Les 110 de Taillevent London

This restaurant is associated with the legendary Taillevent in Paris, which has been running since 1946 and has a casual sister in Paris called 110 de Taillevent. The London branch opened in 2015, serving traditional French food and featuring a huge wine list, which is something that the mothership in Paris is known for. They also offer a four-course tasting menu at £95 and a six-course version at £120, but we went a la carte. I have written previously in detail about the superb wine list here, featuring over two thousand different selections, at prices much fairer than is the norm in London, and with genuine bargains in the upper reaches of the list.

Comte gougeres began the meal, served warm just as they should be. The choux pastry was light and airy and there was reasonable amount of cheese flavour (15/20). My starter was pate en croute, which had well-made pastry and a generous meaty filling including a layer of meat jelly. Pate en croute varies considerably in quality, and although this was not in the league of the stunning one at La Rotonde in Lyon, it was certainly good (15/20).

For the main course I had quail with broccoli, mash and a jus made from the carcass of the quail. The bird was carefully cooked, the sauce had quite deep flavour and the broccoli was fine (14/20). I should observe that my wife particularly enjoyed her turbot with bok choy and wild mushroom sauce, which was probably the dish of the night.

For dessert we shared an apple tart tatin. This is not the ideal time of year for the best apples, but the main issue with this dish was that the apples were not cooked through and caramelised quite enough for me. The pastry was good but the texture of the apples was a bit too firm compared to the best versions of this classic dish (13/20).

Service was very good indeed, and the bill came to £187 per person including plenty of wine. If you shared a modest bottle of wine between two people then a typical cost per person might be around £130 or so. Les 110 de Taillevent does not seem to get much media attention but I have always found it to be a very reliable place in terms of food, and with the superb wine list as a real bonus.

Further reviews: 23rd Nov 2023 | 22nd Apr 2023 | 22nd Mar 2016 | 30th Jan 2016 | 07th Nov 2015