La Buvette

This is an excellent local bistro. Great simple French food at reasonable prices. I recommend the fish soup, highly. The evenings can get very busy (and so a little noisy), but you get a real taste of Paris here, with a very French waiting staff.
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E Hartwell
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, November 08, 2011

I left today just a little disappointed after such positive reviews both here and elsewhere. Its quite a short menu, and to be frank I found it difficult to select a starter and a main course that really got my taste-buds anticipating. Hence my choice of a charcuterie selection for my first course when naturally I'm drawn to food that has been cooked rather than simply assembled. It was fine, if a little on the small side, served on a wooden board with lots of empty space on it which struck me as odd since the dish carries a supplement.

My main course of guinea fowl was nicely cooked emough with some girolles, artichoke and a few potato pieces in a jus. Pleasant but not memorable. Now maybe its hard to make guinea fowl memorable but frankly there was nothing else I really fancied. Certainly not 9 out of 10 food for me and again we were both glad that I'd ordered a side of fries, for sharing that we felt our dishes were appropriately sized.

The bottle of Chardonnay at a not expensive £18+ was suitably light and very nice for a warm lunchtime. Service was pleasant and timely throughout. There is a question of value here though. How do two £14.50 set meals, tap water, and a bottle from the cheaper end of the list result in a bill for £70? Answer is that a couple of supplements (for pretty low-cost dishes) the fries , two coffees and service get you there. I guess that across the year £70 for lunch for two is about our average- so did this meet our average in terms of enjoyment? Possibly not. There's too many restaurants offering decent food at this price level for us to make a bee-line back to this one, even though our meal at La Buvette was scarcely a disaster.
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David Henderson
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Saturday, August 13, 2011

Very nice early dinner for 2 on a Sunday evening at La Buvette in Richmond. Tucked away around the corner next to the church. Really lovely cosy & intimate atmosphere. Good attentive staff and good table service.

Tremendous value for money. Good sized portions and really great food. Nicely prepared and presented.

Overall highly recommended and would love to go again!
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SimonaB
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, December 13, 2009

Four of us took my mother to La Buvette for her birthday lunch today and had an excellent time. Overall the food was very good. Our starters of beetroot-cured salmon and creamy celeriac soup were simple and delicious. The main courses of gigot of lamb and cod with lentils were good, but suffered in comparison with the lovely starters. Puddings, including a gorgeously soft spiced poached pear, interesting chocolate and cardamon pot and strawberry ice-cream, finished the meal very nicely. Good coffee was a bonus - though we weren't sure about the chunks of milk chocolate on top of the capuccino. Service was very efficient and friendly enough, and the restaurant had a nice level of buzz - business enough not to be too quiet. The outside loo was a bit odd though.

A very good lunch, which was also very good value for money.
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Victoria
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, October 13, 2009

A visit last Tuesday evening was a welcome treat. As ever, La Buvette comes out on top for just about everything: sheer professionalism, friendliness, quality, and excellent value for money.

Have been to this gem of a restaurant many times now, and it loses nothing with familiarity. If anything, it's very nice (and a great relief) to find a place that is so reliable in Richmond.

Richmond is difficult when it comes to eating out, as too many premises rely on the mystique of the nearby river and the proliferation of noisy bars and clubs to paper over the cracks in what they offer.

La Buvette is quietly and pleasantly run, and the perfect place for an evening or lunchtime that will pamper your tastebuds and not bankrupt you.

Long may it thrive. It deserves every one of the many excellent reviews on this site.
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Franco - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, October 02, 2009

Five of us went to La buvette for the first time for dinner on a Saturday night in May 2009. It is located on a footpath that runs past a church and offers a quaint, village house atmosphere. It is a small restaurant and was fully booked but very quiet and peaceful that evening. The service by the mostly but not entirely French staff was discrete, friendly and quite efficient; one order was misunderstood and the wrong kind of fish served. The menu is probably representative of the 'average ' family small-town restaurant in France (though I have not tried all of them!) offering 7 or 8 main courses including a vegetarian option. Everyone enjoyed their food - the classic bistro menu of soupe de poisson, steak (onglet cut) & frittes and creme brulee doing its job well. The wine list is 100% French of course with around 12 on offer for each colour ranging in price between £15 and £50, a large proportion of those available by the glass and 250ml carafe (including some fairly good ones and desert wines), which is very handy. Quite interestingly, one might say, American-style wine-food matching notes can be found next to some of the wines. The list seems thoughfully designed to complement all the dishes very specifically, but also makes sure that all the classic styles are covered.

We paid £42/person including wine and service, having shared the equivalent of 2.5 bottles of wine in the mid-price range and three enjoyable hours. We all felt it was good value, except for the person who end up with the wrong fiss and later admitted that he had made the wrong choice of dishes from starter to desert as it sometimes happens when one wants to venture outside their comfort zone.
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LL
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, May 04, 2009

I took my wife here on the 8th of April for her birthday. It was great. We were greeted by a very friendly young french man who was very accomadating. The food was fantastic and the staff utterly helpful and unpretentious. Beautiful inside just the odd posh person too many eating there for me but i suppose this is Richmond. Great value and fantastic food and wine. Will be back soon hopefully when another traet comes up!
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Paul Spear
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 20, 2009

Visiting Richmond normally raises the question of "where do you eat?" but having read Matthew Norman's review I booked La Buvette. Saturday lunch was packed. How so many people could find this tiny place, I don't know. Entering through a walled courtyard full of daffodils set the tone rather well, although still a little brisk to eat outside. We were greeted with a convivial smile and taken to our simply laden table of white cloth. We chose their "bistro menu" of fish soup, steak and chips and creme brulee, that was superb value at £18.50. They offer a prix fixe menu with a selection of 6 choices on each course aswell. The food was simply presented and packed with flavour. We shared a bottle of Rhone at £17, from a small and predominantly French list. The outstanding part of the experience was the ambience (always difficult to describe, but when a room is full of people enjoying themselves, it became difficult to leave them all, to return to the shopping). We will return soon, next time I find an excuse to go to Richmond.
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9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, March 24, 2009

We decided to go here having read the glowing reviews here and we were very happy that we did. A charming, nicely lit restaurant, friendly and efficient service, excellent food and a good (if quite short) winelist. I'm sure it comes into its own in summer, with the lovely outside courtyard area. We went on a Saturday night in February - it was busy and had a very good atmostphere.
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Jeremy - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, February 22, 2009