Le Cassoulet
our review
Malcolm John’s restaurant Vacherin in Chiswick had only one major flaw as far as I was concerned; it was the opposite side of London to where I live. So news that Malcolm has opened a second restaurant, le Cassoulet, just twenty minutes from Chateau Harman is good news indeed. Not only that but blow me if it isn’t in my hometown of South Croydon and next to my old school. As we walk along Selsdon Road the wife is soon getting pretty tired of my comments of the ‘Look there’s the chip shop! Still here after thirty years!” and “Look, there’s the chemist where my first serious girlfriend worked!” variety. Ah memories, memories.
Le Cassoulet stands out like a beacon amongst the estate agents on the street with their bland frontages as it’s been painted stylishly and has hanging baskets; inside it’s even nicer, with not a trace of the previous Indian restaurant remaining. It’s cosy and warm and it’s full of people, despite being open only a few weeks and with no advertising but word of mouth. This is what the area has clearly been crying out for and Malcolm, who lives nearby himself, has shrewdly spotted the opportunity and invested well. He’s installed the head chef of Vacherin and is in the kitchen himself many nights. He wants this to work, and on the evidence of bums on seats I think it will, even if some of the bums seem to think wearing a baseball hat for their entire meal is somehow acceptable. It's not, especially on a thirtysomething year old.
So is chavvy Croydon ready for the urban and urbane challenge of sweetbreads ? I know I am. Cased in a beautifully crispy and grease free batter, and served with lashings of grebiche sauce, they are just superb. Light and airy, they lap up the tart bite of the capers. The wife has a classic starter of scallops with black pudding and bacon, the boudin noir crumbly and sharp with wine, the scallops nicely caramelised. I’d have liked the bacon a tad crispier myself, but that may not be everyone’s taste.
So the restaurant’s called le cassoulet, so it’s a no brainer for choice of mains. I’ve eaten cassoulets from Bordeaux to Castelnaudury and each place seems to have its own idea of what the dish should be. Essentially it’s peasant food, originally kept forever over a fire and eaten for breakfast lunch and dinner whatever the season. Plenty of beans, because dried beans are easy to store, and plenty of fatty meat to keep out the chill. It’s not chic but it is cheerful and here it ticks all the right boxes, including making the eater feel like the walk to the car may now be a bit of a struggle. It has pork, duck, haricots and garlic in abundance and is great.
Across the table, bourride of sea bream, squid, mussels and aioli is fishy and pungent, the squid tender and the mussels juicy little specimens - the bourride is deliciously drinkable. Another well-done dish well suited to the casual brasserie concept.
Finally, as the batter around the sweetbreads had been so good, we shared apple fritters with vanilla ice cream served with some Calvados in a shot glass. Simple and sensible and a perfect way to round off the meal. Staff are a bit hit and miss, one girl seemed to have no English at all and randomly left dirty plates behind after courses, but they mean well as does the whole restaurant.
Nick Harman - February 2008
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
Living just south of Croydon for many years, I started to hear of Le Cassoulet from some foodie friends of mine. I popped in last night (Wednesday) for dinner. I wasn't disappointed. This is a proper French restaurant in every sense of the word, the quality of the food has already been mentioned and is loaded with traditional dishes. Good to see local seasonal produce being served (Asparagus, strawberrys, green beans etc). There's no unnecessary presentation, the food does the talking. Decor is elegant and sutble with all the correct cutlery. House wine was a good match for the food (a good house wine is a good sign if they pay attention to the wine list).
I work in Advertising and have eaten at most of the Michelin starred restaurants in London and Le Cassoulet is easily up there if not better than some. I would suggest if you're local to Croydon to get down there sooner rather than later. I fear that it might not succeed in the area, It should of been busier when I arrived, and unfortunately I don't think a lot of locals are willing to a little bit extra (£40ph) for the quality. Although fixed menus are available. I really hope I'm wrong!
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Luke
Overall rating 
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Thursday, June 05, 2008
What a disappointment! After reading rave reviews we chose this venue for dinner for a party of eight to celebrate various birthdays. The food was no more than OK - can't go very wrong with asparagus, the shallot & goat’s cheese tart was tasty but not amazing, the garlic soup was good. The lemon sole was mediocre; the well-done steak was actually a bit burnt. The desserts were adequate but nothing that would make you go "wow". The thing that really let it down was the service. Whilst the staff were very pleasant, they didn't seem to have a clue about how to wait on tables in a professional manner. Our aperitif glasses were left on the table during the meal. My husband ordered a bottle of white and a bottle of red wine and was given the white to taste. The white wine was then poured for those who wanted it. Instead of offering the red for my husband to taste as well, the waiter took it down the table to one of the people who had elected to drink the red, in order for him to taste it!! It's as though the staff have had no training at all. I think we had four or five different waiters coming up in an ad hoc manner with various dishes. Cutlery wasn't changed to suit the dishes until the last minute. My husband was given a plate of biscuits for cheese but no cheese was forthcoming and no waiter could be seen either. We also had to wait a long time between courses. The overall impression was one of muddle. Where was the polish? Where was the attention to detail? Sadly lacking. What a shame. And with a bill for £436 it wasn’t cheap (not including coffee; we couldn’t bear another long wait). We wont be back.
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Hildergarde - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Having eaten at Le Vacherin for three years now, on a visit only ten days ago or so, Chef Malcolm told us of his new restaurant, Le Cassoulet in Croydon. Now to be honest, it’s a bit out of our way to trek over to Croydon, but by absolute fluke of circumstance, for the first time in years, we found ourselves traveling through Croydon on Wednesday night with time to spare, and couldn’t resist the temptation to test it out.
Wow. What a good decision!
I devoured the Shallot & Goat’s Cheese Tart –Stunning! whilst my wife had the Warm Salad of Scallops and used the word “Divine” too often. For our main course, being a gentleman, my wife ordered first and predictably took the Cassoulet. Knowing I would be able to sample hers, I opted for the Pork Belly, being a bit of a Connoisseur from my media days of lunching at PJ’s. Good wholesome food though PJ’s is, now I know how Pork Belly should be eaten! It was a new experience. Succulent and full of flavour, a grossly under estimated treasure of a dish brought to life by Malcolm and his chef’s. As for my wife’s Cassoulet...truly a winner. My small taste left me wishing I had ordered it too, although I wouldn’t have missed the Pork Belly for the world. Malcolm himself chose a delightful Bordeaux for us, which I would not have selected, but would again.
Only one thing for it...we’ll have to go out of our way for a return trip - all of a sudden, Croydon’s not that much of a trek for us!
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Archie Halford
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 28, 2008
Well what can i say, a fantastic restaurant has opened on my doorstep and i'm delighted!!!
The food is superb, now where can you get oysters in croydon and i just love them. I have been back several times and sampled most of the menu, seam bream risotto for lunch a winner, chateaubriand a really tasty treat cooked to perfection and i just love the tarte tartin to share with vanilla ice cream.
The staff are very friendly and Cindy was very welcoming as we walked in, it's nice to visit a restaurant with such lovely decor it feels so french you could almost forget you are in south croydon!!!
Hopefully this will make other restaurants up their game.
The best restaurant for miles!!!
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Sarah jones
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 07, 2008
Well it is about time Croydon had a proper, decent, great restaurant and this is it. Excellent food, great atmosphere and lovely attentive staff. Food is cooked to perfection. I would highly recommed the Chateaubriand - beautiful. Having eaten at the sister restaurant Le Vacherin in Chiswick for some years I am so happy Le Cassoulet has opened as it is just down the road from me. Knocks the socks off all the other South Croydon restaurants, in fact is now probably the best in South London. Great wine too!
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Liz P
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, March 02, 2008
