City Eating

Now Open: The Lawn Bistro, Wimbledon Village

At lunchtime today, restaurateur Akbar Ashurov and chef Ollie Couillaud will launch an elegant neighbourhood bistro in Wimbledon Village. Foodies may recognise Couillaud as the former head chef at La Trompette and from his time at Chez Bruce and The Square.

The Lawn Bistro hopes to become ‘a friendly hub of local activity’, where locals can chat with Ollie and enjoy refined French food at reasonable prices. (The menu offers two courses   for £27.50 or three for £32.50). The restaurant seats between 60-70 and the interior has been given a stylish but understated makeover by designLSM, with shades of dark grey warmed up by atmospheric lighting and graphic prints.

Ollie’s menu combines influences from his rural French upbringing and his experience in the kitchens of Michelin starred restaurants. The menu will change on an almost daily basis and diners can expect seasonal French dishes, with the occasional nod to British and Spanish cuisine. We’re looking forward to dishes like herb crusted lamb's tongues with sauce ravigotte; braised ox cheeks ‘a la Bourguignonne’; and seabass with crayfish and chorizo risotto with coriander and crème fraiche. The dessert menu includes French classics like caramelised apple mille feuille and pear and almond tart, alongside a more unusual warm pineapple salad with black pepper, vodka and mango sorbet.

The extensive wine list has not yet been unveiled but is said to include carefully selected wines from all over the world, including a Portuguese house wine.

The Lawn Bistro is now open for lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday and lunch on Sunday, and we think it’s well worth the trip down the District Line. You can keep up with all their latest news on twitter, @TheLawnBistro, and don’t forget to write a review if you visit.

Cafe Rouge: It’s All Change At This French Family Favourite

THE LOWDOWN: For over 20 years, Café Rouge has been serving up classic French dishes in laid-back bistros on high streets across the UK. Last month, they launched a new menu which includes traditional Gallic dishes like bouillabaisse, saucisses de Toulouse and coq au vin, alongside some healthy options which are all under 600 calories. There’s also a selection of ‘petit plats’ which follow the current trend for tapas-sized dishes you can share. Now they’re looking at how they can improve their restaurants, starting with a new restaurant just off The Strand in Covent Garden. We have fond memories of childhood trips to Café Rouge so we popped in for an early dinner to see how things have changed.

THE LOOK: The new Café Rouge is situated on Villiers Street, just off The Strand and   right next to Charing Cross Station and Trafalgar Square. It’s just up the road from Lupita and Herman Ze German and with its  bright red frontage, it’s hard to miss. Inside, there’s the familiar mix of red banquettes, colourful murals and faux French posters, as well as a smart bar you can perch at. It doesn’t look like any bistro we’ve been to in Paris but it’s warm and cosy in the candlelight and it was already buzzing when we arrived for a mid-week supper.

THE FOOD: The new menu is tricky to navigate but covers all the bases with everything from ‘plats rapides’ for the lunch crowd to heartier mains and set menus for evening diners. We liked the idea of the ‘petit plats’ which are just £3 each and include things like tapenade d’artichaut, rillettes de canard and tasty little Merguez sausages with harissa mayo. If you fancy a full-sized starter, you can tuck into onion soup, moules marinières or crevettes à l’ail – a messy but moreish dish of prawns in chilli and garlic butter.

Locals are well catered for at lunchtime with salads, tartines and baguettes, while those with larger appetites can enjoy sizeable steaks, confit de canard and boeuf bourguignon. We liked the signature ‘Steak Rouge’ – a well-cooked rib-eye served with hot, salty frites – and the sole limande, which was tasty in spite of the absence of the advertised caramelised lemon butter. For dessert, as you’d expect, there are tartes, coupes and crème brulee.

THE DRINK: The wine list should offer something to please most palates and prices are very reasonable with the house wines starting at £3.70 for a small glass. We liked the fruity Syrah Rosé much better than an overly sweet Kir Royale from the aperitifs menu.

THE VERDICT: While our meal at Café Rouge wasn’t without its flaws, we enjoyed the laid-back buzz, our delicious starters and the attentive service from our young French waiter. While the new restaurant on The Strand will undoubtedly do well with the tourists, it may also win over locals and theatre-goers with its set lunch menu and ‘menu du soir’, which offers 2 courses for £10.50. There’s even a no-nonsense kids menu for your little gourmets. For a relaxed, reasonably priced meal in Covent Garden, it’s definitely worth a try.

Coming Soon: The Botanist’s Pop-Up Oyster & Chapel Down Bar

There’s no doubt that pop-ups have been big business this summer, with everything from lobster roll shacks to Bourbon & BBQ trucks turning up to fuel London’s love of all things temporary. If you’ve spent the summer sipping Bombay Pimms at Dishoom’s Chowpatty Beach Bar or tracking down blink-and-you'll-miss-it fried chicken in Shoreditch, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the fun isn’t over yet.

Next weekend, pop-up fans should head to Chelsea for The Botanist’s suitably sophisticated oyster bar pop-up in the middle of Sloane Square. From 16th-18th September, guests can look forward to daily performances from a solo saxophonist and copious amounts of Chapel Down’s lovely sparkling wine from Kent.

September is widely heralded as the official start of oyster season and The Botanist’s bar will be fully stocked with a range of bivalves, including West Mersea pearls, Brown Sea Island Dorset rocks and Duchy natives. Individually priced at £2 each, you can enjoy a quick pit stop with an oyster and glass of fizz or indulge in a leisurely lunch with half a dozen or a dozen priced at £9.50 and £18.

If oysters leave you cold, there will be a selection of fresh seafood available, sourced from Billingsgate Market. Choices will include whole dressed Dorset crab; poached Isle of Benbecula langoustines; and a classic Atlantic prawn cocktail with avocado.

Locals can celebrate the last days of summer with some award-winning Chapel Down Vintage Reserve Brut, available by the glass (£6) or bottle (£30), while designated drivers can sip on a ‘Pomona Fizz’ mocktail. (The refreshing blend of pomegranate, pear, honey, lime and tonic that we enjoyed at The Botanist’s City sister, Chiswell Street Dining Rooms).

The oyster bar will be open from 12pm - 7.30pm on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th, and from 12pm - 5.30pm on Sunday 18th September. You can follow @The_BotanistSW1 for all the latest updates over the weekend. Fingers crossed for sunshine!