V Paris London Café V
"A culinary oasis in a cultural desert"
Junction Road
Archway
London
Style of cuisine: French (traditional)
Date of visit: 1st September 1999
Verdict: Highly Recommended
It seemed appropriate to hold Push Gastronomy's inaugural meeting in PLC, as this is where Niki, Olof and my collective culinary crusade began. Indeed, it was our weekly venture to PLC that kept us all sane during our dreary time working in Holloway.
Paris London Café originally occupied the tiny premises next to the Lion pub at Archway corner, better known as the Toilet, for obvious reasons if you have ever walked past the place! PLC's charm owed as much to the cosy surroundings as it did to the high quality of the food and more than reasonable prices. However, it became a victim of its own success, and soon had to move to larger premises next door. This has more than doubled seating capacity, but has come at the price of losing the cosy feel of the original café. Nonetheless, PLC is decorated tastefully and offers a pleasant environment in which to spend an evening.
Service at PLC has always been friendly and competent. However, on this visit we felt that service was less personal than in the past. Whether this was due to the expansion, or just a blip, we cannot tell. However, staff were still ever attentive, although I did have to ask for a steak knife with my duck as I hadn't been supplied with one as I always had in the past.
The quality of the food was, as ever, high. The Escargots a la Bourguignonne (£4.95) were exquisite, however they came with a quantity of lettuce that could only be described as pub garnish and frankly had no business being there. The Soupe a l'Oignon (£2.25) was better than ever, the thick layers of onion complemented by the grilled gruyere crust. However, the Salade Nicoise (£3.95) was a bit of a disappointment, more for its omoissions. I would have preferred vinaigrette to salad cream, the tuna used was clearly chunks rather than steak, and there were no haricots verts. These faults aside, it was a very pleasant salad. Just not as good as it used to be here. The Muscadet (£10) which we washed everything down with was alright but nothing special - a good basic wine.
The Salmon in Sorrel sauce (£9.95) was excellent, while the Magret de Canard (£9.95) was wonderful (once my steak knife arrived), though I would have preferred it a little less well done (well, I like it quite rare, actually). The beef in the Fricassee de Boeuf in a green pepper sauce (£6.95) was tough, but otherwise it was good. The Gratin Dauphinois (£2.25) was a perfect harmony of potato, cheese and cream, while the Petits Pois with Lardons (£2.25) were superb. All accompanied by PLC's standard red Bergerac (£10), a pleasant, quaffable wine.
Unfortunately the Poires Belle Helene were off, a great disappointment to us all. The Mousse au Chocolat was competent but not particularly inspired. The Creme Caramel was very good, while the Tarte Tatin almost defied description - surely the finest I have ever tasted. Highly recommended.
The meal was rounded off by good coffee and excellent Calvados - another house speciality.
The total bill came to £87 for three, excluding service.
Summary
On the Plus side, service was very good, pleasant and attentive without being intrusive (Americans take note!). The new premises offer significantly more space than the old ones, where the only table capable of seating 5 was a real squash. The food is an excellent example of traditional French cuisine at very reasonable prices.
On the minus side - well, it was hard to find significant fault. However, we did feel that the service had become less personal, and maybe the new premises were less intimate and informal.
Daniel Johnson
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Please note: the prices are all approximate, as we rather stupidly forgot to note these down at the time. I blame it on the Calvados...
PLC Closed sometime between September 1999 and January 2002