Club Gascon

Guest reviewer Jeff Home reports from London’s foie gras outpost.

Dan and I booked a table at the Club Gascon for dinner last night – and enjoyed a medley of gastronomic delights in the company of 13 other tables.

We actually started the evening next door at Cellar Gascon and made the mistake of ordering a glass each of the “Red of the Week”. I guess we should have known better… vaguely disguised vinegar would be close.

Back to the main event! We perused the menu and decided the degustation menu (5 courses) with matching wines for £70 a head was worth investing in. We were not disappointed at all!

The first course was Pine morels cassoulet (nicely foamed) with smoked oysters and fresh walnuts – matched with an earthy glass of 2006 Bergerac Cuvee de Conti, La Tour des Gendres. They were perfectly matched – the oysters especially tender.

The next dish was a real surprise in pepperiness… cured black cod with fig chutney and citrus caviar – matched with a glass of Gaillac 2006 Dencon, causse. The dry mineral and pepper tones worked so well with this dish that we would both definitely order it a la carte again.

You can see a picture of the baby squid with black polenta
[image image_id=”2493″ align=”right”] and chorizo jus (stuffed into the squids) below – a real treat having been slowly roasted to perfection. We had a glass of chilled 2004 Domaine de la Colombette – Coteaux du Libron. The wine worked because it was heavily chilled and just goes to show how versatile this beverage can be 🙂

[image image_id=”3540″ align=”left”]

The final main was roast duck with green apple shavings, celery and liquorice – pictured left. Nicely pink meat – not overdone at all, and with the apple/liquorice combination a delight. The matching wine was a glass of Domaine des Desmoiselles, Le Mas – Cotes du Roussillon 2006. The mix of Grenache, Syrah and Carignan spicy enough to compliment, but not over powering. Nothing too special to write home about, however.

Dessert consisted of a foie gras nougat with passion fruit jus and meringue crumbled around the plat in lumps. The meringue was a bit of a weird choice, but the foie didn’t disappoint. I wasn’t so turned on by the choice of Baileys with this final course, there was so little of it (and so watered down with ice chips) that it hardly mattered I guess.

The staff seemed surprised when we declared the black cod as our favourite dish – for some reason they thought the duck was a better dish. Each to their own.

The place was nicely busy – not overly noisy and we were very well looked after by attentive (and not only personable but knowledgeable) staff dressed all in black. Why don’t they have a Michelin star? I’ve been to places that are nowhere near as good as this who are sporting one.

We’re planning the next visit already!

Contact details are on their website.