Comptoir Gascon

Club Gascon is a grand venue where city boys can indulge in top-ticket wine and matchingly luxurious foie gras. Luckily for the rest of us, it has a cheaper off-shoot in the shape of Comptoir Gascon. A deli by day, by night they offer a short but tempting menu of French classics, as well as a few daily specials in a low key, convivial setting.


I had the salade landaise (£7.50) – a divine combination of French green beans, foie gras and duck from the South West of France, the Gascons' speciality region. They assured me the portion was too small for a main course, so I took than as an excuse to also check out the Gascony pie (£6.50) -- not a traditional, pastry pie at all but luxuriously creamy mouse of duck, wild mushrooms, and herbs. The husband, a big cassoulet fan, thouroughly enjoyed their version from Toulouse (£12.50). We washed it all down with a nice bottle of red and promised not to leave it too long before our next visit.

Le Comptoir Gascon, 61-63 Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6HJ; Tube: Farringdon or Barbican; www.comptoirgascon.com

PS D'oh. Just realised I have already blogged about this place when it first opened a couple of years ago, in my third ever post (we had the same salad and cassoulet that time!). Must keep better track of myself, and will pledge to go through past reviews and add any updates.

PPS Have now added updates on $, Loungelover, Sacre Coeur and Quecumbar. Have done this in the form of new comments, but not sure if that's the best strategy for the future. Should I rewrite the reviews,or add new ones of the same places (assuming, of course, there is something new to add)?