It's been a long while since I tasted the full nutty deliciousness of buckwheat galettes in Brittany. I remember the best of the lot in Dinard (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/creperie-cote-mer-dinard-06-2017) and my favourite overall in Perros-Guirec (http://eatlikeushi.posthaven.com/ty-breizh-perros-guirec-06-2017). One of the issues I did have in Brittany was that nearly every creperie offered identical galettes, and finding a version that had seafood (other than St. Jacques scallops) was near impossible. I suppose it makes sense that the traditional versions would be sold in all of these traditional places that serve traditional customers.
I was delighted to discover a St. Malo-inspired place was opening in Shoreditch and even happier that they had a 50% soft opening. Looking at the menu prices, they aren't much different to their Brittany counterparts, and this is despite London/Shoreditch rental prices, a nicer more sophisticated atmosphere, and very attentive service. Of course the Breton cider is much more expensive and a 750mL of Brut was £13 rather than about €5 (but that's at a store, not in a restaurant I suppose too).
I brought a friend from Brittany (as well as 2 others) along to experience this place firsthand with me and pass judgement. I am happy to say that he was able to move beyond strict traditions and enjoy the food for what it was - excellent cooking and ingredients with finer presentation to give a modern flair to tradition.
- Roscoff Onion Tart (poached egg, cider hollandaise) £8 - soft pastry, sweet onion with a soft-poached egg;
- Buckwheat Goat's Cheese Croquettes (roasted heritage beetroot, kasha seeds, honey & thyme dressing) £7 - like croquettes/falafels but with a firm crisp buckwheat coating and descending into mild melted goat cheese. It was good without being great;
- Slow cooked Ox Cheek in Red Wine (confit baby onions, heritage carrot, buckwheat polenta, crispy kale) £12 - it may seem strange (both then and now) to order not a galette in a classic galette place but I decided to see what buckwheat polenta was all about. It's exactly as it sounds - a pale white gelatinous mash that had a discernible taste of buckwheat to it. The cheek was tender and the kale very flavoursome;
- Confit Duck Leg Galette (braised red cabbage, caramelised pear, tenderstem broccoli, red wine jus) £14 - an excellent tender duck leg in its own right served with a rolled up galette that had been wonderfully charred on the outside bringing out maximal buckwheat flavour and crisp texture. It housed the braised cabbage to provide a sour balance to the nutty galette and the salty duck.
My friends had the Morteau sausage and cider braised pork cheek galettes which were served in the more traditional flattened style. In both, the galette was slightly lighter brown than the duck leg roll, but had plenty of good buckwheat flavour with burnt butter.
The galettes were the stars of the show for me, as anticipated. As good as the buckwheat polenta, I would have to go for the galette again. The smoked ham (duck egg, maple cured bacon, comte cheese) sounds like the basic (and cheapest) and classic version to get next time. And those desserts - crepes or the dark chocolate delice has to be tried too. Particularly the delice has dark chocolate, cherries and pistachios - my 3 favourite dessert ingredients as well as buckwheat pushed in there.