Up until now Truc Vert had been focusing on French cuisine, served rustic and oozing traditional French charm. But with things changing the way they are in London, competition is stiff and Truc Vert aren’t leaving anything to chance. Instead this Mayfair restaurant is keeping bang on trend and have started to serve a new tasting menu. Forget paper table cloths, they’re getting out the starched linen, lighting the dining rooms by candlelight and serving up the odd amuse bouches – all washed down with some smashing wines. To whet our appetite through this huge 10 course (if you include palate cleanser) tasting menu, was this shot of pumpkin soup laced with decadent truffle oil and Parmesan. I know this is a tasting menu but considering how good it was, there certainly should have been more of it.
I originally came here with my shiny new DSLR camera, but sadly my mobile phone had to suffice – hopefully none of the lovely diners from that evening will let slip why. The tartar of vanilla-cured salmon was mixed with yogurt, cucumber, chives, and served alongside some watercress, sieved egg and popped capers. If I’m honest this dish didn’t really do much for me. The salmon was admittedly very nice but I couldn’t notice the vanilla element to it and the composure of everything on the plate just didn’t feel quite right – it looked like the preparations of a dish which was yet to be made.
Peppered venison carpaccio was served with plum jelly, pickled baby turnip and creamed horseradish. I’m a big fan of creamed horseradish – so they’d won me over already. The venison was lovely, perhaps a little enthusiastic with the pepper but the sweet plum jelly helped soften the pepper blow a little. This was a plate of food whose potency certainly got under the nose, but if you like power and bold flavour (like me) then this dish will serve you very well. Plating and presentation needs some serious work too, for £70 you’d expect the food to look a lot more inviting.
Almond milk sorbet as a palette cleaners was a few small spoons of blissful beauty, although strangely reminded me of a rusk in its taste. Palate suitably prepared for the rest of this mammoth tasting menu, more food shortly arrived to the table with what turned out to be my favourite dish of the evening. Baked monkfish with foie gras crème caramel, braised lentils and ginger dressing. The fish was needless to say, stunning. The lentils were expertly cooked, flavoured with a rich and bold sauce that was complimented beautifully by the delicate ginger dressing. You couldn’t really taste the effort that went it to creating the foie gras crème caramel so perhaps a piece of fresh foie gras, simply pan fried instead would also have worked just as well. This is exactly the sort of dish you want to be eating here at Truc Vert. It’s hearty, rustic and has that real sense of being home-made.
Other courses such as this rump of lamb with Parmesan gnocchi, sweetbreads and a trompette mushroom cream sauce were less successful. The New Zealand lamb did all the talking in this dish. It had all the flavour you’d expect, cooked medium rare and cut through with ease. The gnocchi on the other hand was dry, slightly hard and rather cloying – this element of the dish needs some serious work in my opinion. Sweetbreads, of which I am a big fan didn’t let us down, but the mushroom cream sauce did. The seasoning was off slightly and there was not quite enough depth to work alongside that full flavoured lamb. This dish read so beautifully on the menu, but I just couldn’t get over that oddly texture gnocchi
The one thing Truc Vert certainly know how to source well here – is cheese. A beautiful selection arrived all oozing out all over the side of the board – which meant for lots of good messy eating. The intensely flavoured comte was a stunning example. One of my favourite cheese’s, Saint Maure with its slightly sour acidic notes was showing off all its purity. Brie de Meaux needs no introduction and was effortlessly gorgeous, especially when paired with a spoonful of Truc Vert’s tomato chutney – of which I need a jar to take home next time.
Nice review, and good pics considering you couldnt use your dslr (my lips are sealed). Have you gotten the hang of your new camera yet?
You should do a follow up story on this place regarding how the money hungry owner drove the restaurant into the ground, cheating the HMRC which is the real reason behind it having to close it doors. Sadly, leaving many without jobs without much notice. Since the new so-called owner came along with no experience in the restaurant business, a place that was running for close to 16 years suddenly went downhill from around 2012. I’ve never been to a place who would tell you when you rang to make a reservation that they are out of certain foods and not to expect certain things, yet they want to charge Michelin star prices for most mediocre food. I bet the person writing this article in 2014 was invited to come along in the hope of boosting customers to this place? The chef, when he was in was quite dedicated to his work but then after allowing his partner to take over she chose to use money for personal entertainment and have the audacity to say that they had to close because of rising rent costs. What a joke. As they say, easy come easy go and unfortunately the staff had to reap the negativity caused by an inexperienced person who has a record of avoiding taxes in another country as well. Let’s hope these people don’t open another business.
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Wow! That would explain a few things for me. Food wasn’t bad on my visit, but prices didn’t warrant the quality at all. I didn’t have a desire to return either. So I guess looking back that’s saying something. Didn’t know it closed its doors then too!