Le Vacherin

foodrambler

Le Vacherin 11th November 2008

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White tablecloths and weighty sparkling cutlery in this bistro named after a fine French cheese. Starter of fat scallops, melt-in-your-mouth black pudding and crispy rashers of bacon. Mains (£12.50-£19) of sea bass on a bed of griddled aubergines, with tomatoes roasted on the vine; swordfish with capers and raisons, battered whitebait and creamy mash. Side dishes of fresh seasonal vegetables, including peas, the youngest of asparagus spears, spring onions and baby carrots. Incredible desserts: hot chocolate pudding that exploded on contact with the spoon, oozing rich chocolate sauce, served with amaretto icecream; cherry and almond tart with pistachio icecream. I can't wait to go back.

sulin

Delicious French Cuisine in Chiswick 2nd October 2008

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Blai and I had a little occasion to treat ourselves the other weekend and of course, we took it. After a few days of scouring restaurant review websites, I settled on Le Vacherin in Chiswick - a restaurant within the budget I’d selected, not too far from where we live, and one with terrific reviews.

It’s pretty obvious why the first criterion existed; if you haven’t guessed already, we’re far from rich, folks. As for the second criterion, nothing ruins a lovely night out (a rare occasion for us!) faster than a terrible trip on the tube home; a quick and easy bus ride is surely preferable. As for the last, well, that’s tied to the first - when every penny counts, you don’t want to waste it on rubbish food! While there’s always the desire to try new restaurants, especially in London where new ones pop out one every second it seems, there’s a high risk of having just not-that-great a dinner. Best to do my research instead and guarantee a fantastic meal.

Enough about my penny-pinching! I had booked a table for 7pm on a Sunday night and unsurprisingly, we were the first people there. The place was full by the time we left at about 10pm though.

I started with the warm salad of hand dived scallops, black pudding and Ayrshire bacon. This was a bed of dressed lettuce leaves topped with four tender scallops (four! wow!), two long streaky strips of bacon and a lump, for that is what it was, of squidgy and flavoursome black pudding. Blai had the cocotte of egg with smoked haddock in a mustard sauce. The egg came in a tiny little cocotte while the saucy haddock (ha!) came in a tumbler beside it with a long spoon. Both delicious and the haddock was actually available as a main course too.

I persuaded Blai to share the Chateaubriand for 2, with roast bone marrow, frites and green beans when he mentionned that he wanted another beef dish on the menu. He was kind enough to let me order it! We had asked for it to be cooked to medium but it came very rare (how French!) but it was very good so I can’t really complain. It came ready carved on a wooden board along with the green beans and the waitress portionned it all out between us. The green beans were so perfectly cooked with a bit of a bite and were soaked in butter and meat juices. We each also got a single mushroom and a beef bone from which to dig out the marrow. Mine had only a little in there…boo hoo. Skinny frites came in individual bowls with even littler bowls of bearnaise sauce alongside. Oh…it’s been a while since I had a good steak and this really hit the spot!

Blai had the pear and almond tart, vanilla ice cream while I chose the apple beignet, vanilla ice cream, 25mL Calvados. Blai had the better dessert - his tart was more of a pear and almond pastry tart but it was good! Mine was a relatively small slice of apple in batter and deep fried, topped with ice cream. My Calvados came a little bit after my dessert and provided a bit of a digestif for the both of us!

The damage came to a reasonable £35 per head but that doesn’t include wine because we aren’t big drinkers… and we had work the following day. Not exactly a budget restaurant but worth every penny. We’ll definitely be returning to Le Vacherin when we need another date night!

Originally posted here: http://tamarindandthyme.wordpress.com/2007/10/14/le-vacherin-in-chiswick/

Niamheen at 03/10/08

Yum! Yum! One for the list, definitely. Sounds wonderful.

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claypole

Ce Magnifique! 7th November 2007

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I have visited Le Vacherin twice in the last 3 months, having previously been to Racine for the first time (Knightsbridge). On balance I would say the food, efficiency of the service and ironically the price was marginally better at Racine; Le Vacherin makes up for this in atmosphere, serving fantastic traditional french food with very friendly service and in a relaxed typically french bistro setting.

Highly recommended.

andrewl

Excellent Cuisine 7th June 2007

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Excellent food & excellent service.

(pub next door if you want to meet a group there first)

http://www.levacherin.co.uk/

sue

Authentic French Bistro 15th March 2007

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Don't you hate it when you go to a restaurant with great expectations and are disappointed....well that won't happen at Le Vacherin! This 'neighbourhood' style French Bistro is located in leafy Chiswick, and is a favourite of locals and restaurant critics alike. It is simply appointed - nothing fancy here, just very good food at reasonable prices.

The waiting staff are all very French - in fact on our first visit to Le Vacherin our waiter confessed that he was really an accountant who got sick of number crunching and came to London to practice his English, and this was the only job he could get....well, that kind of explained his less than perfect waiting skills....but he more than made up for it with his friendliness and for being so fabulously French!

The speciality of the house is a Baked Vacherin - a gooey baked cheese....I haven't actually tried it as yet, but I hear that it is seriously evil - in a good way. I can however highly recommend the Chateaubriand, served with French beans, chips, béarnaise sauce and roast bone marrow. If you have room for dessert don't miss the creamy Crème Brûlée or see if the delicious Valrhona Chocolate Mousse is on the menu.