'In a great location right on the river'

Brasserie Blanc

Open Mon–Wed 8am–midnight, Thu–Sat 8am–1am, Sun 8am–11pm

The blurb:

With a few of Raymond’s eponymous brasseries popping up, we thought we ought to check out their west London outpost on Fulham Reach, Hammersmith.

Brasserie Blanc’s “desire is to be French restaurants at their very best. Every brasserie feels authentic and as warm and welcoming as Maman Blanc’s home, with a comfortable space where our guests can gather & savour all the various moments of the day, from that first essential coffee of the day, enjoyed with the morning papers, to delicious fresh breakfasts or that mid-morning coffee and pastry.

“Gather some friends for a leisurely lunch or pop in for our seasonal, two course set menu complete with a specially priced glass of wine. Finish off your work day with colleagues & fresh cocktail specials or a glass of our bespoke French bubbly, and enjoy our seasonally changing a la carte menu with the best of local, sustainable and seasonal French food.”

The style and crowd:

The restaurant resides on the ground floor of one of the new-build apartment and office complexes in Fulham Reach. The décor felt safe, comfortable, with hints of Soho House’s more corporate rooms. Parquet floorboards, leather, polished steel, velvet armchairs and muted saffron, olive and burnt umber tones felt elegant in the informal country house sense, but this was juxtaposed with large, modern tree-branch chandeliers, which, I felt, ruined it. The whole restaurant enjoys floor-to-ceiling windows in lieu of an outside wall and earlier in the day would be flooded with natural light.

Quiet business dinners were in full swing around us, with multi-generational family meals also in play. The layout felt spacious, with little scope to listen in on fellow diners’ conversation. Depending on your predilection, reassuringly private or tediously isolated.

The food and drinks:

We arrived ravenous so began with trempettes of olive tapenade, saffron garlic mayonnaise, virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and baguette (4.95), followed closely with the BB Cheese Soufflé (7.50), which was pretty good, although not as runny in the middle as I’d have liked. It was served with a jug of Ford Farm Coastal Cheddar Sauce, which was great. Just not as fabulous as had it arrived inside the soufflé, to melt outward through the crust as you cut in.

I followed up with the duck leg confit with black cherry sauce (17.50), and my boyfriend the slow cooked shoulder of lamb with roast suckling pig (21.50). My duck was pleasant, but not what I’ve come to expect from the great Blanc dynasty. The boyfriend’s lamb and roast suckling pig was, however, comparable to anything I’d had at Blanc’s multi-Michelin-starred eateries. With its exquisitely blended flavours, crisp salty pig and tender, slips-off-the-bone lamb it really was the piece de resistance.

Service was pleasant but slow and perhaps a little off-hand. The cocktails were good but on the tart side, which is surprising given I definitely don’t have a sweet tooth.

In a nutshell:

A good restaurant, in a great location right on the river. With its outside seating I imagine lunch on a warm day would be idyllic. They provide blankets for the outside tables but for more formal meetings the interior does have more of a restaurant feel. For great but not amazing food, fairly priced in a relaxed environment, you could do a lot worse.

The details:

Brasserie Blanc, Goldhurst House, Parr’s Way, London W6; 020 8237 5566; www.brasserieblanc.com

If you would like to stay up to date with our restaurant reviews, subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter.

Restaurants |