Les 110 de Taillevent London

Les 110 de Taillevent is the casual sister of the historic restaurant Taillevent in Paris, which has been running since 1946. The London branch opened in October 2015, serving traditional French cuisine with an emphasis on wine. There were 110 wines by the glass and a vast list by the bottle. The dining room is smartly decorated, with a large display of wine bottles.

There was a four-course tasting menu at £85 and a six-course one at £110, with wine pairings at either £50 or £70 for the shorter menu. We went a la carte. I have written previously about the vast wine list here, probably the best in London not just in terms of scale but of value too, with many posh wines below their retail price.

Comte gougeres had good choux pastry though they were served cold, and I always think that gougeres are best straight from the oven. Smoke eel tartlet with Marie Rose foam was better, having good flavour and a nice base (14/20 canapes). Foie gras terrine came with figs, almonds and a brioche roll made from scratch in the kitchen. This was very good, the texture was silky and entirely vein-free, the flavour was good, and its richness was balanced somewhat by the figs (15/20).

Guinea fowl was from a Label Rouge French bird and it was prettily presented, with black salsify, raisins and almonds. The meat had quite good flavour, though not as much as one I had eaten at Brooklands just days earlier (14/20).

Dessert was apple tarte tatin, which had good pastry and was made with Kissabel apples, a variety of pink pearl apple that has slightly reddish flesh. The pastry of the tart was very good and the apples were not over-caramelised. I am less sure about the choice of apple, which has a less sharp taste than something like Cox Orange Pippin. For me, the sharpness is useful in this dish to balance the sweetness of the caramelisation, so using a sweet-tasting apple does not work quite so well. Still, this was a very pleasant dish (a high 14/20). 

Service was genuinely good, with friendly staff and flawless topping up of drinks. The bill came to £371 per person with lots of very nice wine; of course, you could dine for a lot less if you shared a modest bottle of wine between two, maybe £130 per person. I have always liked 110 de Taillevent, with its attractive dining room, a la carte menu of appealing dishes and lovely staff.

Further reviews: 22nd Apr 2023 | 22nd Mar 2016 | 30th Jan 2016 | 07th Nov 2015