Mon Plaisir

Filling French fare on the hop

11 Dec 07, 00:18 As expected

To my mind, Mon Plaisir works well for lunch or early evening snacking if you’re short of time for a longer linger and on your way somewhere else in the vicinity of Covent Garden. And, of course, more to the good if you actually enjoy French food!

There’s a 2.15pm-5.45pm brasserie menu which offers, among other dishes, all manner of soups, salads, foie gras, omelettes and vegetable accompaniments. That being so, my lunch-partner and I each selected half-dozen delectably meaty snails in garlic and parsley butter served with warm wholegrain chunks of pain de campagne, followed by crispy-outside fluffy-inside Croque Monsieur (Messieurs?) - a favourite Gallic-snack stand-by of a toasted sandwich of ham, cheese and crème fraîche.

The bottle of Alsacien Pinot Gris we chose to complement our meal was worth every sip of its £24. We kept away from the selection of tempting French cheeses to leave room for plum and almond clafoutis (made with a type of plum named quetsche which I hadn’t seen or eaten outside Alsace for many years), and an ample dish of warm chocolate mousse with passionfruit sorbet cutely called chocopassion...

I’m happy to say we were served efficiently and without fuss throughout our meal, and even though the final bill of fare tipped the scales at just over £50, the price made the hefty carbohydrate content we’d consumed somehow seem a less weighty indulgence.

They know cheese

02 Aug 07, 19:35 Above expectations

I've only been lucky enough to eat there once, but it was good. Very good. We had a cheese board and it has flavors that I'd ever experienced before.

The wine we had wasn't amazing, but more than passable. And the service was just that right shade of French rudeness where it's cute rather than arrogant.

If I was richer, or it were cheaper, I'd eat there a lot more.