Club Gascon

[sookeharborkid]

I am going to London in the begginning of march and was wondering if Le club Gascon was a great restaurent.

[cabrales]

sookeharborkid -- Club Gascon clearly does not rival places like Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road or The Square. So I would definitely not consider CG a "great" restaurant. That being said CG is less expensive than GR, say. There are a number of old threads on Club Gascon, with indicative menu items. Consider using the Search function.

[Wilfrid]

There would be nothing to recommend Club Gascon above a number of other good bistros if you weren't very fond of foie gras, which is essentially the specialty of the house in numerous different preparations. If you do like foie gras, certainly follow Cabby's advice and read the appropriate threads here.

[Gavin Jones]

Its reknown due as much to ingenious marketing than outstanding cuisine.

I recommend the wine bar next door for the interesting wine list (principally south-west French) and the bar snacks (varieties of Foie Gras). Cheerfully flirtatious young Gascons will bring you the finest wines known to D'Artagnan & enough flavoured fat to bloat your goat.

[macrosan]

Cheerfully flirtatious young Gascons will bring you the finest wines known to D'Artagnan ...

Gavin, you may be jumping to an unwarranted conclusion as to Sookeharborkid's interest in being flirted with by young Gascons. Tsk tsk

Sooke, I only tried it once and was not overly impressed. One of the reasons may have been that three of us were crammed onto a small table. There was simply insufficient room on the table to order a number of shared dishes, so the "tapas" concept that some here have said pertains just didn't work for us.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Here is a review of mine from last year.

Club Gascon

It was my only visit but I highgly recommend it. I think it was one of the more exciting new places I ate at last year.

[vengroff]

I'm with Steve P. on this one. I like the Club Gascon approach a lot. I never though of it the before, but it is exactly what Craft, or at a minimum CraftBar, should be.

As Cabrales pointed out, it's a very different experience than you would have at the Square.

N.B. for Cabby: Laurent Manrique told me CG is his favorite place to eat in London. But he's from Gascony, so that makes sense.

[Winot]

If I can throw in my twopennyworth, here's my review from last year just after it got its Michelin star. We really enjoyed it.

W.

The first time we went to Club Gascon (about 3 years ago) was a bit underwhelming -- we ordered badly (despite taking the advice of the waiter) and were overcome by the richness (of the food and the clientele).

Our return last Friday was much more successful. We all went for the tasting menu, which is 5 courses for GBP 30 and an additional GBP 20 if you want a matched glass of wine with each course. We all did.

I'm afraid I haven't yet acquired the habit of taking notes, so my recollection of the detail is a bit hazy, but I'll see what I can do:

Pre-restaurant: two pints of Harvest ale at the Bishop's Finger, West Smithfield. An unusual winter ale from Shepherd Neame in that it's hoppy rather than malty and therefore not sweet and cloying as some winter ales can be. A fine toasty start to the evening.

Amuse bouche: "lentil creme" - a rich lentil soup served with a cappucino head in a tall thin shot glass. Rich and nutty (chestnut taste?) - suggestion later that it may have Spanish roots.

Aperitif: A glass of banyuls - first time I've had it - was expecting something closer to pedro ximenez but more like Rivesaltes (another Pyrennes sweetie). Like a light port.

Course 1: A fricassee of mussels, scallops and parma ham. Wonderfully fresh with smoky overtones. Got the tastebuds tingling.

Wine 1: A non-sparkling Limoux. Good match - didn't overwhelm the food. Can't remember much more - guess the Harvest must have kicked in about then.

Course 2: A almost molten foie gras wrapped in a layer of cold pommes puree of staggering intensity. Between this poultice and the pate was interposed a crunchy smattering of pepper and cinnamon. Lots of other things there too on the edge of the tastebuds. Some veg -- perhaps an artichoke? -- but that's missing the point. A memorable dish.

Wine 2: A montbazillac (sp.?). Good but not enough depth to carry the foie gras. Probably needed a sauternes, but then for GBP 4 a glass...

Course 3: A dip here. Two generous hunks of poached plaice with a complex sauce (completely forgotten what it was) which was tasty but didn't do much to enliven the fish. I'm not a fan of subtle white fish at the best of times (my tastebuds need more oomph) and this lived down to my expectations.

Wine 3: A great frizzante viognier (not Condrieu) which made up for the fish.

Course 4: Back on form - magret of goose with caramelised apples and the best beetroot ever served on a slab of slate. And a chive on top. There's your veg then. Good job we all went for medium rare, judging correctly that would be French medium rare -- any rarer and it would have been flying round the room.

Wine 4: Oh dear. A nice smooth red. The food was a bit distracting to be honest. Maybe a Bergerac?

Course 5: Into the home straight now with a light-as-you-like cupcake with embedded marinated cherries.

Wine 5: A 1920 cherry brandy served in the same shot glasses as the amuse bouches (hope they washed them thoroughly).

And then coffee, a wise decision not to order a bottle of Cahors, and a cab to a secret Russian bar in Shoreditch for a nightcap. And so to bed.

[Gavin Jones]

My experience has also been better with the tasting/composed menu they offer than trying to construct a menu of 5 courses from the many possible permutations.

It is an interesting restaurant & by its nature likely to be slightly hit & miss (even if all the dishes are great the juxtapositions might not be).

[Steve Plotnicki]

I have to say that I am always quite surprised to see the amount of negativity directed at this restaurant. My meal there was so unique, so modern and so fresh, that I would think it would count for more with people then it does. Yes the physical plant is sort of cramped. And the menu is sort of confusing. But if you craft together a good tasting menu of 10-12 dishes, you can eat really well, and certainly very interestingly .