Le Pot Lyonnais

This is our local. It’s even closer to our flat than Tom Ilic, also on Queenstown Road, and is the spot we head to when we want a quick drink, or there is nothing inspiring in the fridge and we want a cheap and cheerful meal out.

The manager and an ever-changing retinue of staff are all French, and sometimes their English is pretty shocking. It normally adds to the charm though, and combined with the French menu gives us our own little corner of France in Battersea.

We tend to eat from the bar menu in these circumstances, although we have eaten in the restaurant in the past. Last Thursday the monsoon appeared to have reached London, and so R and I ran from our respective buses and dived in dripping. Comfort food was definitely the order of the day, so after our customary shared charcuterie plate to start I went for the moules frites and R for the burger.

Unfortunately the service was not on song, and the starter arrived with our mains. I therefore can’t tell you what it was like as we decided not to have it. However, it has been good in the past. My moules were perfect. Piping hot, nice fleshy moules that weren’t too big, and a well flavoured sauce. The frites were also hot and crisp, and not too greasy. At £10 I think this is a serious bargain. R was also pleased with his burger. Cooked how he had asked, with a well-flavoured red pepper relish and accompanied with salad and a tiny pot of coleslaw as well as more frites, he went silent for some time!
So, the service may be patchy, but the food is spot on. This set us back £25 including two beers and service, so it is great value, and we will certainly be back.

Tom Ilic, Queenstown Road

Just a quick one this time, as I have written about this restaurant a couple of times before. They are doing an April promotion of £17 for two courses or £21 for three on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, which makes it even better value. Four of us had three courses each, two bottles of wine between us and it cost £35 a head including service. I also had a dessert I hadn’t seen on the menu before, which was poached rhubarb with ginger crème brulee. This was a great combination, and beautifully exercise. So much so that we had it at home over the weekend.

Tom Ilic, Queenstown Road

Tom Ilic is our local, in fact if it wasn’t for the Argentinean restaurant next door it would be the closest place we can get food. We have therefore been there about five times, both in a group and as a couple. Therefore when R was trying to decide where to have the party for his 30th this was top of the list.

We had twenty-odd people for drinks in our flat first, and then eventually turfed everyone out to go and eat. We had a set menu with three choices for each of the three courses, which R and I had chosen from the a la carte menu. In the restaurant there are two rooms, and we had a big table down the middle of the far one, which I hope meant that we didn’t disturb everyone else too much!

I had the mackerel with horseradish soufflé to start with, then the sautéed fillet and roast belly of pork, pickled white cabbage, chorizo and caramelised apple. It’s only writing this down that I realise how similar this is to what I ate at Gordon Ramsey! Again it was lovely, and there were lots of other piggy bits with it as well, that were quite difficult to identify since they weren’t on the menu, but tasted great anyway. It wasn’t really the right setting to quiz the waiters about the food, which in the past I have done in great detail. I also need to make a particular mention of the soufflé, which I think is the most perfect accompaniment to the mackerel and has a lovely horseradish taste without being too powerful.

I followed this with the chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream, which I think is the only pudding I have ever had there, as I love it.

I was really impressed that they could deal so well with such a large table, even with a full restaurant. There weren’t any complaints about the food, and with nearly a bottle of wine a head the bill only came to £40 a head, which is a bargain for this quality of food.
We’ll be back again, although probably not with so many people next time.