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There’s a (hopefully intentional) Hyacinth Bucket energy to Bistro Sablé’s acute-inflected Franceification of Highbury’s bog-standard Sable Street. It’s a bit like when Joey Barton went to play for Marseilles and started speaking English with a French accent.
That’s where the similarities with the ‘troubled’ former QPR captain end. Bistro Sable is concerned solely with presenting a menu of Gallic classics, served in an unpretentious yet perfectly charming environment.
When I say classics, I mean classics. Coqs get vin’d, pommes dauphinoised, boeuf is bourguinion’d and tartes tatin’d. This isn’t one of those new-fangled ‘spots’ you’ve been hearing about, with monoverbal dish descriptions, disaffected stick-and-poked servers and NTS-approved soundbeds. It’s a French restaurant, of the kind you’d be delighted to encounter while holidaying in provincial Occitania.
We bashed our way through a decent chunk of the menu and did not encounter a dud. Onion soup had the requisite meaty bread chunks bobbing below an unctuous cheesy lid. Chunky pâté en croûte was served with a tactically acute dollop of enlivening wholegrain mustard. My main, rotisserie chicken, luxuriating in sauce, served with pomme frites and fresh lettuce, was tanned, succulent throughout and - at £27 for half a bird - very good value.
Coqs get vin’d, pommes dauphinoised, boef is bourguinion’d and tartes tatin’d
The confit duck leg meanwhile, perched on a sacrificial mound of creamy flageolet beans, was faultless, with shattering skin the colour of caramel and meat that fell apart so readily the whole thing felt borderline pervy. And while we’re talking caramel: my dessert was, but of course, crème caramel. Consistency and looks: top marks. Flavour: good but could use un soupcon more bitterness.
Basically, if Bentwood chairs, creamy linen tablecloths and chalkboard specials are your happy place, you can’t go far wrong at Bistro Sablé. Particularly true if you luck out and get served by the incredibly well trained and helpful French maître d'.
The vibe A charismatic dining room (FKA Smokehouse) with large doors opening onto an idiosyncratic triangular front terrace.
The food Extreme Frenchness abounds. Like a Beatles tribute act in Japan, the hits are all played faithfully but with tangible affection.
The drink Fantastic wine list, obviously. What’s even better is that every bottle is available by the glass.
Time Out tip If the weather allows for it, do make full use of the lovely outdoor areas. Alternatively, if it's chilly, have a beer by the crackling fire.