| Ambiance: |  (3 / 5) |
| Service: | (3 / 5) |
| Value for money: | (3.5 / 5) |
| Toilets: | (3 / 5) |
I’d wanted to go to Blanchette for a long time as 1) I love tapas and 2) I love French food so bring the two together and it should be perfection, surely?! We’d booked a table for 1pm and were surprised to turn up at a completely empty restaurant, only to be told we had to sit at the bar. However, as it was a nice day we opted to sit outside with a not so scenic view of Soho’s back streets!
We were presented with a wine list and food menu, both of which were presented in that clipboard and brown paper type design, which I personally really like. We were talked through the tapas concept and were advised to order 3 – 4 dishes each, of which ranged from the snacks at £3.50 – £5 each to the ‘meat’ and ‘fish’ dishes from £6 – £8.50. Both food and drink menus were largely in French, with a great range of French wines and dishes. As it was such a lovely day and we fancied something refreshing, we opted for Blanchette’s only Rose wine, a Syrah, and despite me not usually liking rose, it was surprisingly delicious. It’s incredibly light pink colour was reflected in its subtle, fresh taste and it proved very easy to drink.
Bag of Bread!
The food selection process was a little harder. We agreed to work down the menu, starting with the terrine and frog legs and some bread to go with it. The bread came out first and was presented in a very cool brown paper bag with a big serving of butter, complete with a wooden spatula. Crispy on the outside, and light and airy (almost ciabatta like) in the inside, it was very tasty. The terrine appeared first, served with mini gherkins and a homemade pickle and looked lovely. However, on taste, I wasn’t the keenest on the range of textures or taste. I asked the owner what meat was on it and he spent a while explaining it was freshly made that day and was made from a mixture of duck a l’orange and cured pork belly. So, the fact it was made fresh that day won it extra points!
Terrine
Frogs Legs
The frog legs despite being presented well, in a newspaper cone and a tasty side sauce, didn’t taste much more than a fried piece of bony chicken. However, the sauce made up for it and worked as a nice accompaniment for the remaining bread! For our meat course, we ordered the Country Dried Ham, Onglet of Beef with Snails and Mussels. On looks alone, all looked mouth-watering and were presented beautifully. The ham was delicious, I only wish that I’d saved some bread! Unfortunately, I found the onglet a little sinewy and difficult to chew, but the parsley snails were actually rather palatable, given that I usually can’t stand them! See, Blanchette delivered massively in changing my perceptions of things I didn’t think I liked, being rose wine and snails. That must say something!
Country Ham
Mussels
The mussels almost stole star of the show, in that I’ve never tasted anything like it. They were so soft that they almost melted in my mouth. The accompanying sauce was also novel to me in that it tasted like a hot lemon mousse. Unfortunately, I’m not the keenest on sweet lemon based products so after the fifth mussel, I’d had enough. We turned down pudding, of which there was a pretty unique selection, in lieu of a glass of White Burgundy. If anyone hasn’t tried this particular wine before, I recommend you do. Although it’s made with the Chardonnay grape, it doesn’t have any of its sweetness but retians the body.
Recommendation
Although the service got a lot better throughout our lunch, at the beginning we felt incredibly pestered to order and that the waitress didn’t know a great deal about the product, making ordering all the more difficult. However, if you’re in the mood for non-Spanish tapas, I would recommend Blanchette as being owned by French guys, you’re bound to get some true French grub.
Extra Information:
Address: 9 D’Arblay St, London W1F 8DR
Phone: 020 7439 8100
Website: http://www.blanchettesoho.co.uk/
NTK: If clicking onto the website above, and in a public place, make sure your volume is down as it plays quite loud French music! It took me by surprise!
