Hidden-away in Knightsbridge, a small and genuine new Gallic bistro, of particular interest as a lunchtime destination.
A small, Gallic bistro where the prices seem very reasonable? In Knightsbridge? In the very shadow of the Candy brothers’ ‘One Hyde Park’ colossus? The marketing messages that drew us to this little newcomer, hidden-away in a pedestrian alley, were certainly enticing.
With its red-curtained door, its small and tightly-packed tables, and its tables clothed in oversize tea-towels, the place certainly looks the part – the antithesis of the scene-y Zuma, just around the corner. If the establishment is modest in scale, however, the proprietor and his staff are – in a good way – rather larger than life.
The menu is similarly a touch idiosyncratic, and eschews the obvious to a surprising extent. Yes, there are snails and oysters but, for example, no terrines or onion soup. No fish either (though salmon – a fish it’s difficult to get excited about nowadays – was available as a plat du jour).
One of us started off our dinner with oysters – good, but served without shallot vinegar, which seemed an odd omission. Our other choice, deep-fried baby squid, was perhaps the highlight of the meal’ Oh dear, so quickly – the cat comes leaping out of the bag.
We are not implying that there was anything at all wrong with anything that followed but – considering the small scale of the operation, and the fact that the chef used to work at Le Gavroche – nothing quite hit the hoped-for heights either. In the wild boar stew (a special of the day), the inherent dryness of the meat was not overcome. Stuffed cabbage was enjoyable but no more (though the accompanying vegetables were nicely timed, and served with real generosity).
For desert, we chose a rice pudding, and also a very sweet orange salad. Each item on its own was fine – as a composite dish, they might have made rather more than the sum of the parts.
It was early days, of course, and some basic elements – notably bread and coffee – were undoubtedly of the very highest standard. And the scale of the wine list is way beyond the level you would expect at a bistro’ but then so, towards the upper end, are its prices. But, if you’re going to spend £80 a head on dinner (as we ended up doing, including a digestif), we’re not quite sure we could honestly say this is the obvious place to do it.
As a lunch venue, however, the attractively priced ‘deals’ look set to make this an amazingly useful addition to this ever-ritzier part of town. Anywhere in ‘Richistan’ that seems to be aimed at mortals is surely to be encouraged.
