Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 4
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5
Fabulous place for long lunch with friends ... service and food are outstanding!
Still excellent after all these years. I have been going for more than 30 years and they still try very hard and achieve. Great environment and very traditional, but we need this.
Good French food, delightful and attractive setting.
Simply the most authentic French experience. Best cassoulet ever!
A not so "hidden" gem! The decor is a feast for the eyes, intimate atmosphere; and now that summer is here, I will be taking advantage of sitting out on the terrace to catch the sunset before dinner.
Food & Drink 4.5
Service 4.5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5
La Poule au Pot – a delightful French bistro and a firm favourite of ours. Perfect for a relaxed weekend lunch, whiling away the day with friends over good food and wine. We'd happily recommend it to friends and family, and we've brought both here on previous occasions. Good, solid, French classic dishes served in a charming, relaxed, informal, cosy, quirkily rustic setting. We've been coming here for about 6 years. My wife and I recently went for lunch on a Saturday in January and we were yet again charmed. Venison terrine and steak frites; onion tart and cassoulet. We could only wonder why we'd left it so long since our last visit to La Poule. Overall, it's a winner. Vive la France. Vive la Poule au Pot.
Food & Drink 3.5
Service 4.5
Atmosphere 5
Value 3.5
The first Monday “back at school” in January and, despite healthy New Year's Resolutions and Christmas-induced poverty, Poule-au-Pot is rammed and there's no better recommendation than that. This place always seems to be busy, yet the maitre d' usually manages to find a table to squeeze a few hopeful girls in. And a squeeze it is, as the tables are really squashed together wherever they can shoe-horn them in. But it all adds to the atmosphere which is lively, shambolic, chic and traditional all at the same time. It feels like a locals place for the Chelsea crowd (pre-Made in Chelsea, pre-Russian oligarchs). The menu is all very classic French, with a “We've been doing this for years, why change a winning formula?” feel. And why indeed. Perhaps because my signature dish, the poule-au-pot, was nothing to write a blog about: a fat chunk of chicken in a light broth with a few hunks of al dente veg floating about. Nothing innovative or exciting in the flavours. But then this is simple country cooking at its best and sticks its nose up at modern ideas so who can blame them? My friend's coq au vin was apparently more flavoursome and the duck looked good too although again both were rather conventional dishes. I had a delicious tarte tatine to finish whilst the other 2 shared a cheeseplate. Service is impeccable: the gallic waiters all seem to have a twinkle in their eyes and they're charming in a way only the Continental manage to be. Watch out for their cunning house wine policy if, like us, you can't be bothered to read the whole wine list and trust that French house is generally quaffable: they serve it by the glass. But the glass comes from a Magnum bottle. Which they leave on your table for you to help yourself. You will need all your New Year's willpower not to end up with 10 glasses on the bill as we did. Yes, it's Old School rather than Nu School but at £45 a head I think it was money well spent. Straight to the top of the class.
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5
Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of being taken to lunch at Le Poule au Pot. It was certainly one of the best lunches I have had in a long time. The onion tarte was wonderful; perfect pastry and deliciously caramelised onions. I then followed with chicken breast in tarragon sauce and the breast was moist and the sauce ideally seasoned with not too much tarragon. Being a greedy mare, and on the recommendation of my host, I then had the creme brulee which was just yummy. Two bottles of Pouilly Fusee later and I was thoroughly happy with my lunch!
The service was prompt, polite and efficient. Our waiter had a lovely twinkle in his eye and was unobtrusive when attending the table to pour more wine. The atmosphere and decor were intimate but fun. The
I loved it and can't wait to go back!