In London, your classic mid-range Gallic restaurant is something of a rarity. This may seem an odd thought in a city seemingly awash with cafés, bistros, brasseries – and even the occasional Gallic-run gastropub – but it’s true nonetheless. In London, French restaurants – particularly ‘modern French’ restaurants – remains largely a creature of the top (‘Michelin’) end of the market.
For the last couple of years, one of the better mid-range French restaurants has been this old Greenwich coaching inn. You’d never have guessed it, though: the whole charming but rackety presentation of the place gave a decidedly ‘Ye Olde Carvery’ impression.
All that has now been changed. Well, up to a point. The décor has certainly been freshened up, but the atmosphere remains rather Victorian, and it is still very English – a feeling emphasised by the copious art collection, and by many images and memorabilia of old Greenwich.
In style however, this is very much a proper French restaurant, complete with big white tablecloths, amuses to start, and petits fours to go with the (pretty good) coffee. The staff are largely French too, and so is the chef (who is unchanged).
Regular readers may have tumbled to our weakness for the variety and (to English eyes) offbeat nature of the menu combinations at which the French often excel. Here the style works more often than not. A starter of quail with prawns, for example, sounds a bit odd but turned out very nicely, and ditto a pudding of pain perdu with a raspberry coulis. A dish including (seasonal) venison and (decidedly unseasonal) asparagus, however, just ended up a bit of a mush.
At the prices, though, this is a good all-rounder: for business, romance or a family celebration, we doubt anyone would go that far wrong.
