Cellar Gascon

Something seems awry at the clubby wine-bar adjunct of the usually reliable Gascon operation. Its banquette cushions are sagging, and the veneer is wearing thin on its tables.

The kitchen too has lost some gloss. Now only one dish of the day supplements the tapas-style snacks (an uninspiring salmon and ratatouille, on our visit) and the snacks themselves lack excitement.

Most of these French South-western regional dishes are assembled cold, rather than cooked to order, though quality is undoubtedly high: interesting charcuterie, well-kept cheese, prawns with herb butter, foie gras carpaccio.

Hot dishes weren't special; Basque-style braised lamb shank was reasonable, but chipolatas in another Basque sauce, sakari, was dreadful.

Nevertheless, the Cellar continues to offer an outstanding wine list, exclusively - Champagnes excepted - from the south of France. It is well curated and well organised by region (Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence, Corsica), and shows specialist knowledge in its selection of fortified wines, sparkling reds and late-harvest dessert wines.

The otherwise distracted staff came passionately alive when asked for a recommendation, offering us samples even though we were only choosing a single glass.

But you have to wonder whether this expertise is wasted when the only other customers on a Friday night wanted frozen vodka.

(For off-sales, investigate the similarly noteworthy Comptoir Gascon across the market; 61-63 Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6HJ, 7608 0851.)