Le Moulin

[Louisa]

The food is mostly rustic French, and yes the older diners probably do prefer traditional cooking rather than some fancy blob of nothingness which costs a bomb and leaves you starving after three courses..

by the way bob whats wrong with prawn cocktails and melon balls? (even half of those fancy places along LL serve these items on the menu!)

[Pierre]

serving melon balls and parma ham, steak diane and prawn cocktails to people who didn't know any better.

phew *Bob*, thank God you know better. It's your duty to go in there and educate those poor old sods who think they enjoy that kind of food.

: P

[macroban]

> I believe the whole tone of this thread is a bit snobby

I'm not sure it's snobby...

Perhaps it's just the new wave of incomers trying to impose their North of the Thames "values" on our community.

[capt_birdseye]

Louisa Wrote:

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> The food is mostly rustic French, and yes the

> older diners probably do prefer traditional

> cooking rather than some fancy blob of nothingness

> which costs a bomb and leaves you starving after

> three courses..

I would say that "Traditional Cooking" is very much the main thing these days. The blobs of nothingness were very much prevalent in expensive restaurants during the 80s and 90s.

[Jeremy]

Bob - there's nothing wrong with Steak Diane!

Louisa - could you remind us of the owners names please?

[Louisa]

I quite agree, and there has been a renaissance in places cooking up simple dishes which work, and that is why Le Moulin is still in business, they have never tried to change the formula and risk losing what they have.. I personally dont see whats so wrong with melon balls and prawn cocktails.. they always fill me up.. maybe bob can teach me how to enjoy other foods which are obviously more satisfying, I just didnt know it until now ;-)

[*Bob*]

Look, I'm sure it's melon balls and prawn cocktails chez pierre every night of the week - but I'm afraid it doesn't do it for me.

Incidentally, I was talking more in general about the standard of restaurant food in the UK (much derided by the French at the time - remember?) 10 or 20 years ago. My point wasn't that you're some kind of dunce to enjoy such food: just that such a stuck-in-the-past menu immediately brings back delightful memories of all the crappy restaurants I've eaten in over the years before the UK pulled its gastronomic socks up.

Some of these places are still knocking around, and I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[Louisa]

Jeremy - Dame Edna Everidge and her sidekick Valmai :)

[*Bob*]

Once you've had a prawn cocktail and steak diane in Walsall, circa 1988 - you'll never go back.

(To Walsall, or Steak Diane)

[Huguenot]

Interesting use of the word snob used here... the original derivation is supposed to be a contraction of sine nobilitate. So it was used by the nobility to criticise pretentious or arriviste newcomers who aspired to join their select club.

Within this thread it has quite the opposite implication - it's used as an insult directed at those newcomers who are 'lording it' above the established residents with their new fangled ways.

Crazy eh?

[Louisa]

I've eaten at the Hungry Horse in Sutton Coldfield and must admit it was a bit bland - but that comes with the territory of eating north of Watford I guess. As for Le Moulin being stuck in the past - well, Eric is French and brought with him many local dishes when he opened up the restaurant, and I cant understand how you can link an old French place to the steak houses of old which may well have put people off the Diane for life. His menu is almost entirely French anyhow, though he will knock up a Prawn Cocktail if your gagging for one.

On the topic of traditional food, the chappie who owns Emilys fish bar on North Cross tells me he has been given planning permision to open a traditional London pie and eel house at his current premises, with work starting in the summer.. I bet that would get the young professionals and their yummy mummies running to the nearest estate agent begging to get out of ED as quickly as they came in! haha

[Pierre]

An ED "traditional London pie and eel house" - what a brilliant idea. Organic Norfolk King Edward mash, wheat- and gluten-free pies, North Atlantic dolphin-friendly rainbow eels, spring water liquor delicately flavoured with locally grown sorrel... let's just hope they keep the decorating up to scratch. ;)

: P

[spadetownboy]

is that place in peckham still going,used to pop in for a pie and mash many moons ago but havent been recently,nice bit of knees up muvver brown if ever i saw one.

[Louisa]

Manzes is still going in Peckham, it's been on those premises since 1926.. Theres also one in Nunhead called Churchill's I do believe..

[rob]

Well, actually, I love pie and mash and have eaten in Manze's, Bert's and Armant's on many, many occasions!

[Michael Palaeologus]

Prawn cocktail, steak with chips and peas followed by Black Forest gateau. Washed down with a pint or two of Double Diamond..

.. and people think that Britain lost it culinary way in the 70s.

Pah!!

[louisiana]

Mikewbate Wrote:

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> Prawn cocktail, steak with chips and peas followed

> by Black Forest gateau. Washed down with a pint or

> two of Double Diamond..

Liebfraumilch, surely!

[Amelie]

Given that we live in Dulwich shouldn't it be locally grown Dill rather than Sorrel?

[karter]

Louisa

Churchills pie and mash was closed down about 2-3 years. The manager did not pay the bills .Its now a caribean takeway.He was also the owner of the olde nuns head pub in nunhead and had to run away from there too.

[monica]

I use to work in a resturant just like moulin in my teens and i loved every moment of it. people still like resturants like that,because of the dated decor and the exterior.I went past there at xmas and there were a few xmas parties who were having a great time and i thought to myself i will have to try that place 1 day.

[tomk]

Went to La Moulin yonks ago. Simlilar reasons to these posts - near by, curiosity etc. Have to say: it was very poor. Good luck to Eric and Margaret and all the regulars but that was not what I would call good food (and it was not exactly Chelsea Kitchen prices either).

[buggie]

omg a Steeple Bumpstead mention..... I grew up about 5 miles from there!!! Until I read this thread I'd completely forgotten Le Moulin existed even though I go past it regularly - its so beige (literally!) that it blends in to the background

[monica]

love the chelsea kitchen lovely food and so reasonable,we need a ed kitchen but with sushi,