Dick W
Google
We had a great night. There are quirks as well as gems in this place, but it’s all character and we really enjoyed it.
We went for the ‘Opentable’ set menu through The Fork which advertised:
“This preset menu includes: Amuse-bouche du jour + Les hors d'ceuvres + Les plats princjpaux + Made for sharing + Side dishes + Bread basket
+ Pre dessert de la maison + Les desserts and
drinks.”
You may be forgiven for thinking that all of the above would be ‘included’ for the set price of £45, but yes that would be far to good to be true. Included in the price is 5 courses; Amuse-bouche du jour, Hors d’œuvres, Plats Principaux, 1 bread basket (2 small slices of baguette each with plentiful anchovy butter), Pre desert de La maison, Le deserts, and one glass of Cremant each.
All of the sides carry an extra charge, as do all of the ‘Made for sharing’ dishes… Also if you need more than two small slices of baguette each, you’ll need to pay extra.
Thankfully when we asked our waitress to explain the ambiguous pricing, she happily obliged. We stuck to the 5 actually included courses with one additional side between us and we did not go home hungry… although a little more bread in the basket would have felt less stingy, and hugely useful for soaking up every last delicious drop of our Amuse-bouche; the most amazingly tasty cup full of mushroom soup. The anchovy butter accompanying the bread transported me to the fishing harbours of Boulogne. There was far more butter than our four baguette slices could take, so we kept the remains on the table just in case, and it was useful.
For my hors d’œuvre I ordered the Yellowfin tuna tartare, avocado purée, tomato & basil concassé with sesame wafer. It was fresh and uplifting to begin with, but by the third spoonful I was missing something. The tuna and the avocado needed a little more acid. Neither the tomato nor the basil were quite enough to give it the punch it needed. Maybe some capers would have done it. As nice as it was to eat, it was just… ‘nice’. I did finish it and I didn’t complain because it was good quality food, and very healthy too, but it was bland. There was also a 20min wait for food when we arrived so I was pretty hungry.
I was treated by my dining partner to a taste of her Twice-baked St. Maure de Touraine cheese soufflé, with beetroot sorbet which was out of this world. It was the comfort we were looking for on a cold winter evening. I was considering requesting it in place of my desert and had major food envy. Well worth the supplement!
Next were the principaux as well as the side of ‘sautéed spinach’ to share. Both mains were perfectly cooked. The spinach however didn’t appear to be sautéed. It appeared more wilted. Obviously this was not a dealbreaker by any means and it is where our saved anchovy butter came in handy.
I went for the Selection of Artisanal cheeses, red onion chutney & cheese biscuits, 4pcs. When only three pieces of cheese arrived, I did ask for the fourth as advertised, and any extra if they were feeling generous. I received five pieces which felt more appropriate for the £9.50 supplement. Unfortunately neither my partner nor I could agree with the red onion chutney. She likened it to cigarette ash. It reminded me of the liquid in my waste food caddy, not that we consume either very often.. We chose not to offend the cheeses with it and left well alone. I rationed the five Carrs water biscuits to last as long as possible across my now five pieces of cheese.
The service was warm and friendly, and the restaurant busier than expected. It was a little unusual to not wait at the counter by the door to be seated, but having read previous reviews mentioning this, we knew to seek the assistance of the busy floor staff, who found us a table right away.
Would be go back? Yes please! (If they’ll still have us)…
