Tailor D (28 November 2008)

I went there on a Thursday night with my boyfriend and some of our friends. It was quite quiet, but I daresay that this will change over the coming months. The look of Bouchon is exactly as you would expect a French brasserie to look with red banquettes, and nouveau-esque up lighting lining the walls. We were seated and our sommelier and waiter were introduced to us. We had a French waiter and he was fantastic and extremely knowledgeable. Nothing was too much trouble. The menu itself seemed somewhat sparse. They have the most amazing fruit de mere platters, which four of our party ordered to share. We were told that the langoustines were off, but our fabulous waiter replaced this with extra lobster. There were the usual suspects as well, escargots, frogs legs, beouf, andoueillette etc, but they still seemed very geared towards the seafood, which they do excel at. It's a shame I am not that much of a fan. The beef was good though.

We were told that we would be charged for the bread and butter. I don't think I have ever been to any restaurant in France and been charged for this, so I felt it was a bit cheeky. The wine was extortionate, there are no two ways about it I'm afraid, and actually would have made the difference to this restaurant being almost faultless. When it was time for dessert one person wanted profiteroles, and another wanted the dame Blanche. As there was only enough ice cream for one of these desserts we annoyingly accepted the dame Blanche, but on it's arrival the ice cream had melted, and was really rather a paltry effort for £6. We complained, and received complimentary coffees instead, but still it was not that late. Overall, save for the astronomical wine prices, this is a superb restaurant, with faultless staff. I sincerely hope it stays that way, and I look forward to returning.