In this column almost exactly a year ago, we reviewed Les Coulisses, the predecessor of the restaurant we review today. In their old incarnation, these slightly gloomily-located premises at the foot of Broadgate Circle, seemed confused as to whether they were a St Tropez-style bar/nightclub or a restaurant. It was all a bit odd. The same owners, from Toulouse, have now gone for a new name and a new look.
But is this place really a ‘brasserie’? Admittedly, there’s an inexpensive lunchtime menu (plus toasties using bread from the celebrated Poilâne bakery), but a standard à la carte meal here will run to £100 for two, no problem. Choose extravagantly, and you could spend that much each. At that sort of price level, this place falls short on many fronts. The dining area, for example, is brought downmarket by the massed ranks of TV screens overhanging the not-so-distant bar. It lacks any particular style or presence.
The big let-down, though, was the food. The menu had seemed to offer a good mix of both standard and somewhat adventurous dishes, and the bread selection gave a promising initial impression. Thereafter, almost everything lacked finesse. Foie gras came on a huge slab of bread, for example, and a goat’s cheese tarte Tatin was leaden and poorly-dressed. A duck breast main course was decent enough, but – with its boiled potatoes accompaniment – an unenticing symphony in brown. And an overcooked dish of scallops made us wish that they had come in a rather less generous portion.
Things looked up at the dessert stage, though, and the coffee was pretty reasonable. And service – bar selling some spuds to someone whose main course came with ’em anyway – was pretty good too.
But is the new approach here going to last longer than the last? We’re not hopeful.
