I've been a bit slack on the posts of late but there's been plenty of eating out since the weather heated up so I will try and make amends this month.Last week I finally got round to trying Le Relais de Venise in Marylebone with my brother. Steak-frites is the only thing on the menu -apart from vegetarian options (they obviously don't count)- with a special peppery sauce which apparently remains a guarded secret. The place has built up a bit of a cult following so expect queues if you're going for dinner as they don't take bookings.
We only waited for 20mins for a table which was pretty good for a balmy summer Thursday evening though had to tolerate an obnoxious crowd of fifty-somethings who were cracking jokes about a scraggy female beggar who had asked for spare change- pretty disgusting behaviour.
Soon we got inside and were seated. They certainly pack the banquette tables in but it gives the place a Parisian buzz.Twenty quid gets you a salad starter and steak-frites in "two servings"- either blue, rare, medium or well done. Rare was perfectly cooked, the two servings basically meant seconds of both steak and chips which was like Christmas come early.
Puds were predictable but tasty- I had a praline liegois (icecream with cream-coronary style) which was almost as good as Dad's brown bread icream, not quite though. Matt had a Grand Marnier semi-freddo which was a bit too alcofrolic for my liking.
Service-wise it is probably a bit too efficient for some as they like to turn tables quickly to ease the queueing outside but at least it's authentically French! 
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