L’Absinthe

Press Reviews (3)

• Matthew Norman (22nd December 2008)
  9/10
  
  “At first glance, there is something a touch pantomimic about this cosy, flickering candlelit fin de siècle [Primrose Hill] bistro”, says the critic, “[b]ut soon it became obvious that the owner, erstwhile Marco Pierre White stalwart Jean-Christophe Slovak, is a total charmer with a neat sense of self-parody”. And, on the ultimate authority – that of the critic’s wife – its standards turn out to be “flawless”.
• Joe Jospeh (26th March 2008)
  
  Naturally, in a review of a straightorward Gallic bistro in Primrose Hill, the critic begins with protracted musings on the similarities between Swiss and Mexican cuisine – both “wed to carbohydrates”, apparently – and the effects of this on the Swiss economy. Eventually moving on to the subject of the day’s review, the critic sagely (and, in our view, correctly) notes that: “it is only when you come across a place like L’Absinthe that you appreciate how rare proper bistros are in this country”. “Pretty much everything about this restaurant is deliciously alien to London dining. L’Absinthe is not part of a chain. You want to eat pretty much every dish on the menu. Most main courses are under a tenner. A good range of wines is sold at shop prices plus corkage. The staff look like they are enjoying serving you. And – are you ready? – they don’t churn tables”.
• Terry Durack (5th February 2008)
  14/20
  
  The Indie’s man ventures north to a new Gallic bistro which opened in November and is – righly he thinks – already “full every night with a good-looking, high-income thespian/agent Primrose Hill crowd”.