgin olive oil
My friend ordered an Entrecôte grille with peppercorn sauce. I was impressed by the size of her entrecôte and it was served with nicely cooked thin fries. The entrecôte was perfectly cooked, tender and juicy. This entrecôte was better and cheaper than the one I tried at Chabrot bistrot des Halles near Smithfield market.
Entrecôte grillée :Chargrilled rib eye steak served with French fries and peppercorn sauce
As a main course I had the classic coq au vin. It was such a pleasure to have a classic dish so well executed, the carrots and mushrooms were slowly cooked in the wine sauce. Carrots melted like butter in the mouth. I remembered when I went to the trendy Brasserie Zedel near Piccadilly the mushrooms and carrots were cooked separately from the sauce, it didn't taste that great as they were too crunchy.
The coq au vin arrived first on the table, I didn't notice it came with a side: sautéed potatoes. I think this dish would have been enough to be shared by two people.
Coq au vin: Classic French chicken casserole with smoked bacon, mushroom, carrot and shallots. Cooked in thyme, garlic and rich red wine sauce. Served with sautéed potatoes
Le Sacré Coeur is not the 'coolest place to be' for a foodie in London, but to me this place was far better than some trendy places. It was very good value - one (massive) main course around £12, it came to £20 per head with wine and the platter we shared.
Sometimes the most modest looking places can surprise you.
Le Sacré Coeur was a simple French restaurant with a great friendly atmosphere and nice French waiters (I know they are usually famous to be rude - according to Chris Pople).
I will definitely come back to Le Sacré coeur when I am nostalgic or when I want to eat proper French comfort food without loosing one arm when the bills arrive on the table.
8/10
Le Sacré Coeur
18 Theberton St
London N1 0QX
Twitter: @lesacre_coeur
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