Fogón Saint Julien

After many attempts at eating in Fogon, we finally managed to get a table for 10.15 on a Saturday night. We had high hopes for this restaurant after many glowing reviews, and are both big fans of tapas. Unfortunately, the hype is not lived up to and we were disappointed.

The decor is slightly plastic-futuristic, but there was a good vibe. We chose one of the set menus.... 35 euro's each with a supplement of 5 euro's each for the paella we selected. So 40 euro's each. For that we received a thimble of beet gazpacho (yuk), followed by 3 small bowls of various 'tapas' and one peice of bread each. Mackrel rillette, very small peice of salmon (think postage stamp) in mayo, and a tuna/veg mixture. It was OK, but we were left wanting ... where, I asked myself, were the spanish favourites (anchovies, chicken in various meditteran sauces, chorizo, etc)?? We then had our 'rice dish'. Think paella dish with a small amount of overcooked rice. It was dry, anything that touched the sides was inedible and salty. Desserts were better ... a funky selection of 3 small dishes with a small glass of sweet wine. By by that time we just wanted to cut our losses and leave. With a bottle of rose and a couple of aperitifs the total bill for two was 110 euros. On the plus side, wine is cheap! I must not sign off without mentioning the staff. Despite a disappointing and over priced meal, the staff were warm, friendly and genuinely disappoined in our poor opinion of our meal. So to summarise, if you are after an over priced and avergae meal with delightful service, then give it a go. In the words of Dr McCoy ... It's tapas Jim, but not as we know it!
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Ceri & Lesley
Sunday, April 09, 2006