Chez Rose

Chez Rose opened in June 2026, the casual sister of Row On 5. It is on the former site of Little Social. Chef Spencer Metzger oversees the cooking here in addition to his primary role of head chef at Row on 5. The head chef at Chez Rose is Mark Catchpole, who formerly worked at Roganic, Attica, The Fat Duck and Dinner. The a la carte menu features brasserie staples such as steak tartare and crepes Suzette.

The wine list had 194 labels and ranged in price from £35 to £820, with a median price of £105 and an average markup to retail price of 2.96 times, which is pretty good by central London standards. Sample references were 2020 at £50 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £14 Château Mayne Mazerolles Blaye Côtes de Bordeaux 2020, Riesling Roter Schiefer Gunderloch 2024 at £75 compared to its retail price of £17, and De Loach Chardonnay California Collection 2024 at £80 for a wine that will set you back £22 in the high street. For those with the means there was Marchesi Antinori Tignanelo 2021 at £270 compared to its retail price of £151, and Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2020 at £520 for a wine whose current market value is £265.

We began with a couple of snacks. French onion gougeres (£6) used Roscoff onion and had plenty of cheese flavour. The texture was good and the bite of the onion cut through the richness of the cheese well (15/20). Raw red prawns with tomato and Amalfi lemon (£6) showed off the excellent quality ingredients, the lemon providing just enough sharpness (15/20). We also tried Orkney scallop (£18) served in its shell with Café de Paris butter. The latter is a blend of softened butter with shallots, garlic, anchovies, capers, mustard, herbs and a touch of curry powder. This was lovely, the scallop having excellent natural sweetness and being lightly cooked, the richness of the butter working really well with the scallop, with the capers providing balance, the whole thing lifted by the gentle hint of mustard and curry flavour (17/20). My starter was girolles on toast with persillade (parsley and garlic) and black truffle. This was also excellent, the girolles having just come in from France, the aromatic earthiness of the truffle going really well with the woodland scent of the girolles (16/20).

For main course we shared a whole roast chicken (£78 for two), and what a chicken it was. The bird was from Arnaud Tauzin in the Landes, arguable the best chicken supplier in the world, served with lovely morels and vin Jaunes sauce. The cooking of the chicken was precise and it had wonderful flavour, the morels excellent and the vin jaune sauce superb (17/20). On the side were excellent frites and salad. I also tasted lovely Dover sole meuniere with Menton lemon, and a side dish of high-quality peas, broad beans and lettuce.  

For dessert, crepes Suzette (£13) was an excellent rendition of the classic French dish. The crepes were delicate and rested in the Suzette sauce of caramelized sugar and butter, tangerine, orange zest and Grand Marnier. This was an indulgent way to end a fine meal (16/20). Coffee was from Hundred House Coffee in Hastings.

The bill came to £293 per person, but that was mostly some excellent wine including Didier Dagueneau Silex 2022 and Clos Rougeard Saumur-Champigny les Clos 2019. The food element was £98 per person. If you shared a modest bottle of wine then a typical cost per person might be around £110 or so. This seems to me pretty fair given the classy ingredients used and the high level of technical skill in the kitchen.