AUBAINE SUMMER EN PROVENCE MENU (SPOILER, IT'S DREAMY)

My last post was one of those slightly annoying "soz gal pals but perfect does exist and I just had a pretty frickin perfect day, don't hate me" kinda posts involving babein food, babein wine, babein facials.

It was a bit babein, if you couldn't already tell!

Annnnnd I'm kinda back to talk about another day but stop right now before you christen me the worst human being ever, this time didn't involve indulgent facials and spas, it was just a meal - that just happened to be ridiculously delicious - but it was with my Dad, one of my favourite people in the world, and it was in Kensington, one of our favourite places in the world (hello Harrods and Harvey Nics and all the fancy things) and it was just bloody lovely.

It made me realise that as much as I'm lucky enough to be blessed with seriously amazing opportunities, nothing quite beats good food, good wine and good people.

I mean, they do say simple things please simple minds and I am 100% not even sorry about that.

So yeah, lemme take ya to Kensington for a virtual sample of Aubaine's Summer en provence menu and some serious Interior/decor goals.

Aubaine is the chain restaurant that doesn't feel like a chain. It has that cool and chic boutiquey vibe that transports you to a summer's day in Paris - and then you hear sirens and shouting and realise that you're actually in London [insert cry face emoji here] - and the decor and atmosphere that's immediately calming. I'd quite happily pop into Aubaine for a - slightly indulgent - coffee and cake catch up, but I'd also really happily spend hours on end over steak and mash and a bottle (or 5) of wine.

Basically it's a pretty damn beautiful place, an Instagrammer's dream and also home to a lot of babein food.

Said babein food...

First of all, every staff member at Aubaine, High street Kensington branch, was absolutely lovely and went to great lengths to find out what was gluten free on the menu. They popped out with some bread - which sadly wasn't gluten free but My Dad said it was lovely (and was probably secretly happy as his dustbin daughter usually gobbles up 99% of the food on the table, lol!) - we then went on to order starters. I opted for the La Faisselle, cherry tomatoes, basil cress and pansies which, in English/more basic terms, was a soft cheese and tomato salad and despite sounding all kinds of basic was absolutely delicious!! The cheese was really rich and worked beautifully with the sweet tomatoes and basil cress. I've got no idea what the sauce was but it was actually dreamy and I was so happy that I picked this.

My Dad went for the Cod brandade, spring leaves and lemon oil and despite the fact that I couldn't actually try it as it wasn't gluten free, I could tell immediately that it was a winner. From what I gather it was pretty much a cod/mash mixture with some kind of crisp bread and a sauce and Dad absolutely loved it. He said it was rich but not overpowering and full of flavour.

He actually said this about 4 times because he's the best blogger Dad and always makes sure I know exactly what he thinks and that I have a good 5/6 action shots of him cutting food [insert cry laughter/"oh god you're so cute" emoji here]. 

The mains was where things got seriously good, that might be because I ordered steak (because omg steak is life) or it might be because it included creamy mash (and omg carbs are life) but either way my main was seriously good. I went for the 6oz sirloin which usually comes with frites however they wasn't gluten free so we switched it for the mash and I'm so glad that we did because it was creamy, fluffy heaven. The steak itself was seriously stunning, cooked perfectly* with a beautiful provencal sauce.

*At this point I always feel the need to pop in and say soz for sounding like a pompous tit, I'm not a food critic and definitely have no idea how to cook things perfectly but you know, I have taste buds and they were pretty bloody happy after this meal.

My Dad opted for the Roasted corn fed chicken with green olives & rosemary and toasted fregola. He loved this, no seriously, he really bloody loved it. He said the sauce was so rich and thick absolutely packed full of flavour, the chicken cooked really well and the toasted fregola - which is apparently some kind of pasta, who the blimmin hell knew? - was a really unusual but tasty addition. I have to say, I was pretty jealous that this wasn't gluten free as it sounded right up my street.

In happier news, we washed this all down with the dreamiest Pinot grigio and put the world to rights. Or, you know, discussed Eastenders or something...

Finally it was time for dessert, and I have to say, after an absolutely dreamy meal so far, this was slightly disappointing for the coeliacs of the world. There was no gluten free option on the Summer provence menu or the main menu so I ended up with fruit. Now, I actually love fruit so it didn't bother me too much but I do think for such a lovely restaurant it just seemed such a shame that lack of option let it down.

My Dad had the menton lemon tart and begrudgingly - because he's the type of babe that felt guilty watching me tuck into fruit while he had a dreamy dessert - said it was stunning. A very tart tart that was such a fresh and light way to finish the meal. 

We obvs finished the whole thing with coffee because, life...

And that was it for our extravaganza into the Aubaine Summer en provence menu, overall, I have to say that it was stunning. Everything was absolutely delicious, set in the cutest location with really lovely staff to boot. My only criticism would be lack of gluten free desserts but it was absolutely worth it for that steak, chicken etc.

I would love to know if you've been to Aubaine? Have you tried out their summer menu? And most importantly, did you swoon over the decor as much as I did? ;)

As always, thanks so much for reading!

xx

SHARE: