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Chez Bruce: not all that

25/9/2011

4 Comments

 
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Chez Bruce has won more awards than we've had hot dinners. The venue also has history, a loyal clientèle and owners (Bruce Poole and Nigel Platts-Martin) who really know restaurants. We have never been there before, which admittedly feels something of a gap in our line up, but with the restaurant located on Wandsworth Common, it just seems like a trek starting from anywhere north of the river; we've known for some time though that it's a journey we need to make.

Then, at the end of August, Harden's London Restaurants 2012 was published and Chez Bruce again ranked first in the category 'Favourite' restaurant. But the awards didn't stop there, it also ranked equal third for 'Top Gastronomic Experience', tying with The Ledbury (and beaten only by Marcus Wareing and Le Gavroche). This is result is slightly strange though as The Ledbury also won the category best food, in other words, despite The Ledbury offering higher rated food (according to the survey), they offer an equally well thought of gastronomic experience. We're intrigued.

But we are also excited (once we recover from the journey there) at the prospect of finally eating at such a well regarded establishment. Staff greet us pleasantly enough, and remain pleasant throughout the meal, though initially, in a currently empty restaurant, the table we're offered is so small we ask if we can have the better sized table for two next to it, a request to which they willingly obliged. In the Paris style, tables are quite densely packed and towards the end of the meal, when the sommelier was pouring a glass of wine for the adjacent table, his elbow was a mere three inches from MrsCC's cheekbone leading to a moment of heightened excitement as we lay odds on whether he would fully connect on the pull back. He didn't. 

Food wise, we started with Veal salad with Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, truffle and hazelnuts, and the Roast turbot with a blanquette of coco beans, bacon and chestnuts (£5 supplement). Both starters were generously proportioned and little would need to be added to the turbot to turn this dish into a main course. The starters, mostly due to the turbot, formed the highlight of the meal. The turbot arrived looking the part, a beautiful topside crust of orange and gold, pulling easily apart in big meaty chunks. Worth the supplement and a starter worthy of the venue's reputation. The veal salad offered good textures and dressing but the veal itself, though cooked well, was ultimately somewhat bland.

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Roast turbot with a blanquette of coco beans, bacon and chestnuts
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Veal salad with Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, truffle and hazelnuts
From the main course options, little from the menu really jumped out at us. We opted for the Pot roast pig's cheeks with honey, soft polenta, cavolo nero and crisp pancetta, together with Grilled halibut with wild mushroom sauce, boulangere potatoes, celeriac and iberico ham, the halibut also coming with a £5 supplement though it is less clear to us what justifies that here. Both dishes had problems, the pig cheeks were good but the polenta was too hard and by the end, the dish became quite dry. The halibut suffered from being overcooked, so also dry. The wild mushroom sauce offered little more than a regular jus. The dishes then seemed 'steady Eddies', reliable(ish) but in no way differentiated enough to mark out the dish or the restaurant as being special. 

Maybe this is where expectations are playing a part but for a restaurant that is said to offer an equivalent gastronomic experience to The Ledbury, the mains were, let's be really honest here, a huge disappointment. We would rate venues like Bistrot Bruno Loubet or Koffmann's as offering a similar style but delivering more satisfaction, and much more taste. The fish course meanwhile was put in the shade by our last meal at The Hand & Flowers where they served an absolutely brilliant (and differentiated) plaice with lardo main. Now that's what we're talking about.
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Grilled halibut with wild mushroom sauce, boulangere potatoes, celeriac and iberico ham
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Pot roast pig's cheeks with honey, soft polenta, cavolo nero and crisp pancetta
Desserts were least impressive, a Hot chocolate pudding with praline parfait again suffered from the chocolate pudding itself being dry so that lashings of the sauce were needed to carry it through, while the Iced blackcurrant and white chocolate gateau sounded intriguing but came in our view awkwardly presented on the plate, neither deconstructed or layered, just sort of stacked; nor did it come together as a pudding.
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Hot chocolate pudding with praline parfait
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Iced blackcurrant and white chocolate gateau
If we lived locally, we would surely frequent Chez Bruce for a decent local meal when central London itself seemed too much of a trek. Our verdict was the same with sister restaurant La Trompette (which served a meal that was more or less the equal of the one here). But Chez Bruce, favourite restaurant in London? The third best gastronomic experience in London? On a par with The Ledbury? That in our view makes little sense and if taken to heart before visiting the restaurant can only lead to disappointment. 


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Chez Bruce on Urbanspoon
4 Comments
Louis link
25/9/2011 11:00:41 am

Aside from the small tables and daring antics of the sommelier did you have any other impressions about the service?

The food 'looks' delicious but perhaps not what I would expect from Top Gastronomic Experience. I'd still like to go and see what all the fuss is about.

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Andrew Stevenson link
25/9/2011 11:27:06 am

It was a cramped restaurant when it was Marco Pierre White's Harvey's, all those years ago.

I've not actually been since it was Harvey's, but was surprised to read your headline. Though I think it's not entirely unfair to say that The Ledbury is perhaps the odd one out in the Nigel Platts-Martin stable, in that Brett Graham strives for excellence and is not afraid to innovate and challenge diners' palates, while the rest of NPM's restaurants aim more specifically just at excellence.

I think in very general terms the further you go from Zone 1, the less likely you are to find fireworks in the cooking. I think the "neighbourhood restaurant concept comes more into play: the food and service can be beautifully done, but you're not there to be challenged or even particularly excited. That must be doubly so when the restaurant is south of the river!

I went to Texture recently, and while almost everything was excellent, with a number of very different combinations, I could not imagine going there particularly regularly. One of the things that particularly marks out the Ledbury is that it is both a culinary adventure and somewhere you'd be happy to go every week. (I know some who are often there more than once in a week.)

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Marion F.
20/10/2011 02:42:14 pm

When I read your reviews I think of 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. I have been to Chez Bruce a few times and have always been a bit underwhelmed, but thought it was just me.

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sam link
4/11/2015 01:00:50 pm

Thanks for lowering my food expectations, I am going there this week and at least won't expect as much now, which is great! Love your site

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