If there was one thing the central London restaurant scene was lacking, it’s an abundance of family owned establishments. There is only a handful of them left in Zone 1 these days and I’ve no doubt that as the years go by, there will sadly be becoming less and less of them. I don’t know what it is, but family run restaurants have a charm and personality about them, which is very difficult to recreate as part of a group or co-ownership. Dominika and Charles are its newest family to look after this London institution, with the restaurant currently celebrating its 28th anniversary and the couple very much treating this restaurant as another member of the family – this restaurant is an integral part of their life, it’s their second home.
Step through the doors of this quaint French brasseries and you quickly forget the bustling Covent Garden is right outside the door. Inside it’s all dark wood, small wooden bistro style tables, walls adorned with Theatre posters and wine – in just about every corner. If that isn’t enough to sway you on over, then perhaps the maze of exposed brick caves and booth – with the whole restaurant lit up in almost only candlelight will. It’s incredibly romantic. When it comes to service too, it doesn’t get much better than this, especially when led by passionate and charismatic restaurant manager, Luca Delicieux – expect to be part of the Le Garrick family by the time you leave.
I’ve walked past Le Garrick so many times, but for some reason I’ve always dismissed it, expecting it be just another tourist trap, given its prime location. However I couldn’t have been more wrong. There’s no need to get the Eurostar to France, because it’s already right here. After settling in with a good glugging of wine, a few starters started to make their way to the table. A gorgeous charcuterie selection from South West France and silky smooth chicken liver pate – it was a lovely showcase of French produce. Even better was the foie gras topped with home-made pear chutney – excellent quality, of which it literally melted in the mouth. These are two dishes which should always be a part of your meal here at Le Garrick.
Nice enough as our charcuterie and melt in mouth foie gras was, more food started to arrive and it only got a whole lot more serious. The most incredible (and slightly unusual for France) pan-seared calamari rings with coriander, chilli and ginger. In fact this dish had a Basque influence to it and turned out to be an absolutely marvellous creation. The squid was well cooked, the ginger was so fragrant it was leaping out from the dish and the chilli gave a lovely warmth in the mouth. I was just as swooned over by the snails too. In London I’ve always made my way over to Brasserie Gustave in Chelsea for my snails fix – however Chelsea now has competition. Here at Le Garrick they were rich in garlic and laden in oil – it may come as a portion of six, but for me that will never be enough. We also sampled the French onion soup which continued to pull out all the stops – rich, deep in flavour and its cheesy topping adding the pure gluttony factor to it all.
Admittedly I was a bit naughty when visiting Le Garrick. I’d told myself I wouldn’t do two things – order steak and drink too much wine. Well I failed on both counts. I ordered the char-grilled rib eye steak (medium-rare), with a side of fries and béarnaise sauce – it was a beaut. Juicy, meaty and a little salty – just the way I like it. The fries were of the well salted and crispy French kind and the béarnaise sauce – wow – it was truly one of the best I’ve encountered in some time. It had the one thing you rarely encounter with such a sauce – freshness. Oh and the wine, well I’d stopped counting the glasses by the point.
Le Garrick had kindly provided me with some lovely bright photos to use, but as a rule I always use my own and it was pretty dark inside, so do excuse the quality. The food at this gorgeous little French restaurant had so far proved to be one of Covent Garden’s hidden gems – surely it would slip up somewhere? You’d think so, but it seemed not. Desserts arrived and they were still just as spectacular, rustic and very home-made. I really fell in love with the lemon tart – a huge helping of well-balanced citrus lemon which wasn’t overly tart or acidic, against the butter pastry and crème fraîche. Almost just as good (living up to the expectation of that tart is hard) was the chocolate fondant and vanilla ice cream. Rich, decadent and very chocolatey. All finished off with a selection of well sourced cheeses, showcasing a brilliant Brillat-Savarin, which had a lovely freshness and minerality to it.
I don’t want to bore you too much, but I must say it again – Le Garrick is simply magnificent. It’s got charm, personality, great staff, tradition and honest – yet simple food which showcases everything good that France has to offer. For anyone visiting Le Garrick and saying they’ve had a bad experience is obviously deluded, because I can’t imagine that ever happening here. If good value and great food is what you’re after then look no further because Le Garrick is here – and has been for 28 years with open arms. I for one can’t wait to return – especially with the promise of those snails and calamari.
8/10
