The Comptoir Gascon

Once again I had a very pleasant evening at the Comptoir Gascon.

We started with a glass of cremant and some piggy treats to go with it (a selection of cuts pork meat perfect to share), as starter we both took the homemade duck fois gras, it is one of the best I have tasted and the portions are generous. For main I had the Lamb and aligot, the meat was juicy, tender and grilled to perfection! (I have been told that their new barbecue was the secret of those fantastic flavours…) the aligot was light and very cheesy. My friend really enjoyed her Monkfish and beans stew dish.

For desert we shared a crème catalane, very creamy with strong notes of cinnamon and orange. The service is friendly as well and for the quality the prices are more than competitive; I have recommended it to friends…
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Sandra - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Went at 7pm last Saturday and understandably quiet at first. Soon filled up and was buzzing but not ear-shattering by 8. Had good selection of charcuterie, straight-forward chicory/ rocquefort salad and outstanding duck mousse with white mushroom sauce for starters. Mains included a very tasty, though slightly dry cassoulet, great pork belly and poussin. No space for them but had to try the chips, which were as good as previously described. Service was friendly and informal but also extremely efficient. Good value with a bottle of wine and 4 aperitifs between the 4 of us coming to £32 each. Will be back!
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Adam B
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, April 13, 2008

It is probably a rule of thumb that you should never judge a restaurant by a Valentine's Day meal there - the atmosphere, music and decor are bound to vary from the usual, as is the menu. Prices, too, are unlikely to reflect the norm, as all but the most pure of restauranteurs cash in on the love in the air and the pockets.

That said, however, good food is the currency of a good restaurant, whether it's the 14th February or not. Having read wonderful things about the Gascon, my partner and I, using Valentine's as yet another excuse to eat out, booked a table there knowing full well that there would be a £39 set menu (excluding wine) for the occasion. We expected the ambience - romantic crooning music, tables occupied mostly by couples nuzzling each other - but we were delighted to see that people hadn't been crammed into the small, comfortable space and that the service was attentive, if a little hurried. It boded well.

What a disappointment, then, that once the food was served it quickly became apparent that this was indeed an exercise in money-grabbing for a day. The set menu was sparce - one meat, one fish and one vegetarian starter. Ditto for the mains. One dessert. That was it. My starter, a venison carpaccio, was quite delicious and turned out to be the best of the rest. My partner's artichoke and mushroom soup, on the other hand, while perfectly textured and creamy, was far too rich and full of crunchy vegetable bits that interrupted the experience.

The mains were poor. I'm a lover of white fish, and I don't think I have ever eaten white fish as chewy and overdone as the monkfish cheeks I ordered. Suffice to say that I had to hack through these supposedly most delicate and tender part of the fish with my knife like they were a well-done steak. My companion's pork fillet was cooked and tasted better, but didn't stand out at all and was satisfactory at best. Finally, the only dessert, a flambee with an ice-cream and fruit centre, was good but not special, and smacked of pre-preparation on a mass scale.

Even by Valentine's Day standards, for a total of £56 a head including wine this was fleecing of the highest order, especially considering the so-called reputation the place has for food and variety. I can only hope that the management decided that, for one day only, standards could be sacrificed for a financial pay-off. I will not be back to find out.
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Amir Chicersill
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Friday, February 15, 2008

Le Comptoir Gascon is famous for its chips - which really are top of the class - but the other dishes are worth going for too. Try the fish options and fillet steak... The atmosphere is just like a real French brasserie, with speciality breads, rare oils and vinegars lining the shelves. Also, we were placed next to the sweet waft of the cheesecake and waffle rack...

Back to those chips: they are hand-cut from the finest potatoes, and the piece de resistance is the smattering of chunky sea salt crystals from the Gironde. A must for all chip lovers. The service is attentive and refined...
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Tehmina
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 11, 2008

Went for a meal there in December and had a great time. The large wooden table is just right for a group of 7 or 8.Food was simple and rustic, wine was good value and the service was laid back but attentive.
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, February 05, 2008

A really good experience last night - a buzzy place with good, honest and reasonably priced food & a wine list to match. I could not fault it!
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Jax
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, January 16, 2008

I've eaten here four or five times, evening and lunchtime. The food is interesting, characterful and tasty, if slightly odd. I've never had any problems with the service - they seem pleasant enough. I'd go there again.
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E J Moore
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I ate at Le Comptoir Gascon yesterday evening. After all they hype, the food was extremely disappointing. My cassolet seemed to have been re-heated so many times it had dried out - the ring of burn where the food met the dish was not attractive. The frankfurter which seemed to have been added as an afterthought failed to save it. My partner had to send back her salmon because part of it was not cooked at all. The chips were passable but no more than that. All this in a gloomy atmosphere where it was difficult to see what you are eating.
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Peter Bamford
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Thursday, November 15, 2007

Booked a table at the Comptoir Gascon after reading about it on this web site and all expectations were fulfilled - and more! After holidaying in south France the last couple of years, I wanted to have some of that "French feeling" for my boyfriends 30th birthday.

The food was excellent:

The Potted Duck rillets for starter - yum! A large portion (enough to share alright) and lots of bread on the side.

The day special with BBQ Duck Mallard + french fries to share for main. Very, very good!

Chose the Choc Trio cake for dessert along with a caffe latte and it was the perfect ending.

I wasn't expecting much of the service as I'd read some of the previous reviews, but was plesantly surprised by the friendly and serviceminded french waitress who served us!

Nothing bad to say about this place really, even the loo was out of the ordinary, and I bet I'll be back next time I'm in London!
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Jeanette
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, November 06, 2007

The dynamics of dinner in Londontown couldn't be more ready for a clever and delicious revisit to a genuinely kinder and comforting ambiance for feasting sans protocol. The finger licking goodness of le Comptoir Gascon beckons one and all who are sick and tired of dressing up, digging deep and dropping dead at the finale, filled with guilty angst for having dined on the "written word!" To hell with what the critics espouse as brilliant and visionary! Those vendor of words haven't a damn clue as to what delights the palate and fills the heart in the simplest and most sumptuous of ways...a visit to le Comptoir Gascon, however, will do more. It may well feed your soul! For this is a quixotic pilgrimage to an era long past. Gone are the ridiculous attempts at fusion ergo confusion, or the hallucinating cognitive exercises in intellectual culinology...I'll take duck fat fried potatoes please with a snappy knob of moutarde de Dijon!

One doesn't dine at le Comptoir Gascon. It is rather like supper in its wholesomeness and rustic gentility. The setting is Familiarity of a kind that massages one's spirit far away to the pastoral images of a youth vacationing in France long ago, where the aromas, sounds and tastes are all intensely real and wondorously integrated into ones daily meals. How else does one celebrate creation in a more responsible and responsive way? Keep it simple, keep it fresh, keep it real.... the craft, technique and hospitality found at le Comptoir Gascon is refreshingly joyous!!!

PS: the Foie Gras is outrageous as are the frites!
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Philippe GARMY
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, August 28, 2007