LA BOUCHEE, SOUTH KENSINGTON

Despite our huge meal on Friday night, Pascal & I were keen for a nice lazy lunch on Saturday. As he has been working hard all week and was tired, he refused to go over to Covent Garden or Soho and so I suggested a new Hot Dog joint in Ken Church Street (Dirty Bones) - that got an even bigger no no!! Apparently I need to update my restaurant list and include smarter restaurants!! We compromised on La Bouchee in South Kensington - we had been there before but no for a while.

Considering how French South Ken is, I am surprised Pascal doesn't spend more time there - we passed a French market selling delicious cheeses and we even found a book shop selling his favourite books and papers.

Pascal wouldn't call La Bouchee restaurant - instead it is a Bistro - it is small and cosy, romantic, very typically French. The best best part of our lunch for Pascal was the music - nostalgic French tunes from about 20 years ago - he was in Heaven, singing along……I was not!!

To get into the swing of things we started with a Ricard and perused the incredible menu (Menu).

I found it impossible to decide what to start with  - I wanted the foie gras, the snails, the prawn and chorizo salad with aioli and the mussels. This menu was right up my street! I ended up choosing mussels and they were absolutely delicious!

They were served in white wine, shallots, parsley and cream. So so good - I ended up dipping the fresh baguette in the sauce and then eating it like soup! 

Pascal had the homemade duck foie gras terrine with a toasted brioche and a spicy orange and pumpkin marmalade. This was also very good - the foie gras was so smooth and went well with the marmalade. We washed this down with a lovely bottle of Gigondas.

For mains, Pascal had steak tartar - I was too busy eating my meal to taste it - I did manage several fries obviously and Pascal said it was all excellent.

I had le petit sale aux lentilles which is slow cooked ham hock, smoked sausages and lentils and on the side gratin dauphinois.

This was delicious - the ham melted in my mouth, the sausage was all garlicky and there were plenty of lentils and a few veg. I mixed it with some Dijon mustard and it was perfect. The gratin dauphinois was so cheesy, I could have eaten the whole dish. I certainly didn't need it but I still ate as much as possible! 

Even though we were both fit to burst, we couldn't resist the cheese board as it was right by us in the "bistro" and we had been gazing at it lovingly all meal!

A great selection - especially the blue.

I can see why La Bouchee has been around for 25 years - it is just like being in a cute Parisian Bistro without having to travel. The food and atmosphere is excellent, and the service faultless. I definitely think this is going to become a regular haunt of ours - especially for Pascal. I do apologise if you go and he is there though - his singing voice is certainly not the best!!!

La Bouchee
56 Old Brompton Road
London
SW7 3DY
Tel: 020 7589 1929
Email: la.bouchee@yahoo.co.uk