Maison Blanc is a nice French patisserie. It has a small takeaway counter as you enter. If you pass this and head to the back of the store, that is where the cafe area is. There is limited seating here but they also have tables outside. The cafe area is very light and airy.

The service was lovely and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Maison Blanc has great artwork along its walls and also a good display of biscuits and sweets. The bags of French treats and artisan chocolate would be good for gifts. In the display fridge, there are many pastries, tarts and also small speciality cakes.

We had mochas to drink and they were very rich and creamy; just as we like them. Maison Blanc do have soy milk. They also serve soups, salads and sandwiches. This cafe is a perfect place to come for breakfast, lunch or a coffee break.

Maison Blanc, 76 Hampstead High Street, London, NW3 1QX

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What I like about Cafe Rouge is that you can come here just for drinks or for a proper meal. The atmosphere is very relaxed and the staff don’t rush you in any manner. The red and white furniture complements the dark wooden surroundings. It does feel like a bistro that you would get in France!

The tea is always served by the pot and the coffee is also of a good quality. The butter biscuits are a nice accompaniment if you just want something small to go with the hot drinks.

Cafe Rouge do a soup of the day and the one that was on offer when we went was red pepper and aubergine soup. It was a  flavoursome soup with big chunks of aubergine. The soup came with half a baguette which was very fresh. A filling starter that could easily satisfy as a main meal.

Another good starter is the warm ciabatta style breadsticks which comes with three dips: hummus, tomato and aioli. You also get a  small amount of salad. The amount of dips is fairly small, but it suffices.

To finish the meal, a good choice is the assortment of desserts. These are smaller portions of the creme brulee, red fruit crumble and chocolate ganache. None of them disappointed and it was nice to get a taster of them all!

Cafe Rouge, 6-7 South Grove, Highgate, London, N6 6BP

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On this site used to be one of my regular restaurants, Caffe Uno. This has now been changed (just like many others) to the French restaurant Brasserie Chez Gerard.

The food here was average and I wouldn’t call it outstanding. I had the seasonal vegetables tagine which I would give full marks for presentation but not for flavour. The taste of the spices didn’t really come through. I was expecting it be more of a tomato based tagine. This Moroccan dish was cooked with chickpeas, spinach and baby carrots. It came with a good portion of couscous.

The actual restaurant decor is nice with a range of seating, from window seats to wicker chairs and normal dining tables and chairs.

The staff were friendly although the service was slow at times. We were waiting for quite a while to get the attention of the waiter, so that we could order desserts. By the time we managed to get his attention, we weren’t even sure that we wanted to order anything else.

The warm almond and cherry tart was a huge disappointment. It tasted like it had been microwaved and the pastry had become too soft. The only upside to this was that the coffee ice cream (that came with the tart) had a good flavour.

Maybe I should have opted for my friend’s choice of the warm Belgian waffle with chocolate sauce and ice cream. That looked of a better quality!

Brasserie Chez Gerard, 9 Kensington High Street, London, W8 5NP

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