This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
db Eats: Brasserie Blanc
Raymond Blanc has been a high profile fixture on the UK restaurant scene since the dark days before Britain showed anything like today’s confidence in the quality of its own cuisine.
Raymond Blanc at this year’s launch of his Covent Garden restaurant
During the 1980s it was largely the French who showed us what multi-starred Michelin starred dining looked like, in the form of Blanc’s flagship Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, together with the Roux family’s restaurants. From there, Blanc extended his reach to the upmarket end of the nation’s high streets with his Le Petit Blanc chain and Maison Blanc patisseries.
Fifteen years later and, while the UK now boasts plenty of chefs and restaurants to rival those across the Channel, Blanc has not just endured, but seems a bigger presence than ever. Following in the wake of a flurry of TV shows, from The Restaurant to his most recent series, The Very Hungry Frenchman, last year saw Blanc’s company raise £10m for the purchase of eight Chez Gerard restaurants. 2012 has seen the gradual renovation and rebranding of these venues to bring the Brasserie Blanc chain to 19 branches, a figure that, if all goes to plan, will grow to 40 within the next five years.
So how does Brasserie Blanc shape up alongside a high street offer whose pizza chain dominated landscape often appears to have been left largely bereft by the UK’s gastronomic revolution?
He’s certainly bagged one of the most impressive sites in London with the launch earlier this summer of the striking, glass-covered centrepiece to Covent Garden, an area whose eating options have improved dramatically from the dismal tourist offerings of just a few years ago. Unfortunately on this particular sunny evening we ended up across the river in the sub-terranean setting of the newest Brasserie Blanc on the South Bank. Well, not quite on the South Bank, but tucked behind the concrete Brutalism of the South Bank Centre.
Brasserie Blanc Southbank
Reluctantly leaving the crowds lapping up one of the rare warm evenings this “summer”, we settled into a booth for two and were speedily served with gin and tonics.
In an effort to preserve the summery feel, we ordered the prettily pink Château Beaulieu Provençal rosé, a dry, satisfyingly substantial blend of Cinsault and Syrah. Offered the choice of being left to pour our own wine, we accepted and watched as our bottle was garlanded with a Miss World-style ribbon. Presumably the two events were connected; if so, it seemed a clumsy but worthwhile solution for a team either too forgetful or too stretched to remember which tables prefer not to have their glasses topped up every three minutes.
One rather nice touch on the relatively concise, understandably French-leaning list, was the inclusion of a “Red Fridge” section: perfect for summer and showing a level of detail that indicates Brasserie Blanc is aiming higher than many of its national chain competitors.
Struggling to find space in a booth that was more cramped than cosy, one of the ever-efficient, ever-changing service team brought out our starters.
My mackerel arrived as a generously sized, attractively presented dish; its skin blistered from the grill and its flavour enhanced by unexpected bursts of fennel seed in what was a simply prepared but well-conceived collection of ingredients.
Reaching across the table, I was just in time to steal a mouthful of the more macho option: steak tartar. A neat little portion, only just bigger than the glistening, plump egg yolk resting on top, the meat was nicely seasoned with plenty of Tabasco and Worcestershire Sauce provided on the side for those in search of a bigger kick.
Brasserie Blanc Covent Garden
Confident simplicity struck again with my main course of dressed crab with French fries. With the exception of two teeth jarring shell encounters, the crab delivered perfectly: light, fresh and unadorned by anything more intrusive than a lettuce leaf. The fries were exactly the sort that make you order a dish simply because it comes with chips, rather than out of any particular yearning for the main ingredient. A small pot of mayonnaise was all it took to unite the elements on the plate in one contented mouthful.
The other main course seemed to have pushed the simplicity mission to a point where a touch more ambition would have been welcomed. A single skewer of king scallops was accompanied by a bowl of crushed herby potatoes, with the scallop roe chopped into an unremarkable dressing on the side. It was all fine, but even at home you might try to do something a little more exciting than this.
Swayed by the sentimentally named “Maman Blanc’s salad” we shared one between us. Some parts of this Germanic-leaning melange made more of an impression than others: the cucumber with dill was fresh and flavoursome; the mini cauliflower florets marginally less interesting.
Resisting the lemon pudding, despite enjoying the sight of the menu’s insistent French translation pushed to the absurd lengths of “pooding”, we opted for a Valrhona chocolate crumble and a mixed berry Pavlova. The chocolate combined a crunchy texture on top with a silky smooth underbelly, which was slightly spoilt by a tang reminiscent of off milk, masking the decadent delights of the Valrhona.
The Pavlova, however, was much more successful: bright red fruit and melt in the mouth meringue, topped with ice cream for a sweet but palate cleansing close to the meal.
Mindful of the precious summer evening wasting away outside, we decided not to linger but scurried across to the river for a more atmospheric digestif.
It’s inevitable that in a chain of this size some venues will be more fortunate in their location and ambience than others. With any luck, however, the Brasserie Blanc cooking will be more consistent: doubtless the menu’s pared back simplicity is inspired just as much by this practical concern as any culinary statement.
Getting the classics right or playing it a little too safe? It’s a subjective question, but what is clear is that Blanc’s star – even if it’s not a Michelin one – is shining bright amid the dull backdrop of his high street competitors.