The Courtyard
20 St Swithin’s Lane
London EC4N 8AD
The Victims: Chris, Client
So I had reservations at Novelli, but I wasn’t convinced I wanted to go back there again. So I called around to try for something else and eventually made my way to The Don. Good sign: the friendly person at the other end of the phone politely informed me that although they were booked for 12:30, she would take my name and number and call me back if there were any cancellations. THIS IS GOOD SERVICE. Yey! England scores 1. That’s 1-14 now, I believe.
What do you know it, but heck, there was a cancellation! So we got in and walked down the street. I loved the entranceway–it’s a little courtyard. Very cute. All it needed were a few chickens. We were greeted in an extremely friendly manner (but not in a bad way) by the Maitre’D (sp?) and the hostess. Then we had to walk downstairs, which totally sucked because I was wearing very extravagant shoes.
We were seated at what was really a table for two with a third chair pulled up to it. That was unfortunate, and The Don earns one strike for that.
So then we ordered some starters. I had the goat cheese mouse with a green salad. It was DELICIOUS. Yummy. Chris had the risotto and Client had the foie gras. Everything looked super yummy.
So I ordered my entree and I got the steak with bernaise sauce and chips. I made the mistake of ordering my steak medium and not medium rare. My knife was not strong enough to cut the meat, which was quite unfortunate for everyone because by the time I had had enough, it looked like Lassie had had her way with it.
The chips were great. The baked tomato was unfortunate. And my choice of English mustard was a BAD one. It’s like WASABI and this is not Japan!
The Verdict: I might go here again for a business lunch, but I felt that the menu was a bit limited. Although I loved my goat cheese mouse, I was hoping for a green salad followed by a bigger green salad. Why don’t people in this country have salads as entrees? And why does all my mail say “Miss” Krista? That makes me sound like a transvestite. Mysteries I will never solve.
