Sabrina's Passions' review of Cigalon

French food can often be somewhat hit-and-miss in London and in all fairness, the same could be said about Paris. Cigalon seemed to arrive out of nowhere, slap bang in the heart of the city proving handy for those who dwell here along side me. Starters are priced reasonably at around £6-7 maximum, which is refreshing although admittedly not very exciting with just 5 choices including salad Nicoise, Soupe au pisto and rather bizarrely, a beef cannelloni with bone marrow… not sure I could stomach such a heavy starter, so vegetable tart it is. The tart is sub-mediocre and in hindsight would be a better choice during the summer, perhaps with a light crumbling of goat's cheese to give it some of the substance it greatly lacks.

Main courses certainly promise more than the somewhat lacklustre starters with lamb tripe and trotter stew, which although not for me, is pleasingly authentic. And although the rib of veal is beckoning me to select it, I opt for a lighter dish of wild seabass with a sauce vierge (which ludicrously you have to pay £2,50 extra for!) and a side of somewhat limp vegetables. The fish was just as I had hoped, meltingly soft and perfectly paired with my chosen sauce. Was it excitment beyond my wildest expectations? No. It was nice and it hit the spot.

We skipped dessert as service was a bit patchy and although Cigalon was nice and the interiors are certainly very pleasant, there seems to be an absence of some kind of cohesion between the service, the food and the ambience… It was a decent enough meal, but with no wow factor and with the prices not particularly cheap, it wouldn't merit a return visit. There are better places to eat in the City and there are CERTAINLY better French restaurants in London. The Galvin brothers may not be French, but their restaurants beat Cigalon hands down in the food sweepstakes!