Piquet

Spectacular modern bar food

The Fir Room

Piquet is a modern European restaurant located on Newman Street, just a few minutes walk from the ever busy Oxford Street. Chef patron Allan Pickett championed using classic techniques cooking modern French food, using fine local ingredients with British influence. The restaurant is split into two floors, with the ground floor as a bar (The Fir Room) serving small dishes. Whilst the downstairs main room serves a more formal a la carte menu. I discovered that The Fir Room was running a winter 50% off offer for its food so it was a great introduction for me to try out Allan's style of cooking before deciding if it is worth spending the little more at its main dining room.

Pork crackling, picked crab

Fresh oysters

Veal trencher

The casserole of Cornish cod cheeks with baby squid had a lovely depth of texture from the beans and meaty cod, what I really liked about the dish was that it was blessed with so much flavours but not rich or overly salty, it was magnificent. The fillet of sea bream was also wonderful, the skin was crispy and full in taste, and the meat itself was silky and cooked to perfection, together with the aubergine it created a lovely savoury taste with a hint of spiciness and freshness to it. The Le Piggy burger has to be one of my all time favourite burger, the pork patty was well seasoned, the pulled pork was moist, just the right level of smokiness in the streaky bacon, even the bun itself was done expertly, super soft and smooth. It was one hell of a special burger.

Sea bream and aubergine

Casserole of cod cheeks baby squid, haricot blanc

Fish and chips

Piggy burger

I was extremely impressed with the quality of the food from Piquet's bar menu (so good that I went there three times in a week), even without the offer, it was still extremely great value for money. For example, the piggy burger cost only £10 and it comes with chips, that is already a lot cheaper than all the trendy premium London burger joints and the quality was easily the next level. The cooking was very consistent throughout my multi visits, on top of that, the service was simply fabulous, very caring but kept it casual. Without a doubt I will be going back to try the food in its main restaurant in the near future, I am pretty confident Allan has something special to offer.


Food 3.5/5

What I paid: 
£20 per head with a glass of wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
£28

92 Newman St, London W1T 3EZ

http://piquet-restaurant.co.uk/