Club Gascon - London

As the name suggests, from the décor to the menu Le Bar Club Gascon is very French and as fans of French bistros we felt very much at home. While there is some interaction with the restaurant kitchen, food is cooked in a tiny kitchen area behind the bar – we were fascinated by just how efficient the two chefs had to be. The menus, too have a sense of fun: Starters include Piggy Treats' – a very generous plate of saucisson sec, saucisse seche, dry-cured Bayonne ham, pork pate, chorizo,guindillas, Foie Gras Truffle Burger or Marmite Royale soldiers. Mains are very French, too, including Traditional Cassoulet Toulousain, Duck Confit and fries or Cuttle Fish Basquaise, Courgette Sea Aster. It was a great atmosphere and a lovely experience – we ended staying for much longer than anticipated.

This is a straight-forward French-style brasserie. Plat du Jour is good value and changes every day. We had carpachio of duck (raw duck, eek! , venison stew with sweet potato mash. Served with nice bread, and a glass of 'house white ', all for £13 each. Good, friendly service. The place was busy at lunchtime, which is a good sign. There is a michelin-starred restaurant of the same stable next door. Maybe next time...

We stopped here for a couple of cocktails each before dining next door at Club Gascon. The barman was really attentive. We tried four different cocktails. The favourite was a corpse reviver. Definitely a nice bar to visit shame that there aren’t many places open which are close by at the weekend

The food was delicious, the service was friendly, and the background music not too loud. Nice relaxed atmosphere, but we were surprised by the 'discretionary ' 13% service charge automatically added to the bill. Ok if you don 't mind the expense.

I don't know if this is a London thing, but to charge 12.5% service without telling you on a contactless payment for 2 drinks, when there are only 2 other people in the bar, is unnecessarily and a borderline con. Would avoid purely on this basis, despite the nice cocktails.