I've been on a quest lately to find good places to host dinner parties - ones where hosting doesn't involve slaving over a hot stove or doing the endless washing up at three on the morning... So far, Gong Guan, with its visually stunning Shanghainese banquet, is winning in the Asian corner but from a European perspective, Le Blanc is holding its own. The food is not going to knock your socks off (unlike Gong Guan) but the venue is just brilliant, even if everyone did decide the decor was more Bavarian German than French...
The restaurant is a virtual rabbit warren of private rooms, each decorated with, well, to be honest, random stuff that was probably collected by the owner while on holiday and a load of tree branches from his garden for good measure. I've made it sound hideous but it really does work - it's like having a dinner party in a private den, the sort that the one from your childhood looked like (in your mind).
Unlike other private kitchens, it is not a set menu and indeed, I was quite surprised how lengthy the menu was - there were about 15 main courses. The fennel soup was good as were the mussels although I wasn't convinced by the creamed watercress in which my main course of seafood was sitting. That course probably wasn't aided by the fact that the central star, the king prawn, was seriously overcooked. By the time we got to the puddings I was somewhat defeated by the amount of food but the clafoutis wasn't that exciting so I didn't mind. To be honest, it's not the food that makes it such a great evening - it is the fact that you are in such a kooky relaxed private setting with a BYO policy meaning that the wine is flowing. The food takes a backseat.
I'd heard reports of dodgy service but the service was good and they had a great system of marking each filled-in menu with a number representing where you were sitting - at least, it was a good system until in a fit of over-enthusiasm I set my menu on fire and burnt off the number. Still, it all worked out well in the end...
Le Blanc
6/F, 83 Wan Chai Road
Tel: 3428 5824
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