L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
13-15 West Street
WC2H 9NE
Date of Last Visit: Thursday, April 9
The Victim: My dad
The Damage: £85 for two with a number of wines by the glass. We should have just gotten a bottle of wine.
The Background: The times, they must be tough in London. Because you know Joel Robuchon? He's offering two courses for £19 on TopTable.co.uk. £19! And they have a glass of Shiraz on the menu for £5 a glass! This is cheaper per person than a lot of my gastropub meals. Interesting.
The Entrance: Dad and I are bang on time. I am a little worried about taking my dad to JR. He's more of a fried clams kind of guy. (So I obviously must not get my delusions of grandeur from him.) But the restaurant's service from the beginning to end is really friendly, yet professional, and we're made to feel at home.
We're given two prime seats at the bar. We're not exactly directly in front of the open kitchen, but we're only a seat or two off of it and the view is mesmerizing. These guys are very precise.
The Starters: Pea soup for dad and the look on his face when they deliver the bowl with croutons aber sans soup is priceless. Our server is being funny and whips the soup out from behind his back. Crisis averted.
For me, it's a soft-boiled egg with some very finely sliced beetroot and a smear of this and that. It's gorgeously presented. But I can't help thinking…high margin.
Still, all in all, the presentation is really wonderful and the service is keen and engaged and fun to watch. The food is good.
The Mains: On the £19 menu, you only have two choices: so it's squid risotto for my dad and some sort of stuffed pig's trotter for me. I just like to say the word trotter.
The risotto is nice, if bland. And maybe just a little too crunchy for risotto. My pig's trotter turns out to be fried and while I'm initially a bit upset about it, I get over myself. Because it's delicious, even though it is stuffed with mushrooms, only one of my least favorite things. It's on a bed of honey-glazed carrots and they're very nice. For carrots. Really, had it been described as "something deep fried stuffed with mushrooms on a bed of carrots," you couldn't describe something I wouldn't want to eat more.
Sometimes, you know it's all in the delivery.
The Verdict: You know, I liked it here. Maybe it's because I'm a pretentious something-or-other with delusions of grandeur. But maybe it's just because the service was nice, watching the kitchen was awesome, and the food was pretty good. My dad gives it a good review too.
14 comments
Ah yes! I’ve been meaning to do their set menu. It sounds lovely! What did you think of the big red apples everywhere?? 🙂
Hey I didn’t know there was a Joel Robuchon in London. Next time you’ll have to try the one in Paris! (Great blog btw)
I kinda liked the apples. I’m not sure what they’re trying to say with them,
but combined with the big green leafy wall, I thought it all worked well. I
also liked the pixie dust coming out of the spotlight in the ladies loo. Now
that was neat!
Sarah, I was so close to going to JR in Paris over the weekend (I was there
over Easter), but I thought two nights in a row might be a bit much!
I have been in Paris and it was wonderful. Will have to try it here. Great post
At least they didn’t serve you pig trotter’s old school style like what pierre koffman and marco pierre white used to serve ie keeping the whole trotter and toes shape. Stuffing trotters with mushrooms is so classically french though. Any idea what mushrooms were used?
just to point out that the offer is available all the time as it is part of their cut price lunch menu.
I went for the three course set lunch late last year. My egg starter was deep fried and inside it was deliciously soft. I remember it sitting on a bed of dried fruit. Main of lamb was so salty I had to tell the waitress. Dessert was nicely presented but not that memorable. Perhaps the food would have been better if I could afford to go a la carte!
Wonderful ! I love Paris.
Sounds like great value – I would love to try the one in Paris at some stage as well.
I’m glad you liked it. I have only eaten a la carte here so would be intrigued by whether the lunch menu would match up to my expectations.
It makes me want to do nothing but TopTable discounts for the next few
weeks!
Hi,
Glad you had a pretty good experience at L’Atelier in London. I think it is a very comfortable place to eat (I love sitting in the middle of the bar with a full view of the kitchen). And if you go for the prix-fixe, which they’ve had for a while now, it’s not too expensive. I also like the fact that when you do drink wine by the glass, they let you taste them first to make sure you don’t regret your decision. I have always found the staff very friendly and engaging, in the right way.
I am also an expat and have just set up a blog (not much content yet), so feel free to visit anytime: laissezfare.wordpress.com.
All the best,
LF
Honestly….maybe i’m too french…..but too noisy and dreadful service….but all is in the plate, isn’t it! ;o)
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