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Le Cercle
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No passing trade here – the entrance, on a side road off Sloane Street, is easily missed. Word gets around, though, and on our visit, this member of the Club Gascon group was full of locals enjoying sublime food in an exciting space. You have to pick your way down two flights of stairs to reach it, but this makes the cavernous basement restaurant all the more dramatic. Long white drapes separate the central area from more intimate surrounding booths and partly conceal a bar along one wall and a wine store on another. The food comes in tapas-style portions (we were advised to choose three or four dishes each from the leather-bound menu: about right), though ours were served in standard French order (salad, fish, then red meat, cheese, pudding). Each small dish was delicious, vividly coloured and intensely flavoured, satisfying through variety rather than quantity. Highlights included mackerel escabeche with a fennel foam; a fantastic combination of barley ‘risotto’ with spinach and grilled mussels; wood pigeon breasts with a reduced pumpkin purée; and an oxtail coated in creamy blood-orange sauce. With such bijou portions quickly served and cleared, though, it is hard to linger.
Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2009
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- London's most romantic restaurants
Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.
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Details
- 1 Wilbraham Place, Belgravia, SW1X 9AE
- Area: Belgravia
- Tel: 020 7901 9999
- www.lecercle.co.uk
- Book online
- Category: French
- Travel: Sloane Square tube
- Times: Bar Open/snacks served noon-midnight Tue-Sat. Restaurant Lunch served noon-3pm, dinner served 6-11pm Tue-Sat
- Price: Restaurant Set lunch £15 3 dishes incl coffee, £19.50 4 dishes. Set dinner (6-7pm, 10-11pm Tue-Sat) £17.50 3 dishes incl coffee, £21.50 4 dishes. Tapas £5-£16
- Credit cards: Restaurant AmEx, MC, V
- Services:
- Child facilities: Babies and children welcome: children's menu (lunch)
- Disabled: toilet
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LE CERCLE. Went there last night. Had cocktails which friends loved but they took a huge liberty with what they called a Vesper - way too much Lillet in it. Food was good and no one was unhappy with any choice with the lamb getting a universally good response. Service although attentive was quite amateur, I guess we got an inexperienced member of staff. Virtually everyone eating was French except the waiters and barstaff who were Eastern European. Try and get a booth if there's a party of you, well worth it. Would recommend the place and its a reasonable price for the area.
Having had a really enjoyable meal at Le Cercle last year, we returned again recently with a larger family group. What a mistake. The waiting staff were really quite rude - taking little time to explain the unusual set up to the new guests, and insisting that we had ordered too little food when in fact we were left stuffed. When the food arrived, it was delicious, but often plonked down unannounced, leaving us guessing what was what. The only items that came speedily were those we hadn't ordered - like the multiple bottles of mineral water opened without our permission and the red wine that was poured to everyone, including teenagers, without checking. If only they had been as attentive with the things we actually wanted, like a glass of beer and extra tea cup - both of which we had to request twice.
All in all, I love the french-tapas set up and the food and setting is lovely. But the service lacked the friendliness and flexibility that a larger party needs, so I’d really mainly recommend the place for couples.