Boudin Blanc is a shrine to the French bistro as the English imagine it to be – all dark wood, big plates and hearty cooking. There’s no fancy fusion or haut cuisine. From poached fish in butter and cream sauce to snails by the dozen, it’s bistro classics all the way.
But just because it’s not full of surprises, that doesn’t meant it’s not good. The food here is classic, sure, but it’s classically good…well, classically great actually.
We started with a braised leek and dandelion salad and a vegetable soup. The leeks were perfectly done, firm enough to hold their shape, but cooked enough to cut without resistance. Their soft flavour was cut with a citrussy vinegarette and deliciously bitter dandelion leaves. The soup was fantastic, smooth, but punchy and full of flavour.
The poached haddock
Mains were poached haddock or chicken and linguine. This was bistro cooking at its best. The fish was gently smoked, firm, flaky and toothsome. The sauce creamy without being too rich. Chicken was deliciously chickeny, not anemic and flavourless which poultry can so often be. Breast was moist and went well with a gentle paprika cream sauce that also clung to al dente linguine.
We finished off with Ile Flotant – a semi set meringue floating in a sea of vanilla custard. The eggy island was good, but the ocean of vanilla was even better. A great end to the meal.
Boudin Blanc’s chefs cook with a mixture of simplicity and finesse, something deceptively hard to achieve. Everything was cooked to perfection, but not messed around with too much. The main flavours were allowed to shine through and sauces complemented rather than camoflagued or bullied.
Chicken and linguine
There is a caveat however: if you’re vegetarian, phone ahead because the menu makes no allowances for vegetarians. This gave us the one sour moment of our lunch. We asked if there was a vegetarian option for the set menu and were told that they would organise a vegetable plate.
All fine and good, but what they actually meant was they would provide vegetarian food at a la carte prices. And they didn’t tell us this until after we had finished our mains and it was too late to do anything about it.
There was no apology, which would have smoothed things over. Instead our waitress was defensively brusque about it, and it felt like they just didn’t care, which spoiled the end of the meal a bit.
To be fair, on a previous occasion we had rung ahead and they had been really good about it, fixing something special, which was partly why we had come back. If it weren’t for this, and the fact the food is so well cooked, I’d think twice before returning.
But the food really is good – it reminds me of Galvin Bistro do Luxe. And so I will most likely give it a chance to wipe away the bad memories.
Now you’ve gotta look at it from their point of view, vegetarians are a bloody nuisance and they’re well within their rights to charge what the hell they like. Besides they’re French so I don’t know why you were hoping for an apology.
Before the blog police call round, I’m joking! A bit of a shocker in how the vegetarian in your party was treated. Especially as a little bit of goodwill goes a long way in the restaurant trade.
Where is this restaurant at? City?
@mrnoodles – hahahahahaha – you made me laugh out loud at the bus stop. And yes – i have to admit, I definitely detected a whiff of stereotypically French service – something I’ve rarely seen in France…
I was surprised at the attitude, particularly in somewhere like London, but as i said, in the past they have been great, so will definitely return. if it happens again tho…
@acandianfoodie – it’s not in the City, it’s in Mayfair, close to Green Park tube in a little enclave called Shepherd market.
Well, I eat fish so I’d be OK. Looks and sounds rather fabulous, despite the shoddy service for the vegetarian.
I remember putting this on my ‘list’ sometime ago – but as it’s a list that exists only in my sieve-like head, no surprises that BB seems to have disappeared from there, so thanks for the reminder!
Leaving aside the service (hopefully just a blip), the food looks great. Particularly drawn to the salad, strangely enough – most unlike me…
@Thursday – it is rather fabulous and well worth a visit
@aforkfullofspaghetti – that salad was very good – the leaks were braised to perfection and everything worked very well together. Whoever’s running the kitchen has a talent for superb and deceptively simple cooking,