l'étranger

My first Christmas present - yay! Dinner at L'Etranger, Jerome Tauvron's sleek French-Asian restaurant in Kensington (http://www.etranger.co.uk). I know what you're thinking: "But Fusion is so passé!" But I assure you, no stacks, no poncey lemongrass spears in sight, just some fantastic ingredients served in simple, but elegant dishes in sleek and cozy surroundings. And their bread is really nice. Being unable to resist, I scoffed nearly a whole basket and was so stuffed by the end that I didn't even have room for dessert, which let me tell you, is very rare.

Sadly, it felt rather rude to take pictures of my food, so no visuals this time. But the Tuna Spring Roll with Ginger and Coriander was excellent - tender, pink tuna steak all wrapped up in crisp nori and rice paper. And then the restaurant's signature dish, Caramelised Black Cod with Miso, which was really something else...... melt-in-your mouth fillet of black cod infused with teriyaki and a miso dipping sauce, accompanied by the most amazing black sesame sushi rice ever.

As I said, can't comment on desserts (though they sound yummy!), due to my earlier over-indulgence in carbohydrates, and their peppermint tea was very strong and quite bitter by the second cup. But otherwise, well worth trying to convince someone to take you there!!