Patisserie Valerie, England by Bureaucrat

I first came across Patisserie Valerie when I first visited London about two years. At that time, I wanted to try PV as it was mentioned in one episode of Absolutely Fabulous (where Patsy was trying to convince Eddy not to go into work and instead have breakfast at PV and then to Harvey Nichols).


Back then, we had the hot breakfast (eggs, bacon, etc). I remember it to be ok but a bit pricey for what it was.


Since then, I've been trying PV's pastries and have been consistently disappointed that the pastries are always doughy and bread-like and rather lacking in flavour.

However, for a Christmas lunch, a few weeks ago, a few of us tried PV's light lunch/brunchy menu. It became obvious that everyone gets the same, perfectly rationed side salad - mixed lettuce, one cherry tomato, a quarter of an artichoke, two batons of de-seeded cucumber and two olives.


Mr M ordered the ham and cheese toasted croissant. Despite having tried PV's croissants before (and they were doughy and not buttery), this looked really tasty. The croissant actually looked light and the golden toasted colour added to the appeal.


I ordered the toasted Italienne sandwich. It had ham in the middle, olives and sun dried tomatoes and cheese on top on granary bread. It was quite nice, a glorified cheese toastie - nothing objectionable about it, but I think I would have preferred the toasted croissant!


Ms B ordered the soup of the day, which was roasted tomato and capsicum. Ms B said the flavour was deep and liked the dish. I've previously had soup from PV before and I did quite like it (vegetable minestrone, by memory). There was definitely a deep, rich flavour to the soup. So it seems PV does soup quite well!


Ms G ordered the vegetarian lasagne, which came with garlic bread. Compared to the other dishes, this was the biggest in serving size. I forgot to ask what vegetables were used in the lasagne. However, Ms G said she liked the dish.

Ms S had the spinach quiche. Unfortunately, the photo I took of it didn't turn out very well. I think this was a bit disappointing - despite the lower price, it was a very small size. You could hardly describe it as a single servie - it was more of a glorified hors d'eouvre.

Overall
I'd say that PV is best for a light lunch in between shopping or a coffee and cake in the afternoon. There's always punters inside - I can understand why. The decor and tempting display of cakes and pastries in the window makes PV an enticing place to go.

While most of the hot meals can be had for less than 10 pounds, I feel that they are a little bit pricey for what you get. All of us, except for Ms G (who had the lasagne) and I (being bloated from the wheat bread) were still a bit hungry after the meal.

Address
Patisserie Valerie
2-6 Sicilian Avenue
Holborn WC1A 2DQ
Telephone: 020 7831 7744