Le Chardon

A party of 2, we returned to Le Chardon having been on 3-4 occasions previously. The food as ever was delicious and the service was again impeccable. The final price is reasonable for the food and drink consumed and the service provided.

The tables are close together, and frankly you could mistake your potato Dauphinois for your neighbour’s, but all in all, I will return again and again.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Went to Le Chardon in Clapham last night and was hugely disapointed, so much so that I don't believe that the positive reviews on this site can possibly be genuine. This is the darkest restaurant I've ever eaten in, couldn't even see the food properly (have they done this on purpose?). The bread that came with my (mediocre) foie gras starter was stale, and my partner's onion soup was lacking any depth of flavour. My steak was undercooked (and I like it rare!) and came with some unadvertised carrot and potato mash, particularly annoying when we'd ordered side dishes as the waiter didn't make us aware of this. The vegetables were swimming in the same over-powering garlic butter that came with my partner's steak (which was well cooked). I didn't risk dessert, my partner's chocolate mouse tasted like angel delight. Service was ok. Didn't have the wine I ordered. Another terrible restaurant on Abbeville Road, I'll be sticking to Pizza Express! Le Chardon, did you write the positive reviews on this site yourself? Disgraceful, a sure sign that you know you're running a below par restaurant.
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Adam Smith
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Sunday, March 23, 2008

I went to Le chardon in East Dulwich with 2 friends and my boyfriend. Being french we were quite pleased to experience a local french restaurant. The food was really nice. I had the lamb with a rosemary sauce which was a delight together with the gratin dauphinois. The others tried the pheasant which was very rich and tasty although a bit difficult to eat because of the small bones.

Overall it is a nice restaurant with good food but it had 2 downsides. The staff was very unfriendly (it was a french waiter so we asked for water in french and he told us off for not using the right word which was a bit cheaky) and we thought it was quite expensive for what it was.

a part from that the food is good and definitely french!
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Fiona
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Thursday, March 06, 2008

Visited on a Wednesday night. Restaurant half full and staff and service pleasantly relaxed. Food is to a high standard with grown up portions including one of the the largest pieces of plaice I have ever seen served. All our group thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we will definitely go again.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, February 28, 2008

I visited Le Chardon in Dulwich this evening for my brother's birthday, and thought that both the food and the service was spectacular.

Our waitress was very friendly and helpful, and had a smile on her face and a cheerful demeanour throughout. The food was amazing, I had the lamb rump steak with garlic breadcrumbs and rosemary sauce with a helping of the chive mashed potatoes - it was delicious! Members of our party had beef steak, tuna steak, and the grilled salmon - there were absolutely no complaints, and everyone loved their food (despite two of them being extremely fussy). We all plan on returning very soon.

There is a unique and intimate atmosphere. Apparently many years ago it used to be some sort of old time supermarket - my Mum remembered going there when she was much younger - and the remnants of the old store remain.

It was a beautiful meal, reasonably priced - £185 for 7 including drinks and desserts. Definitely recommended.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, February 06, 2008

I had the pleasure to join two good friends at this fabulous new gem in clapham last Sunday. The whole experience was a delight...the food and choice on the menue were perfect. We had the pleasure of meeting the owner Robert whos french enthusium for the business shone through. I will be making a regular journey from Chelsea to this very comfortable and relaxed venue. The quality of the food was unbeatable for the price.

Also it is worth noting that the restaurant was busy with French ex pats...always a good sign.
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Zahir Moghal
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Imagine my delight when I found out that Le Chardon has opened another restaurant, Le Chardon Clapham! The new Abbeville Road, Clapham Chardon is brand new so everything is spotless; it's modern, smarter, and has beautiful artwork for sale (views of France and London). I met friends for dinner in the evening - they dine all over the world with their millions of Air Miles - and we all had a great time; they were impressed with the wine list, both had good steaks and I can recommend Scallops with Lentils.

Having dined at both (I work all over SE London), I have to say what a joy it is to have 2! French restaurants with Affordable and interesting menus, light bites as well as meals, consistently tasty good-to-very good food, clean surroundings, proficient service.

With a car, I can drive to anywhere I like. OK, Cafe Rouge is everywhere and convenient and I do like their coffee and croissant - but not their inflated price for it nor their dubious sometimes greasy meals on occasion. I've tried Chez Bruce, Wandsworth, but the food was too rich for me with little vegetable content, and I had to book weeks in advance. I pick Le Chardon for its fresh, home-y ingredients and cooking and to support a local, non-"chain" business. Go there quick before everyone hears about it!
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Non-supermarket, Pro-local consumer, Dulwich
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Saturday, January 19, 2008

We've eaten here several times. The food had always been good and reasonably priced, and the service, if not exactly friendly, has at least been efficient.

This evening we didn't even get to try the food. The service from the Assistant Manager (he told us) was so appallingly rude that we left before even completing our order. I've honestly never experienced anything as bad, even by London standards.

I don't understand how restaurants think that they can treat customers with such distain. I will never eat here again.
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AWK
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Saturday, January 19, 2008

I went to Le Chardon last night, the restaurant itself is lovely inside and the music was very relaxing too. I was there for my Christmas meal with my friends. The menu itself has a good selection of fish and meat and the starters were impressive. I had ordered the fish cakes to start, they were infused with chilli which sounded nice but all I could taste was the chilli and not the fish cake itself. I had the salmon and basmati rice for my main course. The salmon was amazing, literally melt in the mouth. The rice was a little salty but apart from that a good dish. My friend ordered a steak and asked for it medium rare - it came well done which wasn't great.

I have to say as restaurants go the food was nice, however the the atmosphere and the enjoyment of the meal was tarnished by the extremely unfriendly manager who served us. He didn't once ask us how the food was, barely spoke a word to us when asking for our orders, offered no advice on the wine or food. When a side order came out wrong, there was no apology. I found him very rude and would not go back there again as he made me feel as though it was an effort almost to serve us. A good restaurant in my opinion should be good food, wine and also very importantly good friendly approachable service. However when Daniel Bedingfield walked in he was of course making great efforts to have conversation with him, perhaps we weren't C list enough for him.

I have to say though the waitresses were very pleasant and helpful.
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Gemma Louise
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 6
Friday, December 14, 2007

My wife and I went here not knowing quite what to expect - the reviews on here were both good and bad. So we thought we'd see for ourselves.

For main course, I had a steak, which I can honestly say was one of the nicest I've had in a restaurant - cooked just as I asked - it was lovely. The sauce it came with (shallot) was nice too, and was so strong you couldn't taste the meat. My wife had a lamb shank - a nice recipe with lentils and bacon - also very nice.

We'd already had really nice fish cakes and french onion soup for staters.

Most of the reviews here say that the food was good, even if the service let them down. Well we enjoyed the the atmosphere, and the service quick and pleasant.

Were there any negatives? Well, maybe - the vegetables of the day were slightly expensive, and be sure to ask for them without garlic butter if that's not what you like.

But the bill was £50, and I thought it was pretty much worth it.
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JP - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, December 07, 2007