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What is 'following'?Restaurants & cafés: French (traditional)
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La Cocotte is the sort of French neighbourhood restaurant once commonplace in London, but now rarer than a Les Bleus goal celebration.
The restaurant is spread over two floors: the ground floor offers quaint brasserie-style dining with red checked tablecloths, candles and French dictionaries casually scattered around. Upstairs, the more subdued dining room is dominated by white, and attracts mostly couples looking for a quiet date.
We decided to eat downstairs and enjoy the rustic charm. To the soundtrack of 'Amélie', we chose from the short menu. Onion soup, bouillabaisse, steak frites - think of a French classic, and it's probably on there.
Our starter of terrine de campagne was excellent. Served on a wooden board, the dense slice of pork pâté came with toasted sourdough bread and a small bowl of pickles, the sourness of which contrasted with the hearty terrine. Not so convincing was the tarte Provençale: a limp pastry topped with ratatouille-style vegetables in an eggy flan. It tasted good but the texture just wasn't right.
Mains are a tribute to the restaurant's name - most dishes are served in a cocotte (heavy pot) from Le Creuset. Coq au vin is one such classic, the moist meat of the chicken leg swimming in a deeply flavoured red wine sauce, dotted with thick chunks of mushrooms, a generous amount of smoky bacon and three potatoes.
The menu described the sea bass as served in a beurre blanc sauce, but the fish came with a heavier béchamel instead of the lighter, melted butter sauce. Both mains were on the salty side, which, according to French folklore, hints that the chef is in love.
Portions weren't huge, leaving us with enough space to sample the cheese board. Disappointingly the selection comprised mediocre versions of the usual suspects: brie, bleu d'Auvergne, goats cheese, tomme de Savoie. But the heavenly crème brulée got us all excited: a creamy vanilla flan whose treacherously light texture made it easy to forget you're scoffing spoonfuls of double cream.
Just like the food menu, the wine list is brief and chauvinistically French, clearly annotated and stylistically diverse from southern French vins de pays to special occasion wines. More choice by the glass rather than just two house wines (white or red) would have been better.
Service was on the slow side, but made up for it with friendliness and care; a neighbouring diner complained about the fish tasting too fishy, and was immediately offered another dish without any fuss.
This bistro may offer all the French clichés - but it does so in a charming way.
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La Cocotte details
Follow La Cocotte to receive updates on special offers here.
What is 'following'?Transport Belsize Park tube, Hampstead Heath rail or bus 24, 168
020 7433 3317
Open 6-11pm Tue; noon-3pm, 6-11pm Wed-Sat; noon-3pm Sun
Meal for two with wine and service: around £90
La Cocotte map
Restaurants & cafés near La Cocotte
See all restaurants near La CocotteComments & ratings 5/5 (Average of 8 ratings)
Real French Restaurant! It's like if I were in France. I've been with 3 friends for lunch once and we came back for dinner last week. We had Cocottes, Sea bass and Steack. It was really tasty, we took our time to have 3 courses because we wanted to try the most we could. The wine list is not big, it's just enough and we had great advice. Don't miss it, it's romantic, the music is French aswell... You feel in France without having to take a plane or a train!!!
Tasty food, great atmosphere, friendly staff and reasonable prices! Will definately come back. Don't miss the fantastic creme brulee!
Had a wonderful evening at the restaurant last Saturday. The food was great and very good value of money. Service was prompt and friendly. The restaurant was full and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Lovely atmosphere. We were sitting in a nice and cosy environment and then watching the first snow of the year falling outside. So romantic! My girlfriend & I really loved the experience and we will be back soon!
My girlfriend and I have been to La Cocotte a few times now over the last year and we were always impressed with their food and service.
They seem to change their menu every few months or so, which is good as it keeps us (the customers) excited. We do like their well-balanced menu - something for everyone. We tried their Caille Farcie and Bourguignon de Chevreuil on our last visit and they were both beautifully cooked. So tasty! As for dessert, we shared their Poire Tarte Tatin. It was beautifully presented and was delicious with the compote and ice-cream combination. Their wine list, although not big, is very well-planned in my opinion and very reasonably priced.
Loved their ambience and the French music in the background too. Food is the best French food I have even tried in London recently. But what makes the place great is their efficient and friendly service.
Not so taken by this place, very tough space previously occupied by an excellent Italian restaurant (5* on timeout) who didn't manage to make it work.
In my eyes this place hasn't got it right. On my visits the food has been simple and reasonably well executed but far from faultless. The wine list also didn't grab me.
The service is not bad but not great and for mine the ambience misses the mark.
Give it a shot by all means, but don't go with massive expectations because this place won't meet them.
Tasty food, good service, nice interior (upstairs), French music in background, not too busy so you can relax in quiet and friendly atmosphere.
Best French restaurant that I have discovered that opened recently in London. Lovely staff, tasty food and very reasonably pricing. Worth visiting!
Just had dinner there on Friday. The duck liver terrine was fantastic and the coq au vin was melt-in-your-mouth good. Very reasonable prices for the quality and portions of food. Pity we didn't have time to have dessert. Will definitely be back!!
Have eaten here a couple of times now, and have been hugely impressed both times. Fantastic food. Lovely staff. A really brilliant restaurant.
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