Published : 25 Feb 2023, 08:49 PM
Updated : 25 Feb 2023, 08:52 PM
“Sounds like the Yum Cha District in Dhanmondi,” my boyfriend said on the phone, as I stood outside a fancy restaurant in London’s Mayfair in the rain, hoping to get a seat before they closed for the day. He wasn’t wrong. The restaurant was called Le Relais de Venise l'Entrecôte. A mouthful, I know. They’re famous for not having a menu, and also for having long wait times to get a table, much like our beloved Dhanmondi eatery. Venise only serves one set meal, which is Steak Frites – basically steak with french fries. But the main attraction is not the meat or the carbs, but rather the sauce they douse their steak in.
After waiting for half an hour, the 5-person party in front of me was told that the restaurant could no longer serve them, as they close at 3:30pm. I gave up and got ready to go back to good old Chinatown for some cheap hotpot. But instead, the maitre d’ walked up to me and said, “Just one person, yeah?” I nodded. Thirty seconds later she was leading me to my table. I often complain about my lack of friends in the UK, since I have to go everywhere by myself, but I guess it paid off this time.
As I sat down, a server came to ask me how I like my steak cooked. Funny thing about this restaurant, all the servers seemed to be women. I guess sexism does sell. They had four options: blue, rare, medium and well done. Right after I asked for medium, she took out her pen and wrote “1M” right on my table. Then she brought me some salad and four pieces of warm baguette.
I’m not a salad person, I was there for the beef, but I did try it out just to see if it was any good. My answer: no, it’s not. The lettuce was leafy (not in a good way), the dressing was too vinegary, and the only saving grace, the toasted walnuts, weren’t enough to balance out the dish. However, every other table gobbled up their salads like it was the best they’d ever had, so maybe my palette wasn’t sophisticated enough.
After gracefully picking out all the walnuts from the salad (read: like a three-year-old), I gestured to the waitress for my steak. It took a full minute before she came by my table with a steel plate in her hands. Literal layers of beef sat glistening on the plate, surrounded by a fragrant, herby sauce, that had the colour of expired American mustard. Sounds off-putting, but that didn’t discourage me in the least. She placed a big helping of steak on my plate, already sliced, and followed with the sauce, before dumping a heap of fries on my plate as well.
The steak was a perfect medium, slightly pink on the inside, with a great char. The sauce was the star of the show. I don’t think I’ve ever had a sauce that tasted like it, and I eat steak regularly.
My usual accompaniments are either a creamy mushroom sauce or peppercorn sauce, both classics. Now and then I try a barbecue glaze too. But this sauce was different. It looked creamy, but I couldn’t taste the richness of the cream. Instead, I was hit with an acidic, herby punch, and an aftertaste that reminded me of chicken liver.
The mountain of fries, however, felt a little too close to home. It reminded me of my go-to restaurant in Dhanmondi for a cheap meal - Arabian Fast Food. Venise’s concept was a lot like their Danish Chicken - a basket full of french fries, topped with a deep fried chicken, and an array of condiments that you can mix and match to create your own, perfect dipping sauce. The fries are perfectly floppy, with a few crispy bits and pieces that are a minute away from being completely charred. I paid £28 for my steak meal in Venise, which included a second serving. A Danish Chicken meal at Arabian costs Tk 220, or £1.71 with tax.
I had planned to take my Mom to Venise during her visit, but I don’t think I’ll be sticking to it. Sure, the steak is great, and yes, the sauce is the best-kept secret in Mayfair. But I don’t think it was worth the that much, even with the second serving. The Danish Chicken at Arabian, on the other hand, is worth having for every meal in a week. I should know, I’ve done it.
This article is part of Stripe, bdnews24.com's special publication focusing on culture and society from a youth perspective.
