Restaurants

Behind the silky threads that screen the discreetly wealthy clientele from the street, this haute-cuisine haunt, soothingly decorated in shades of lilac and dove grey, generates an appreciative babble bordering on the noisy. Jerome Tauvron’s cooking is in danger of giving fusion food a good name, dazzling with Asian flavours gilding mostly French foundations. His repertoire of dishes is bewitching, but the menu doesn’t change much. Give a wide berth to the caviar selection, there to pander to the money-no-object tendency. More rewarding starters were Charolais tartare made lip-smartingly tangy with garlic, capers, green chilli and Worcestershire sauce; and a pair of elegant and palate-levitating spring rolls (one tuna, one crab) accessorised with cress and mooli salad and dipping sauces. The concise, unflashy but breathtakingly good main courses of turbot with lemongrass crumbs, and melting lamb with baked aubergine and onion confit, sealed Tauvron’s reputation. It deserves to spread beyond London’s Francophile neighbourhood. The wine list is daunting but it helps having albariño, viognier and riesling by the glass. Staff didn’t make us feel like the cheap date we were, in comparison to the well-coiffed, white-haired, gold-card carrying regulars. Tea in silver pots makes a graceful ending.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009