Dining Out: Aubaine

For my second and last birthday meal out Matt took me to a French restaurant named Aubaine and we went to the branch in Wimbledon. Although there are a few locations, we liked that it doesn't feel like a chain restaurant, rather more boutique. We had been wanting to go there for a while so it was really nice surprise :) Inside it is modern with a rustic French twist and the service was very friendly and quick. 

When we first sat down I was surprised with a bottle of wine awaiting us with a little note from Matt, which is kind of a tradition as he normally does this when we go out to eat for a special occasion. It definitely set off the evening in a lovely way!

While choosing what to eat we were given a variety of tasty bread in a cute little bucket, as you can see above. There were lots of options to choose from, all quite simple, but for starter Matt had the caprese salad which was amazing. In his words, if the chefs can make something simple taste exquisite then you know you've gone to a good restaurant! I went for the squid which was flavoured with chilli and coriander and served with a lime aioli. It was a great combination of flavours and I also thought the way the lime was cut was pretty (I'm easily pleased as you can tell). It was good to have light starters so we had lots of room for main and pudding!

I opted for sea bass with tomato compote and roquette which was so good - I loved that they had got the skin nice and crispy. The quality of the ingredients as with all the dishes was great which is a necessity when providing more simple dishes. I also ordered some broccoli as a side to share (gotta get those vitamins in!) and it was cooked just right so it still had some crunch was nice and buttery. Matt went for the mussels with chips which is always a winner and one of our favourites.

Dessert was most definitely a highlight of the meal. We were presented with a slate platter that had a selection of delicious patisseries - I wish we could have had all of them! Matt had a salted caramel and pecan cake and I had a giant vanilla macaroon because they are one of my favourite things.

Overall we had such a lovely experience, with great quality food and service. We will most definitely be going back!

Have you tried Aubaine before? Do you like French food? xxx

Restaurant Review: Côte Brasserie

As mentioned in my previous post, my boyfriend and I decided to go out for dinner at one of our favourite restaurants to celebrate some good news. Cote in Birmingham is situated in the Mailbox, a lovely building housing many designer shops, lovely restaurants and even a hotel. We started off with some cocktails at a bar/restaurant called Estilo, also in the Mailbox, where we had a Mojito Royale (Mojito with Champagne) which were gorgeous and a great way to start the evening.

We then had a short walk down the steps to Cote which has a lovely view overlooking the river. I have dined here a few times and on each occasion I have thoroughly enjoyed the service, food and atmosphere. The restaurant describes itself as "simple freshly prepared French food at value for money prices" and I would totally agree with this. The quality and the presentation of the food is fabulous and the prices are low for what you get. The only let down would be for vegetarians as there isn't many alternative choices for veggies, especially if you don't eat fish either. I also loved that instead of giving bog standard tap water, you got complimentary filtered water in a cute bottle for your table :)

For starters I had Rillettes which was so good and Matt had Crab Mayonnaise. The fact I hate crab but loved his dish after trying it shows how good the dish was!

Crab Mayonnaise

Rillettes

Then for main I chose the duck and Matt had steak (of course!) with peppercorn sauce. Again, everything was cooked to perfection - my duck was pink and the steak was done medium-rare like it was asked to be.

Lastly, pudding. Every time I go there is at least 3 desserts that take my fancy, but I can't resist getting the creme brulee over and over! Matt had the special dessert which was Praline Crepes which tasted like Guerlain chocolates mmmm!

I really recommend this restaurant if you are looking for fine dining but at an affordable price. You can look at the various locations of the restaurant and menus here. They also have various offers on such as 2 courses for £9.95 on a weekday from 12-7pm. Have you been before? xxx