The French Table
Surbiton, London
A restaurant that can tempt people out in the grim chill of February ('we have been coming here for 20 years, and it's always amazing') certainly has something going for it, and our wires are reliably abuzz with the French Table's satisfied customers. Nor is this simply heritage bistro cooking; it also has a vigorous contemporary style that people find convincing. Having sampled charred Cornish mackerel with salt-baked beetroot, beef fillet with glazed ox cheek, and a dessert of dark chocolate fondant, one reader reckoned that the kitchen never missed a beat. Eric Guignard remains in pole position but with Richard Giles now installed as head chef – a promotion from within the team to ensure continuity as well as the expected flair. In the evenings especially, the menus get eye-catchingly creative. Begin with a mi-cuit of chalk stream trout with avocado crème fraîche gâteau and seaweed jelly, prior to an assiette of Cornish lamb with minted courgette purée, Caesar-dressed braised baby gem and Parmesan polenta. Dazzling flavour arrays ensure the desserts don't just slip into cliché: vanilla cheesecake comes with pear compôte, green apple gel, almond crémeux, and a green apple and star-anise sorbet. Inventive cocktails and mocktails kick things off with a bang, while wines fan out from the French regions, confidently hurtling off to Crete, Catalonia and deepest Kent. Small glasses start at £5.50.
