Croque Gascon official site
The Balcony at Westfield W12 7GE
£10 to £15 per head

As much as I like window shopping (in the traditional high street sense), I also love hanging out in oversized shopping malls. There’s an Apple store, there’s a huge Jessops, M&S Food and a massive food hall. So I was in the mood for something quick cheap and greasy. The duck burger beckons.

West London rocks….

I don’t tend to do much photography in black and white, believe it or not, its much much harder than colour. As for black and white food, well, I’m still learning the craft.

So Croque Gascon is part of Chef Aussignac’s Gascon empire in London. I must admit – at time of writing – this is the first Gascon for me. I do enjoy French Bistro food and I guess the beauty of Europe is being able to walk into modest cafés and be treated to simply delicious food, completely free from pretension. We need more places like that in London – sometimes there just too much gimmick, especially with café style food.

Right enough hot air, time for grub.

Seafoodie

Grilled scallops and milla chips £9.50

Croque isn’t the cheapest around the block. It is completely overloaded with marble (so is the rest of the food hall) and it gives this steely cold feeling eating amidst the cold stone. For starters, this simple salad of rocket leaves and scallops were served with chunky polenta chips. The grainy chips were just a tad too sweet. At £9.50, I was expecting fresh and bouncy scallops but instead all I got was overcooked seafood. Sinking, rather than swimming. They threw in a couple of pieces of rather sad looking cherry tomatoes, and I couldn’t help but sigh at the fact that this dish tasted like something I cooked (note, this is not a compliment).

For the price, well, its overpriced. Major fail.

Chopped Steaks

Hache and chips £8 (I think)

I love chopped steak, not as much as a giant slab of ribeye, but close enough. One of my most favourite dishes is a Steak Tartare, people tend to avoid it because it looks horrible being completely raw, but I just love it.

With a steak hache, its about nearly as exciting. This particular version is roughly hand chopped. Still reasonably chunky and well seasoned. I would have preferred it, if it was served with bread instead of smothering it with chips. The chips were inconsistent, some tasted crispy, while others were downright soggy. It was much too oily for my liking, as I felt queasiness come on as I munched on. The hache was midly enjoyable but the chips felt like an attempt on my life. As a dish, I was left wishing it were frites in the place of chips, and I was wishing my hache was a medium rare ribeye.

Just when I was about to write it off…

Duck Burger Classique with Cheese £7

A little bit on the pricy side, but I was so glad that the burger rocked. Full flavoured, it had an interesting plumpness and the juiciness really had me craving for more. The cheese was a kind of mild blue cheese of sorts, in tandem with the flavours of roast duck, it made for a satisfying end to the meal.

Ahh, a fine effort.

I wanted to try the churros, but the chips really turned me off more fried food, instead I chose to wash down all the salt with a can of coke instead. That in itself kind of sums up my meal at Croque Gascon really. Let’s not be under any illusions here, Croque Gascon is high end fast food with fast prices; I may have enjoyed the duck burger, but I also enjoy a burger king from time to time. Having said that, I would go back for the burger alone, and maybe the croque monsieur, or maybe its a better idea to just wait until my Paris trip next month for some proper bistro food.

The Gist of It

Croque Gascon official site
The Balcony at Westfield W12 7GE
£10 to £15 per head
Verdict: Expensive, doesnt taste interesting, however the duck burger wasnt bad. Simply tasty French dishes is a good concept, especially in its mall setting, but better execution is required. Jettison the expensive fluff and with replace with lighter, meaner and bolder dishes.

Did you enjoy reading this post? Why not subscribe to my feed updates for free. Alternatively, You can subscribe via email.

Eating giant pancakes, thinking about the christmas lights on Oxford street and surfing the london blogging community.

eating happenings here on London Eater

I’d like to think of this week as Obama week. Everywhere you turn, it’s just Obama Obama Obama, Obamamania has hit the world like a tidal wave. Of course, London Eater caught the Obamabug too, succumbing to a tea cake offering on the day of his election.

This week, I produced four posts, apologies for those awaiting part five of my quickie wine guide, it’s been yet another hectic week behind the scenes as I’ve been busy rethinking some of the concepts behind this blog:

• The first seventy five days I kicked off the week with by dissecting the last two months since London Eater went live. Once again, thank you for all your support and for visiting my site. Every time you visit my site, it gives me confidence and inspiration to continually strive to produce quality content. I’ve got some new ideas for this site and I hope you’ll enjoy it, so do keep coming back guys. I can’t promise greatness, but I can promise that I’ll do my very best.
• Heroic freshness at Sushi Hiro was one of the best sushi trips Ive ever been on. This place is tiny, but its super good. I shot the food with my brand new 50mm f/1.8 primer, which I’m absolutely in love with. I think it’s produced some great snaps, what do you think?
• A tribute to Obama and McCain They both fought to the bitter end and McCain was a worthy opponent indeed. But in the end, change had to come. Yes it did. So I decided to give them teacakes.
• Giant pancakes at My Old Dutch is one of my favorite spots for a nice chilled out sunday lunch and when I want something abit different on a shoestring. Do check this one out folks.

I’ve established myself on the blog networks app on facebook. So if you’re on facebook, then head over there now and join my blog network.

london happenings around the Smoke

November means two things to me, one: it gets dark by four, two: Jingle bells, jingle bells…

• The Oxford street christmas lights are coming online next wednesday. It’s become a pretty traditional event with all kinds of huge ornaments hanging from above the traffic. Apparently, the super diva Leona Lewis will be on hand this year to switch the lights on. Will take lots of pictures for the benefit of my readers from beyond the shores.
• The super 50 at Westfield Many will have visited the brand new super-mall in shepherd’s bush. I did pay a visit last weekend which was absolutely packed out. The atrium area features an open food hall with lots of vendors. For a moment while walking through the food hall, I felt as if I was in a mall in asia. Because there were so many people, there were huge queues so I didnt bother eating there. Expect me to do so in the coming days though. Oh yeah, and there were lots of shops and all too.
• Cinnamon Kitchen is opening on Nov 13 and it’s going to feature a tandoori bar & grill. Apparently the decor is marbles & pearls with an equally pretentious menu. Hmm, I suppose I need to pay a mandatory visit then?

reading.. London! happenings around the community

In this week’s edition, the spotlight shifts to London food blogs. Yes, these guys have been around much longer than me and all of these venerable names feature great content to which I can only aspire to.

• Food Snob argues that a ‘snob’ is not a sign of superiority, rather the proper definition suggests that a snob is one who admires greatness and thus in his own words, the food snob is one in search of great taste. He eats and writes his way through some of the more well-known michelin establishments such as Le Gavroche, do check him out if you’re searching for a special dinner.
• Londonelicious is the diary of an american girl who loves to eat but hates to cook and lives in London. Krista’s eaten most of London already and has put together a fine top 10 list. Have a look here.
• World Foodie Guide introduces you to the concept of traveleating, as this jet-setter tracks all her culinary conquests across the globe, from London to Hong Kong. She is not shackled by the confines of one city and is truly a world foodie guide. One of my favorites.
• An American in London is eating her way through the city (as we speak) with a slight focus obsession. She visits and re-visits some of her favourites and her reviews always have me salivating.
• Silverbrow on Food is Anthony Silverbrow’s ( its fabricated, but sounds so good! ) great blog which features his thoughts on food and the general industry in the UK. His writing is a breeze and makes for a great read. So pay him a visit.
• London review of breakfast is as advertised on the box and is one of the more unique blogs around. The writing is excellent as his description of the old eggs bacon and chips is the excellent way to work up an appetite in the mornings!
• Get stuffed in London Last but definitely not least, why not get stuffed in London? Helen enjoys getting stuffed and what better way to do it than in London! It’s set up as a personal guide to the best & the worst so you can make an informed decision. Have a look now.

London is so big that it’s nearly impossible for me to eat everything in my lifetime. But that’s the beauty of the blogosphere, there’s other dedicated foodies motivated by similar goals.This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s some more blogs for you to chew on this sunday, do enjoy.

Coming soon to an internet near you..

I’m going to put out part 5 of my quickie wine guide and I’ll also post my visit to Jason Atherton’s Maze. Have a great end to the week and see you back here in seven.

Did you enjoy reading this post? Why not subscribe to my feed updates for free. Alternatively,  You can subscribe via email.