Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Hotel

I had dinner at Bistrot Bruno Loubet with a friend on Wednesday 24 October. As others have commented, the food is gutsy and flavoursome. I ordered the snails and meatballs as a starter, and fillet of cod as a main course, both of which I enjoyed very much. I asked the sommelier to recommend a white wine and he suggested the Côtes du Roussillon Blanc ''Cuvée Centenaire'' (£33.25), which was the perfect accompaniment to the meal. The restaurant was busy and buzzy. I would not hesitate to recommend this restaurant based on my experience.

My favourite restaurant in London for several reasons:

• gutsy food full of huge flavours
• plates look amazing but focus is on big flavours not how the plate is dressed
• excellent wine list, not focused on the big hitting wallet draining Bordeauxs but loads of excellent value wines from other French regions (Vacqueyras, Madiran, Cahors, Crozes Hermitage etc) – starters under £10, mains under £20 and the portions are decent size
• relaxed atmosphere
• in a great area of Clerkenwell

I very quickly glossed through other diner reviews (just to look at the scores), and noticed that most people think the food in this place is very good. Perhaps I ordered the wrong things, or I have simple tastes or else I have different taste buds from everyone else, but I was totally underwhelmed by the food in this admittedly atmospheric restaurant.

I was there for a friend's birthday and most of my friends really seemed to enjoy their food, but I really really didn't. There wasn't really anything I could say I found revolting (I ate everything on my plate – I have a healthy appetite!) or that wasn't skilfully cooked. It just really wasn't my cup of tea at all.

Starter – Guinea fowl boudin blanc on Jerusalem artichoke and cep – flavourful, but I won't be trying this again. It was the first time I had tried boudin blanc so perhaps that was why I didn't enjoy it? Thought it was just a bit slimy really and wished I'd ordered something else. Not the most appetising thing to look at on a plate either. Looked rather insipid on the plate.

Main – Hare royale à la Bistrot Bruno Loubet. Apparently a signature dish? I just didn't get the fuss to be perfectly honest. I didn't enjoy the mix of textures in the dish, but then I really am not a fan of terrine either, which is what it reminded me of – it was like a hot terrine without the jelly plus a lot of very dark treacly looking sauce (placed on a bed of mashed potato). Very rich – too rich for some. That's all I can say really.

Dessert – Bizarrely there was nothing actually on the dessert menu which I really wanted to try. This amazed my friends who were struggling to choose. Clearly we just have different tastes. When I found out that the Poached rhubarb, strawberry & balsamic jam conversation was similar to a mille feuille I decided that that was the dessert for me. Disappointingly the jam was just far too sweet for my liking. I'll stick to the real deal thanks, and limit it to something I have with a cup of tea or coffee in the middle of the day.

One of my friends sitting next to me did seem to fare better on the food front claiming all three courses she tried were delicious – I wish I had ordered what she did! : couscous with king prawns (on the specials) for starters; pan fried sea bream, cauliflower and parsley purée, squid ink stew for her main; and orange and cardamom crème brulée, orange blossom sorbet for dessert. I can vouch for the dessert which surprisingly (I don't like orange in my desserts) good – very subtle flavouring.

Another friend tried the Mauricette snails and meatballs, royale de champignons sauvages for starters (which I tried – pretty nice, but again I personally wasn't wowed by it). She also had the Pear and ginger financier cake, goat's milk ice cream, vincotto for dessert which I also tried. The ice cream was surprisingly pleasant (I don't like goat's milk..or so I thought, but all tasted just fine to me). The let down was the pear and ginger financier cake though – couldn't taste any ginger in it at all.

Look at me..the moaning minnie! As I said, everyone else in my group (including the most important person that evening – the birthday girl) seemed to really enjoy their food, but I'll be doing my best to come up with excuses not to return.

Just wanted to update my earlier review of lunch in September, went there for breakfast this week. A very simple order of coffee and poached egg on hash took 45 minutes to be delivered when the place was 75% empty. Awkward though friendly waitress with no excuse except the kitchen was “slow today as we are short-staffed”. Oh dear, mediocre in September, poor in November. And I used to be a fan.

Apart from the zany pieces of furniture dotted about, I can't see that Mr Loubet has had much effect on the place since the re-badging. I was always happy to go to the old Zetter and I'm now happy to go to the “new one” too. The food is much the same, modern, honest, tasty with ok portions. Good people serving, friendly not servile. Bright room, filtered well-water… Decent enough place to go to for lunch – but nothing to set the pulse racing, which is what a new 'patron" should bring and in my view is what is needed to elevate this review to a 9.

I have read Richard's review but can't really match his level of enthusiasm for my experience, though I would have liked to.. We did not kmow BL – so did not get the friends' frills, “only” what Joe Public gets.

To misquote ex Galactic President Beeblebrox, this place is so hip it has difficulty seeing over its own pelvis; so cool you could keep a side of meat in it for a month. Just the place for three middle age suits to hang out, pretending not to gawp at the local attractions, tottering in their Jimmies and Loubs.

I’m old enough to remember when this part of Clerkenwell was a desert, grub- and watering- wise, which isn’t that old. Then His Royal Highness, King Fergus, opened St Johns, the Jerusalem Tavern followed a few years later, then Match. Now you can’t swing a cat without hitting a restaurant, bar or feeding-/watering- hole of some sort. None is so cool as Bruno’s Bistro.

The room is nothing special, although you can enter through the sub-zero entrance that is the Zetter Hotel, so as to prepare yourself for the wafting jazz-funk that envelopes the room. The kitchen is small and open, so that you can see BL at work, with his small brigade, and the large windows mean that the whole place feels light and airy, even when pretty full.

Starters were standard bistro style, with boudin blanc with peas and lettuce being especially good: a light, sausage shaped chicken mousse, offset by the richness of the peas upon which it perched.

One of our number knows BL, so we got a nice little in between course, a pre-main if you will: soft duck egg with parmesan. Heavenly. What with amuse bouches and pre-deserts, I really hope the idea of a pre-main doesn't catch on in more Michelin aspirational places.

The mains too were terrific, with the quail and broad beans and bunny wrapped in bacon, smeared with carrot puree, standing out. I am pretty sure that the waitress had told us that the special pasta was lamb’s sweetbreads, but the dish came with artichoke. No real matter, it was excellent anyway.

I am not usually a desert man, but I was told that the chocolate with caramel was excellent, and so it proved. Honestly, however, the salty chocolate caramel truffles at Magdalen are a step above. No mind, an honourable mention to BL for his marriage of chocolate, caramel and salt.

Overall, very good indeed: bistro food done to a high standard, in a jazz-funk cooled environment.

We entered Bistrot Bruno Loubet behind a woman in spectacularly high Christian Loubetins, and the sight of her teetering to her table was almost enough to distract us from appreciating the under-stated style of the room. It curves round the ground floor of the Zetter hotel, overlooking one of Clerkenwell’s loveliest squares, history closing in on it from every side. Bruno Loubet’s return to London after a spell in Oz (lucky Brisbanians) is to be welcomed by all who remember his cooking from the previous Bistrot Bruno in Soho (where Arbutus now is, if I remember rightly) and from L’Odéon on Regent Street.

Loubet is a true artist in the kitchen: reinventing, re-invigorating, re-imagining and coaxing stunning marriages of French tradition with British produce at its best. One of our main courses perfectly encapsulated the Loubet Style. It was announced on the menu simply as ‘Roast Rabbit with “forgotten” root vegetables’ but in reality was a fabulous celebration of rabbit in a seasonally-derived and perfectly harmonious clothing. The rabbit was de-boned and wrapped in pancetta and then in a light almond crust – it looked slightly like a fishcake – and the taste was amazing, the sweetness of the bunny set off by the salty complexity of the cured pork. Rustic and sophisticated at the same time – divine! And I won’t quickly forget the forgotten roots (Jerusalem artichoke, salsify, beetroot and carrot). My partner had a fillet of sea bream sitting on a purée of cauliflower (with a touch of fennel?) surrounded by a sea of squid ink stew and an intensely flavoured purée of parsley sitting on top, providing a powerful, comforting top note.

And the starters were a joy too: a plate of antipasti, beautifully arranged on the plate, offering a constellation of individual flavours – roasted cherry tomatoes, aubergine, black olives, blood orange, fig, chicory and the softest fromage frais, lightly infused with onion or garlic. It was a perfect way to kick-start the taste buds. My partner opted for a boudin blanc of guinea fowl on a squash barley base – it was smooth and soft, and the risotto-esque foundation had the same comforting quality of a first-rate rice pudding, and some of the same sweetness and depth.

Puddings didn’t disappoint either: a very thin apple tart on the crispest of puff pastries, with a crème fraiche and cinnamon ice-cream – a French classic, and beautifully executed – and a chocolate Marquise with a salted caramel ice-cream, again done with great finesse and terrific mis-en-scène.

The service was perfect as only a largely French crew can deliver – young, attentive, charming, quietly efficient and friendly: nothing was forced, nothing was lax! (Why can’t we Brits offer that kind of effortless attention?)
Add in a bottle of robust Vin de Pays du Var and a couple of glasses of Jurançon and the bill, with service, came to £128 (which would probably pay for the red lacquer under a single Loubetin shoe!). It was worth every penny. A memorable meal, and a perfect end to a tough week.

Really imaginative food, beautifully presented. Proper bistro feel to it. Great for offal and unusual cuts. Attentive and professional service and very popular (deservedly so). Reasonable value and good for the quality

We'd eaten at Bruno Loubet by accident during it's pre-opening week. The food had been sort of average but we'd been lured back by the great service and the fact that they'd unexpectedly reduced our bill by 50% as the restaurant wasn't officially open. A real result we thought. This time, we went with my investment banker step-son and his barrister girlfriend. The three of them had cocktails to start with, we worked our way through two bottles of over-priced wine, two glasses of dessert wine (very generous measures) and some water. The wine list is difficult as it's expensive with a bottle of Moulin a Vent (Beaujolais) priced at something like £50. Ridiculous. Two of us had three courses, two had two courses. The food was mainly good and well cooked, my starter of beetroot pasta was, I thought, outstanding and my husband's main course of lamb cooked in three different ways was, he claimed, quite delicious. Our waiter was great. He looked and sounded Italian but was, it transpired, Portugeese. Very well informed, good natured and able to answer all of our menu queries. However, at a cost of £170 for two people, we felt that it wasn't great value and that there are other, better places to eat in London at that sort of price. It wouldn't stop us going back as a twosome where we'd be in better control of the alcohol consumption and keep the cost down a bit!

Musical chairs at Bistro Bruno Loubet

Bistro Bruno Loubet has been hailed as the restaurant opening of the year so far, as we see Monsieur Loubet return from down under to cook for us. If Mr Loubet’s name rings a bell it is because in the Nineties, Bruno Loubet was all the rage, first at Bistrot Bruno, then at L’Odeon on Regent Street. He has now returned east to the Zetter Hotel, a rather trendy boutique hotel in Clerkenwell. The restaurant dominates the ground floor of the building and its décor reminds me of somewhere Carrie Bradshaw would be seen eating.

However, for some reason, we decided to take the circle line to get to Bistro Bruno Loubet and this helped build up our appetite as we ended up half an hour late for our reservation. If God created earth while by travelling on the Circle line, we would still be in darkness. Stepping in to the restaurant, we were greeted by a lovely sound of people enjoying their evening and we were promptly seated by an ‘Andi Peter’ lookalike maitre’d to a lovely table in the back right corner of the room with a view of both the kitchen and St John’s Square.

Just as we had got comfortable and started to admire the menu, Mr Peters came over and asked us to move seat. A little bemused, I asked why and we were informed that this table was actually for a group of four who had cancelled but now wanted to dine again. I reluctantly agreed to see the other table we were being deported to but the waiter would have needed a passport to serve us as it was basically in the lobby of the hotel so I refused to move. The manager, seeing this fricassee in the middle of his dining room, came over; asked what was happening; was told; he apologised; allowed us to stay at our table; bollocked Andy and then brought over two glasses of champagne to say sorry.

Resettled and debating what to have for dinner, the metaphorical musical chairs music tape started up again and it stopped with Andi asking us to move once again! I was half expecting Edd the Duck, Mr Peter’s TV sidekick to pop out and reveal this was all a joke. Unfortunately, this was not the case and we moved, although to be fair, it was to a better table. Our second complimentary glass of fizz arrived and by now we would move our chairs to sit anywhere as long as we were allowed to order and eat. At least the food made up for the earlier fiasco.

To start with we had Pea soup a la Francaise and Mauricette snails and meatballs with royale de champignons. The soup was a bright Spring green and the smell transformed you to a small leafy village in rural France where you can imagine farmers stopping for lunch on their tractors mopping up the soup with large chunks of baguette. The meatballs had been recommended by many of the well known food critics so I decided to order these. I sometimes find that snails can be overpowered by the garlic sauce they are so normally served in but this was not the case here as garlic did not really feature in this dish. This dish has to be one of the best dishes that I have had in a long time. The texture and taste of the snails worked so well with meatballs in the tomato sauce. This dish made me remember what taste is all about. Imagine you had lost your taste buds and suddenly found them again in this dish. Mouthful after mouthful was like discovering a new primary colour.

To follow, we had the confit lamb shoulder, white bean and preserved lemon puree with green harissa and the pan fried breast of wood pigeon, cauliflower, almond with quinoa and giblet sauce. The lamb was tender and actually tasted of lamb. The white bean and preserved lemon puree with green harissa added a Mediterranean touch to the dish that made a nice difference to the French themed menu. The pan fried breast of wood pigeon was served beautifully medium rare. I often find pigeon can be rich but this pigeon did not overpower and was silkily soft. The plate arrived with very thin slices of cauliflower scattered over the slices of pigeon breast that covered every inch of the plate. I do not know if this was intentional play on the dish but it reminded me of the Italian dish beef tagliata with rocket and parmesan. The almonds added that lovely little crunch to the dish. Almonds and pigeon, shouldn’t really work, but like Dave Cameron and Nick Clegg’s double act, it somehow does.

The wine list was very approachable with a large number of wines under the 30 quid mark. Again, a nice sign that this is trying to be a bistro as one should be able to walk in, have a main course and bottle of wine without having to have the end result of a bank account representing that of Sarah Ferguson.

The total bill was just over £80 including service charge for two starters, two mains and a good bottle of wine. If you are going to dine out once this year, please consider Bistro Bruno Loubet; although be prepared to change seats at least twice during your meal.

I visited this eatery for the first timwe last wek for a relaxed lunch it is in a grat location with plenty of natural light
the decor is best described as french urban rustic
I thought the food was grat I started with Mauricette snails and meat balls. The presentation was excellent in terms of colour and layout. For my main course I had the Beef daube Provencal and mousseline potatoes and again it was very well presented. Both courses were perfectly cooked and tasted great.

The wine list is consise with some good well priced wines.
What a pity about the service
Our starters had to be re ordered and our bread never showed up. Generally the service was slow It may have been a one off . The standard of the food will lend me to try it again