Time Out rating:
<strong>Rating: </strong>3/5
User ratings:
<strong>Rating: </strong>2/5
Rate this
Time Out says
Mon Oct 15 2012
You couldn’t make it up. Earl Cadogan, landlord of this prominent Sloane Square corner site, made the mistake of eating in one of the Belgravia restaurants on his 90-acre London manor; he didn’t like it, and so didn’t renew the lease. That was the end for the landmark Oriel brasserie. The next tenants clearly made a better impression on the land-owning billionaire; they are Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, aka Rex Restaurant Associates. The duo also run The Wolseley, Delaunay and Brasserie Zédel, three of the most reliably good Continental-style brasseries in London – a better pedigree, evidently.
Colbert is an extension of what Rex already does: a classic interior that’s tiled, wood-panelled, mirrored and adorned with tasteful artworks evocative of the early and mid-twentieth century. There are three rooms, including one with a marble-topped bar; all serve the same menu from 8am until around 11pm, seven days a week. Staff are easily spotted in this well-dressed and slickly coiffed part of town as they’re the younger ones wearing ties; the service is as smooth as a special agent’s hand unhitching a dress.
Colbert’s love affair with French food is clearly an enduring one, not a passing fancy. Our favourite dish was the most rustic: a cassoulet. This slow-cooked casserole from south-west France had haricot beans dissolving into the mixed meats; as well as tasting of autumn, the thorough cooking of the beans ensured no unwelcome surprises from the south. Also good was a steak tartare. In more specialist establishments you might be asked how much Worcestershire sauce and shallots you’d like mixed in, but the hand-chopped beef was fresh and well-textured.
The French say ‘Le bon Dieu est dans le détail’ (‘the good God is in the details’, after Flaubert) – and there’s plenty of good God, and even some ‘Good God!’ in the detail at Colbert. The desserts included a sundae dish of lemon curd and lemon ice cream, topped with whipped cream, tiny meringues and pistachio-sprinkled savoy-style biscuits. Yum.
The menu’s as strong on breakfast and snack dishes as on meal dishes. A breakfast dish of pain perdu – French toast – was topped with a generous amount of dried fruits, while a snack of croque grand’mère was a perfectly fried brioche filled with melted comté cheese, bayonne ham and béchamel sauce, topped with a fried egg. The Earl should be stirred, but not shaken.
Comments & ratings