Le Bouchon Breton

I am afraid that I disagree with the mostly positive reviews below. I went with two friends for the set lunch today.

The service was shocking - perhaps the heatwave was getting to the waitress who neither understood nor could remember what we ordered. Dishes brought at different times.

When the food did come it was bland and mostly devoid of any taste. The asparagus veloute was watery and something I would rather forget. The toulouse sausage was okay, but plonked on a plate with some reheated puree and with no pretence of being made to look nice.

Really not a good experience and one which I would not repeat. I think it may be a case of set course lunchers being treated as second class customers. The only good thing I could say about it is that it has an enviable position overlooking Spitalfields market.
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Rick Brown
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Eaten here twice and would recommend this place to everyone, great quality food cooked simply with an emphasis on flavour rather than frills. Traditional french bistro with an extensive menu, lots of seafood as well as classic meat dishes. The service is excellent, from the moment you step in everyone who serves you toes the line between attentive and overbearing, nothing is too much trouble, in fact there was a mix up with my main course order on my 1st visit and I ended up with two meals for the price of one as our waiter was insistent that I couldn't sit empty handed while my friend ate hers. The 'terrace' is a great place to sit on market day but the interior is just as good. Attention to detail is what sets this apart from all the drab world food restaurants that've overtaken spitalfields. Everything about this suggests you'd be paying through the nose but the incredible value for money has no effect on the quality of the food or the service.

I look forward to making my way through the entire menu.
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PK
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, June 22, 2009

I work around the corner and went here for lunch. The place is smart, you get a nice view over the market. The service friendly and attentive.

But the best thing about this place is the menu and the food.

Lots of lovely rustic French dishes done in an authentic manner. Some stuff quite brave I thought. Good wine menu too.

Great place to come. Not cheap, but excellent food.
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benjamin163
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, February 15, 2009

I have to say that I was really happy with my experience at Le Bouchon Breton. The food is of really high standard with a real "taste of France". The sommelier Francois Bertrand is of extraordinary knowledge with a great choice of wines from different regions in the world at different prices.

I can recommend the place without hesitation. Enjoy your experience at le Bouchon Breton.
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jerome drean
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Went for lunch with 2 other people. We were warmly greeted and shown to our table in a very attractive room overlooking Spitalfields market. The tables are well spaced unlike many other cramped London restaurants were you are shoe-horned in and spend the meal rubbing shoulders, elbows, and participating involuntarily in your neighbours conversations. The food is excellent. French upscale bistro standards with top-notch ingredients, perfectly executed and served. We had the Frogs legs, the terrine, and the St.Marcellin cheese salad. These were all very good indeed. The Frogs legs had a wonderful tartare sauce by the way. Mains were the cote de boeuf - an outstanding piece of real beef, tasty, perfectly cooked to medium, and sliced in front of us on a large wooden board. This was accompanied by an enormous bowl of freedom fries, a salad, and a bearnaise sauce and a pepper sauce. The bearnaise was outstanding, with just the right amount of taragon lurking in the background. Most London restaurants put in way too much taragon, so you end up with a sweetish, flowery tasting gloop.

Desserts were a terrific individual tarte tatin, a plum clafoutis, and a pear tarte all served with accompanying sauces and ice cream for the tatin.

While there are very expensive wines on the list, there are plenty at £30 to choose from. Tap water was offered without hesitation. The service was friendly and professional. Go and you won't be disappointed.
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C.Elder
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, October 23, 2008

Escaped the hustle of the market for Sunday lunch and left with mixed feelings.

The place looks great with a long bar to the right as you enter and space for over 120 covers laid out to the left.

Firstly the menu is a great read with every French classic on from snails & frogs legs to Choucroute & chateaubriand. Prices vary greatly from 2 courses for £12 (Sunday only I think), to £20+ mains.

Food when it arrived was good but nothing more, good produce cooked well.

Service was okay but a bit to full on for me, but I guess this is what happens when you have 14+ staff on the floor and only maybe 30-40 covers.

The winelist was one of the best I have seen in a while but in my view vastly overpriced. They appear to times every bottle by 4 so for example Chateau Palmer 1990 was a whopping £470. The same bottle in a shop would be between £120 - £170, and I have even seen it on another restaurant list in the city for less than £250.

Overall not a bad restaurant at all but im not sure I would rush back.
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Monday, October 20, 2008

We were given a flyer for Le Bouchon Breton while strolling around Spitalfields market one evening and having already eaten, tucked it away for reading later. A few days later, while deciding what to eat that evening and settling on steak, we decided to give the newest of the redeveloped market's restaurants a go. The approach was a little daunting, the area was deserted, the restaurant upstairs with no clue to what lay ahead. It was a rainy monday night to be fair and even Canteen was only half full. I hadn't done my homework on this one and Le Bouchon was a lot more formal than I was expecting. The dining room is very impressive, but was empty and a little souless. Staff (that outnumbered the diners) pounced on us like they had been starved of things to do, and we felt a little rushed to chose from the (18 page) wine list. The choice was excellent but lacked many affordable choices with no obvious house wines at all. The 40 cocktails mentioned on the flyer were not offered to us and I was starting to wonder what I had let us in for. I had no idea the menu had been created by the people behind le Gavroche and was surprised by the prices. Not what I had expected of a brasserie in Spitalfields market, next to the site of another Wagamama...

But we ordered, and hoped for once, the prices would be justified. I get tired of paying for nice menu descriptions when the the chef can't deliver the goods.

However, I needn't have worried, The food is simply amazing and a lesson to those who overcomplicate or cut corners. The best ingredients, perfectly cooked, and served in an extremely competent manner, albeit perhaps a little stuffily at first.

For the record, we shared a foie gras terrine, had Angus/Charolet ribeye steak frites and a creme brulee. Standard fare, cooked as well as I've ever had them.

So, in conclusion, le Bouchon needs to relax a little, to fit into its surroundings, maybe offer a set menu and a house wine to fill the 150 seats and get some atmosphere. Let more people enjoy some fine, fine french cuisine. Oh, and the toilets are lovely.
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daniel - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, October 07, 2008