La Poubelle is a wonderful restaurant serving up traditional French cuisine since 1969, this husband and wife run venture has a charming back story.
Having always wanted a crêperie, Jacqueline Koster came to logger heads with her daughter Françoise, who having previously owned an underground jazz club and brothel in the early ‘60s, was after a more serious establishment. Being unable to reach a decision, the pair flipped a coin, which (fortunately for us) landed in Jacqueline’s favour. With the business going her way, Françoise was then bestowed the honour of naming the restaurant, which she did in ode to her former London club.
We were charmed on arrival; with authentic French style interiors, and the warm staff that greeted us, we were certain it was to be a great evening, and thankfully, we were not disappointed...
“..a slice of Paris in the heart of Hollywood.”
We began our evening with a couple of delightful pre-dinner cocktails. We chose to sample the Tower Cocktails - an extremely refreshing blend of vodka, fresh lemon sour, cucumber, basil, and mint - fresh and crisp on the palate; as well as an Ocean Water, which is a tequila-based cocktail, blended with pressed cucumber, aloe liqueur, and pineapple.
The cocktails were expertly made and offered exceptional flavour combinations. We were very impressed.
After our cocktails, we ordered a bottle of the Bordeaux, Chateau Rocher-Calon, St. Emilion, 2011, which we sampled whilst making our menu choices.
To start, we chose the margherita pizza; and the seasonal vegan soup, which on our visit happened to be tomato and basil. Although both very simple dishes, they were beautiful in their simplicity. The pizza was freshly made, with a wonderfully authentic tomato base.
For our main courses, we moved onto Beouf Bouguignon - a classic; braised beef sirloin with bacon lardons, thyme, onion, carrot, wild mushroom, new potato and burgundy wine, served with homemade bread. It was everything we hope it would be, and more; it was perfect.
For our second main course, we opted for another classic: steak frites -filet mignon, poivre sauce and fries. As side dishes, we also shared the macaroni and cheese gratinée with comté, mozzarella and béchamel sauce; as well as the crispy Brussels leaves with blistered capers and white truffle oil. The Brussles leaves were a particular highlight of the meal, and we would thoroughly recommend you sample these.
We simply couldn’t pass on dessert when we noticed crème brûlée on the menu; made with Madagascar vanilla, and topped with sugar in the raw, we were very pleased that we chose to sample this dish. It was the perfect finish to a delicious meal.
La Poubelle truly does offer a slice of Paris in the heart of Hollywood. We would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys good food, excellent wine, and wonderful service. We would certainly return; even for just another taste of those Brussels leaves.
The Bill: £56 per head
