I had lunch with friends recently at Chez Bruce. Not realising that Wandsworth Common is quite a long ride from N1 we had to call the restaurant to let them know we were running late. Fortunately this wasn’t a problem, even on a busy Saturday.

Lovely venue, very French bistro look and crisp napkins neatly folded. We got a table in the middle of everything giving us the opportunity to experience the great atmosphere. The service was alert and helpful and so was the sommelier. Food wise we were sorted out quite quickly but wine wise it took us longer to decide as the wine list is excessive and we were looking for wines that would match the different dishes. The sommelier was very good here and we ended up with a chateau neuf du pape blanc and a lovely red burgundy Gevrey Chambertin.

For starter I had mackerel tartare with herbs, smoked mackerel, horseradish, apple & cucumber followed by roast cod, grilled squid, baby artichokes, pepper relish and salsa verde. My co-diners had risotto and crab and scallop tortelloni followed by choucroute of pork with cheek blanquette and sea bass with olive oil mash, provençale brochette and gremolata. All dishes were beautiful represented, portioned correctly for lunch and gave us room for cheese later. I often find it very frustrating when I read reviews and people are complaining about size when they only order a main course with a side dish. The entire idea is to have room for 3 courses without feeling hungry or full.

Back to the Mackarel, which was quite bland I am afraid. You would expect the smoked mackerel to give more flavour to the dish but this didn’t happen. Too much apple to my opinion, which was overpowering the fish and cucumber, and too little horseradish leaving out the kick. My co-diners were “yummying” over their starters and I was lucky to taste both of them. I agree, they were yummy! Main courses were flawless, perfectly plated with the right amount of each ingredient. My fish was beautifully cooked, crunchy on the… More