A true taste of France without having to leave the country! Luxe Bible has discovered three authentic French restaurants full of joie de vivre and gorgeous food!
French Restaurants: Jean Jacques, Soho – Best For… French Onion Soup
What could be better than a big bowlful of hot French onion soup on a chilly evening? And what better place to do that, than at an authentic French restaurant? Soft, rich, golden brown onions, caramelised but not too dark and no hint of that bitterness that you sometimes find with onion broths. Light, yet full of flavour, Jean Jacques seem to have found that winning recipe, along with a bubbling gruyère cheese crust croûton floating on the top, the bottom of the bread soaking up all that delicious flavour!
In addition to their amazing soup, Jean Jacques is the sort of restaurant which you find it impossible to walk past without being drawn in – an inviting glow, red walls and dark wood, all seductively beckoning to you through those huge French windows.
The House red is excellent and great value at just £4.50 a glass, the burrata – delicious and plentiful and the 8oz Angus fillet absolutely perfect. I’d thoroughly recommend the Barbary duck breast main – a stunning dish which could almost be a dessert with its sweet honey glaze and the beautifully bright punchy pumpkin and swiss chard. Try the gratin dauphinois for creamy, fluffy potatoes with that perfect crisp on the top – browned to perfection and totally more-ish, while the raspberry meringue dessert bursts with fresh berry flavour and meringue with crunch on the outside and a soft centre – just as it should be!
French Restaurants: Les Deux Salons – Best For… Champagne Sunday Lunch
This stunning restaurant by Prescott and Conran just off Trafalgar Square is a relaxed cafe, épicerie, cave à vin and bistro downstairs, whilst also offering a more refined dining experience upstairs with their à la carte menu. The upstairs tables are neatly arranged around a stunning light installation and balcony which looks down to the brasserie below – it’s a vast space, light and airy and perfect for a relaxed weekend lunch.
Their Champagne Sunday’s menu offers fantastic value for money and is a brilliant way to sample the delights of their French fare. For just £35, you can expect three excellent courses with bread and a mise en bouche, plus half a bottle of Besserat de Bellefon Brut NV champagne per person.
We suggest the foie gras mise en bouche – a dollop served on three separate crunchy crostini’s. The foie gras is especially rich and the generous portion size means you probably won’t need to eat all of it! Also make sure you leave enough room for the main course which is simply divine – keep it French with the joue de boeuf bourguignon – beautifully stewed melt-in-the-mouth meat, perfectly creamy mash, served with shallots, mushrooms and pancetta and a rich red wine gravy. My friend had the wild mushroom and truffle risotto which again was a huge bowlful, with a perfect balance of truffle and mushroom – a close second! Accompanying sides range from gratin dauphinois to braised red cabbage at just £4 extra and desserts include, café gourmand and mont blanc although we were way too stuffed to try any of these!
For fantastic value and wonderful food accompanied by quality champagne, Les Deux Salon is the place…
http://www.lesdeuxsalons.co.uk
French Restaurants: Chez Boubier – Best For… Traditionally French steak and frites!
After experiencing a very bad steak in the French capital, we returned to London intent on finding the very best French steak on offer! Luckily an opportunity arose just two weeks later when we were invited to Chez Boubier on Brompton Road. I’d heard the menu was simple, the décor very French, and the food, well, amazing. Chez Boubier is well located and a really big, spacious restaurant, while the décor is indeed very French! In true Parisian-brasserie style, there are classic furnishings, with red leather, wood and brass giving the space a regal air, while the French staff really add to the ambience of the place.
The story behind Chez Boubier is an enchanting one. Back in 1930, one of the best kept secrets back in Geneva, was the recipe for a certain Mr Boubier’s ‘Café de Paris’ butter. It’s ingredients remain a closely guarded secret even to this day, but the combination of flavours was so tasty, that the restaurant it was served in, became a complete success and later, world renowned!
The menu may be simplistic, but I also welcomed the idea of not having to spend time deliberating over what to choose. Chez Boubier serve up a beautiful green salad, along with a mountain of bread, and a very special dressing which is made from mustard, white wine vinegar and rape seed oil. And then when you’ve cleared those leaves from your plate (it’s honestly the tastiest green salad I think I’ve ever had!), the magic begins. The hot plate and burner is brought out and the steaks arrive in a tray, (cooked as you’ve requested) along with that special butter, which then melts under the heat of the flame. It’s all a very beautiful theatrical experience, which just gets better when you try the steak!
The steaks themselves are pure entrecôte, meaning they’re cut from the heart of the sirloin with no fat and then dry aged for 28 days. This ensures a juicy, tasty, tender steak which melts in the mouth and is enhanced further by that amazing Café de Paris butter. We did try and get to the bottom of this secret recipe, but all we managed to extract from the waitress was that it’s made from mustard, fish paste, lemon juice and some ‘herbs’. It those herbs that hold the key we imagine… In fact so much effort has gone into preserving that secret recipe, that the current owner of the Café de Paris makes the butter in Geneva and then drives a van to London every six weeks to deliver it! Served with bowl upon bowl of skinny fries (they’ll top them up if you find you’re low), I can say with conviction, that the Chez Boubier steak, really is pretty special.
Wanna see if you can work out what’s in that sauce? Better get your table booked asap!
