Aubaine, I’m informed, is French for a godsend, a fortunate windfall or a stroke of luck. And the branch in Kensington must be doing ok because this is their fourth restaurant in London.
The owners started out as pâtissiers but, perhaps sensing the need for a good French restaurant in the city, branched out to offer a full blown menu. Even with the sparkly festive window obscuring the traffic on Kensington High Street it’s quite difficult to imagine you’re in Paris, but there was a pleasant ambiance in the room, helped by the rustic furniture and cosy lighting.
We rocked up on a cold Friday evening, jostled by the rushing crowds and commuters, to an empty restaurant. It wasn’t a great start, but the staff were welcoming and helpful.
The slant to patisserie was immediately obvious when we were served a basket of beautiful bread, and it was an effort not to scoff the lot before we’d even opened the menu.
It’s fair to say that the food itself is fairly safe: there are salads, soups, paté and similar to start, but they were all beautifully presented and generously portioned. There were no criticisms for the octopus carpaccio, fennel, chilli and olive oil or the incredibly moreish salt and chilli squid with lime aioli.
Mains include free range pig cheeks which melted at the slightest touch of a fork, served with spring greens and Dijon mustard. The mustard sauce was very rich and needed a splash of acidity to balance it out, but perhaps that goes against the spirit of a place founded on pastry and cream.
The beef fillet, served with chips wrapped in special personalised Aubaine paper – nice touch – elicited groans of delight for its tenderness. A steak is an easy thing to get wrong but this was spot on, and complimented by some lovely crispy shallots.
Desserts were a selection of delights from the cake stand which, while very nice, were more suited to an afternoon tea than an evening meal. That’s not to say we didn’t enjoy a pistachio macaroon and a huge millefeuille – they were excellent and a credit to Aubaine’s cakey roots. It probably goes without saying that there was an excellent wine list, with a good range of prices.
Online reviews seem to criticise the staff, but either they’ve got into their stride since the branch’s opening earlier this year or they were being particularly good to us because they were welcoming and extremely efficient.
Aubaine is a great little spot for something lovely to eat after a day’s shopping, and with Christmas approaching we could all probably do with that right now.
Three course dinner for two with wine is around £90.
For information, opening times and booking visit Aubaine here.
Rhiannon Bury
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