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Restaurant Review - Club Gascon
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| Food Type |
French |
| Food rating |
6/10 (More information) |
| Address |
57 West Smithfield
London
EC1A 9DS
England
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| Phone Number |
020 7796 0600 |
| Open |
Dinner Monday – Saturday 19:00-22:00, Lunch Monday- Friday 12:00 – 14:00 |
| Price |
£70
(What I paid per head) |
| Average Price |
£57
(Average price per head for meal and house wine ) |
| Location Map |
Link |
| Last Visited |
January 2003 |
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| My Review |
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We tried the tasting menu. First was a veloute of shellfish and lamb’s lettuce served in a tall china cup; this had intense flavour, the liquid having the occasional mussel and even an oyster, as well as pieces of ewe cheese (5/10). Foie gras of canard was a think slice of pate with smooth texture and strong foie gras flavour, served with some remarkably light toasted brioche (7/10). Grilled confit of salmon was pleasant, resting in a frothy cauliflower cream (4/10). Braised capo, had wonderful flavour, served with chestnuts, crosnes and black winter truffle (7/10).
Finally, “Twelfth night cake” featured delicate pastry and served with an almond ice cream and a little glass of fresh green apple juice (5/10). Wines appropriate to each dish were served, the whole five courses priced at £55 a head including wines (we had some drink beforehand, which bumped the price up). Best of all was the bread, both country bread and cereal bread, of wonderful flavour, crispy crust and fine flavour, very well salted – some of the best bread I have had in ages (9/10 for the bread, which is made on the premises). Service was competent and the premises, though cramped, no longer involve literally packing people in by rearranging the tables.
To book on-line click here. |
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21/05/2008 - Joshua (U.S.A.)
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| Club Gascon’s interior appears less than sure of itself. One long wall consists of rugged brick; the other, a delicate white sheet. The tables feel as if they float uncomfortably between brick and linen, nudged back and forth by the bar at the back and the entrance area at the front (5/10).
The wait staff offered little reassurance: despite Club Gascon’s small plates-style menu, the waiter seemed uneasy, even confused, by our many-plated, staggered order (though everything did come out precisely as requested). Throughout the evening, the staff was hard to track down and took rather long to produce drinks and respond to other requests, even once the restaurant became nearly empty as the hours waned (4/10).
Decent was an amuse bouche of whitefish wrapped in chili with black bread (6/10).
We started with a simple first order: salmon confit accompanied by cheek of salmon (5/10). The fish’s taste emerged pleasant, familiar, soothing, and generally well balanced – but lacked finesse, or invention, or some higher note.
Next arrived a round of cold foie gras dishes. Foie gras “on the rocks” – literally placed on a smooth slab of rock, as well as figuratively chilled – was served with Armagnac. The meat and its accompaniment blended with surprising ease, with the liquor aptly complementing the subtle taste of the cold foie gras. Berries and pomegranate flanked another serving of foie gras, sweet fruits punctuating the cool meat. A third portion was plated with thick, heavy mushrooms on the side, filling out an interesting and diversely accompanied ensemble of cold foie gras preparations (6/10).
Then it was on to the seared and grilled foie gras courses: with truffle ice cream; with grapes and challots; and with popcorn. These combinations similarly impressed in their ability to combine unexpected elements that did not jar but actually worked and played well together. The popcorn provided a particularly complementary texture, and the grapes offered a welcome sweetness, overall producing the meal’s definitively best round (6 or 7/10).
Scallops with cauliflower and semolina, sturgeon with crispy pork, and Dover sole with jasmine tea impressed a bit less. These rather delicate shellfish and seafood dishes were even more overshadowed by their accompaniments than the foie gras dishes had been (5/10).
Solid was a hearty peppercorn beef fillet. Lamb was tasty but rather ordinary and a bit tough, and veal allegedly swam in a sea urchin jus – but the subtlety of that uncharacteristically understated accompaniment was lost to the more dominant taste of the veal (6/10).
Desserts were simply uninspiring. Foie gras – yes, more foie gras – with mango worked better than one might expect, but not enough to overturn that age-old maxim: if you haven’t had enough foie gras by dessert, then give up (5/10). And a champagne mixture with a rose petal floating within was refreshing and would have made a perfect pre-dessert, but was unfulfilling as the capstone to a heavy meal (4/10).
To our group of three, Club Gascon teeters on the brink of one-star cooking, and does so in a setting and with service that fall shy of one-star standards. These were generally well handled dishes whose accompaniments tried to make up for something special missing at their core. Overall, to our mind a 5/10 experience. |
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©AndyHayler.com |
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