19 – 21 Monmouth Street
WC2H 9DD
Tel: 020 7836 7243
Date of Last Visit: Saturday, August 12th
The Victims: Con Ann, Jochen, Brian, Amy
The Damage: Unknown. They paid!
The Setup: Brian and Amy were in town from California, so Con Ann arranged for us to have dinner at her favorite French spot, Mon Plasir off of Covent Garden. I was early, as usual, and told the staff that my friends had a table for 5 at 8:30. They all looked at me like I was crazy and kept telling me to go to the sofa. I had no idea where the sofa was and no one made any move to take me there. Finally, I said, "Well where is this sofa?" and they took me there and brought me a Kir Royale. I liked the sofa. I felt very French, sitting there watching the people go back and forth. The decor of Mon Plasir reminds me very much of the little local restaurants I go to in Paris. (One of these days, I will write about the French restaurants I go to in Paris!) Cozy, warm, great soft lighting. Lots of wood.
Aside: I find French restaurants and waitstaff interesting. When we sat down, we asked for bread. We were told we couldn’t have bread yet. It would come with our meal. Would it really have hurt them to have given us bread sooner rather than later? Related, I once took the Eurostar and was sitting in Leisure Select, which is like business class but not, but you get a hot meal at your chair. I asked for a glass of wine prior to dinner being served, and was told I couldn’t have any wine–wine would be served with the meal, but I could have an apertif. I didn’t want an apertif! I just wanted a glass of wine. But no. I "had" to have a Kir Royale.
The Starters: Con Ann and I shared 12 Escargot, which were garlicky perfection. Amy tried to convince us that escargot were slugs, and that she kills them all the time in her backyard. Con Ann and I disagreed, but not being an expert on mollusks (at least I think that’s what they’re called), I couldn’t say for sure.
The Wine. And The Service: Our server was really sweet and friendly. He steered us to this one Bordeaux that was really inexpensive and said it was his favorite. We ordered two bottles, and asked for his fave to be served 2nd. Well, we were a little disappointed in the 1st bottle–I thought it was okay, but it wasn’t quaffable–as French wine is wont to be (unquaffable, that is)–but were absolutely delighted with the bargain we found in the 2nd bottle. I think we were all sad we hadn’t had two of those.
The Mains: I went with the Coq au Vin. The rest went with the Entrecote. The Coq Au Vin was good. A little light on the mushrooms, onions and potatoes. In short, it was just chicken in a pot with wine. Very nicely cooked chicken, yes. But I would have enjoyed the opportunity to soak up the sauce with some carbs of some sort. The team seemed happy with their Entrecote, which looked very nice and came with a little pot of garlicy butter. Yumm.
The Dessert: I went with the cherry and almond tart. I do love the combo. There was a lot of chocolate mousse. Thank goodness for that espresso or I would have fallen asleep on my plate. I was tired. And full. And happy.
The Verdict: I liked the atmosphere of Mon Plasir. It was homey and friendly and busy. I really liked our server, and I loved the escargot. I thought my main was a little better than average, but not the best thing I had ever had. That being said, I would recommend Mon Plasir and would more than happily return.
