Chez Bruce, London

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The name, Chez Bruce, pronounced phonetically (as it sounds) and not the usual French way is a clue to the laid back, down to earth attitude that makes this Michelin starred restaurant in my opinion one of a kind.

Chez Bruce is located at 2 Bellevue Road, Wandsworth Common, London, SW17. If it's not a part of the world you are familiar with then let me set the scene.

Wandsworth is home to 'nappy ...
...bargain. But then there was Chez Bruce.

The Chef
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The eponymous chef/owner Bruce Poole honed his craft at some of London's top restaurants (Bibendum & The Square) before opening his own place 11 years ago. His non fussy cooking style has ensured that Chez Bruce is one of the most popular places to eat in London. Foodie bible, Square Meal' has listed Chez Bruce in its top 3 London restaurants for the last 2 years ... more

Introduction
************
The name, Chez Bruce, pronounced phonetically (as it sounds) and not the usual French way is a clue to the laid back, down to earth attitude that makes this Michelin starred restaurant in my opinion one of a kind.

Chez Bruce is located at 2 Bellevue Road, Wandsworth Common, London, SW17. If it's not a part of the world you are familiar with then let me set the scene.

Wandsworth is home to 'nappy valley', where a Chelsea tractor for doing the school run is essential among the yoga mat carrying, prada sun glassed, yummy mummies, and trendy, latte clutching, media daddies. Although not the most expensive place to live in London, certain homes would definitely hit the million pound mark, and keep going.

In short, Wandsworth is not normally somewhere you'd expect to find a bargain. But then there was Chez Bruce.

The Chef
**********
The eponymous chef/owner Bruce Poole honed his craft at some of London's top restaurants (Bibendum & The Square) before opening his own place 11 years ago. His non fussy cooking style has ensured that Chez Bruce is one of the most popular places to eat in London. Foodie bible, Square Meal' has listed Chez Bruce in its top 3 London restaurants for the last 2 years running, in a survey of 8,000 readers.
The food at Chez Bruce is French, although with noticeable other European influences.

Booking a table
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By top restaurant standards I left it quite late to book Chez Bruce, calling on October 27th for a 7th November table. Because of this I was pleasantly surprised that they could accommodate my request, and I was told by the polite member of staff that I spoke with that they could offer me a 9.30pm table, which I snapped up.

As another member of Ciao (Tuftie) said to me, "surely if it's your birthday dinner you should let someone else book it for you?" to which I replied, hey mister, when its your birthday dinner you are talking about, you want to make sure its right, and that means not relying on husbands iffy memories of where one may or may not have dropped hints about going, ok!

First Impressions
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Located about 10 minutes walk from Wandsworth Common BR station, Chez Bruce overlooks the common. Smartly trimmed shrubs surround the doorway and windows and the name is painted in white above the door, lit up by spotlights.
On entering the restaurant we noticed a stairway in front of us and a busy dining room to our right. We entered the dining room and waited at the desk. The room before us was heaving with people, for a Tuesday evening I was shocked at how busy they were. The mix of people was encouraging, some were dressed up for a night out, as I was, others were a little less smart, but all seemed to have been made very welcome. I saw a range of people from young to older diners, and all seemed to be having a fantastic time.
Due to an over zealous taxi driver we had arrived 30 minutes early. The French waitress that greeted us and checked our booking informed us that our table wasn't quite ready, but readily offered us another, one of the few that wasn't fully occupied. Because they don't have a bar area at Chez Bruce, the other option was that we could have gone away for 30 mins and come back. As there is a very nice pub next door that wouldn't have been a problem, but we decided to be seated early.
We were directed to a table for two, just next to the door, but as there was a wooden panel separating us from the diners entering the room it was still a very good table. As I looked around I could see that the room wasn't enormous, I'd say they have room there for around 200 people max, and that's only an estimate. But the tables were well spaced enough for the buzz of conversation in the room to be pleasant and atmospheric rather than overpowering.
Service
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A waiter came over after we'd been seated around 2 minutes and gave us two menus, which were printed on nice sheets of paper, with the date at the top. We were asked if we'd like an aperitif and as it was my birthday we decided on a glass of fizz each, which arrived very quickly and were also very nice, sometimes champagne by the glass can be either flat or just cheap and nasty.
He also left a wine list in the middle of the table, I liked that personally as one of my favourite niggles at top restaurants is when they automatically hand the wine list to the man, if you are dining with one, so old fashioned and unnecessary.

Wine List
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The wine list was substantial to say the least and featured wines from a range of countries, as a French restaurant the French section was the largest and split into regions, but old and new world wines were both well represented. The cheapest bottle of wine available was a white, Domaine les Yeuses 2004, Vin de Pays d'Oc at £16.50, and the cheapest red was Domaine Massamier La Mignarde 2002, "Cuvée des Oliviers"Vin de Pays des Coteaux de Peyriac at £17.50
We decided on a Fox Creek Verdelho 2001 McLaren Vale South, Australia at £28

We then turned our attention to the menu, here, taken from the Chez Bruce website is a selection of the dishes we could have chosen:

Starters
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Tagliatelle of oxtail with partridge and parmesan
Foie gras and chicken liver parfait with toasted brioche
Jerusalem artichoke soup with chanterelles, poached egg and truffle oil
Roast foie gras with shin of beef, sweet and sour endive and quince jelly (+£5.00)
Warm wild mushroom and shallot custard with polenta soldiers and dressed leaves
Ragoût of Devon mussels, lemon sole and artichokes with creamed potato and chorizo
Ceviche of tuna with king prawn tempura, lime, coriander and pine nuts
Smoked salmon, crab and spinach salad with herb vinaigrette

Mains
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Ossobuco with risotto bianco
Côte de boeuf with hand cut chips and béarnaise sauce (for two, + £4.00 pp)
Rump of lamb with braised savoy cabbage, bacon, sarladaise potato and prunes
Pumpkin ravioli with sage beurre noisette, wild mushrooms, chestnuts and parmesan
Roast grouse with braised celery, port glazed pear, bread sauce and game chips (+£8.00)
Sauté of young chicken with celeriac purée, cocotte potatoes, salsify, girolles and tarragon
Fillet of plaice with a herb crust, chicken wings, potato gnocchi and mushroom duxelle
Red mullet with warm provençale vegetables, baby squid and basil
Roast cod with olive oil mash, grilled courgette and gremolata

Desserts
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Crème brûlée
Champagne and exotic fruit jelly with lime sorbet
Custard and date tart with pecan nut brittle and jersey cream
Caramelised apple croustade with calvados anglaise (+15-20 mins)
Almond financier with roast fig, muscavado ice cream and marsala
Thinly sliced marinated pineapple with coconut panna cotta, chilli and lime
Warm valrhona chocolate mousse tartlet with pistachio sauce and vanilla ice cream
Prune and Armagnac ice cream or passion fruit sorbet
Cheeses from the board (+£4.00)

Our dining Experience
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I chose the ceviche of tuna with king prawn tempura, lime, coriander and pine nuts followed by the roast cod with olive oil mash, grilled courgette and gremolata. My husband had foie gras and chicken liver parfait with toasted brioche and then the rump of lamb with braised savoy cabbage, bacon, sarladaise potato and prunes.

The waiter came and took our food order first, which surprised me as normally its wine, then food. After our menus were removed the Sommelier came over and introduced himself and asked us if we needed any assistance, we told him what we'd selected and he made positive comments on the choice and arrange it.

A little while later, a female waitress came over with a bottle for us to look at, it wasn't the one we'd chosen, but a Spanish wine of a very similar sort, I pointed it out; she apologised and left to get the right one. Shortly after that the Sommelier returned, saying that he was very sorry but that they didn't have the 2001, only the 1997, which he personally wouldn't recommend. He then offered us the other Spanish wine again, which we decided would be fine. I was a little surprised that we weren't just sold the 97, as surely that would have been more expensive? A cynical friend later suggested that perhaps they'd already opened the Spanish wine and didn't want to waste it; I'd prefer to believe that they just like to give you the best service possible.

When our starters arrived I was delighted, a 9pm dinner is a little late for me so the bread I'd been offered up to that point didn't really do much to fill the void. I'd say they got the starters out around 15 minutes after we'd arrived at the restaurant, so quickly done.
My plate was laid out beautifully, there was thinly sliced raw tuna in the centre of the plate in a line, with lime and chilli juices over it, then two large tempura covered prawns on either side of the tuna, on a little bed of guacamole. It was a lovely light start to the meal and the flavours were wonderful.
My husband let me try a little of his foie gras, and it was delicious, although even he said there was a little too much for him, as its such a rich food.

The main courses were fabulous too. My cod was meaty and firm, and there was a nice sized piece of it, on a bed of mash, with the char grilled veg around it. Portion size is medium at Chez Bruce, but personally I felt that was a good thing as it left you room for dessert.
My husbands lamb was also cooked to perfection, and the potato cooked in goose fat that it came with was an interesting feature. Neither of us had tried it before. It looked like caramelised parsnip or similar, but when you tasted it, it was light and crunchy like thinly pressed toffee. We were both really fascinated by the flavour of the prunes too, we both tasted it and couldn't work out what it was, and had to ask a waiter, who reminded us. A very overwhelming taste but in the small dose it came in it did compliment the lamb well.

We took around an hour to get from arriving to end of main courses, and during this time enjoyed the food and atmosphere very much. The wine was good, although I have to say not as much so as the original we'd ordered would have been from past experience, but certainly good all the same.

After our diner plates had been cleared we had a few moments to rest before they brought the menu back again. As the cost of dining at Chez Bruce is Prix Fixe (set price) you know it is £37.50 for 3 courses before you begin. Our only dilemma, which turned out to be a massive one, was whether to go with the wonderful sounding desserts, or opt for the amazing looking cheese board that we had seen going around the room. It was huge, all on a large tray that the poor waiter/waitress carried above their head, to avoid clonking the diners, and then the diner would select their cheese and they would cut it off and return. Cheese is one of my most favourite things, so the decision was a tough one. But in the end I had Warm valrhona chocolate mousse tartlet with pistachio sauce and vanilla ice cream and my husband the Champagne and exotic fruit jelly with lime sorbet.
I asked what varlhona chocolate was, as I'd never heard of it before, but was told it is one of the finest French chocolates around, so thought that sounded worth a try. When the dessert arrived it was a lovely little round tart with a chocolate filling, on a drizzled bed of caramel, with lovely vanilla pod ice cream. It was totally lovely and the hot chocolate with the cold ice cream worked wonderfully. My husband's dessert was much more palate cleansing with the lime sorbet being the most noticeable taste, although the champagne was definitely in evidence too.

We finished our meal just before 11pm, and asked for the bill and a cab home. Before leaving I went to the bathroom, which is upstairs, and at that point discovered that they have a small dining room upstairs too. That looked out over the Common and I would imagine would be really nice on a sunny lunchtime.

The bathroom was in good order, and they scored brownie points with me for having my favourite Molton Brown hand soap and creams.

The taxi arrived in record time and after paying the bill (£140 including service charge) we left. The sad thing was that the grill outside their door caught my favourite pair of high heeled shoes, and the heel on the left shoe got totally stuck. I had to take my foot out entirely so that my husband and the Sommelier, who had come with us to the door, could try and disentangle it. When they did, the heel was mangled, and I did feel it a sad end to a wonderful evening, although it amused our taxi driver no end.

Final Verdict
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I would have to give Chez Bruce 9 out of 10. It would have been 10, but I had to deduct a point for the fact they didn't have the wine we ordered. In all other regards though I would say its in my own personal top 10, and I would imagine that anyone who takes their food seriously, but likes top class, but laid back, service would not be disappointed.

The other point for any disabled diner to consider is I wouldn't imagine it would be at all suitable for a wheel chair, I didn't see a lift for upper room's access, and the doorway to the dining room is quite slender.

Contact Info
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Chez Bruce
2 Bellevue Road
Wandsworth Common
London
SW17 7EG
Telephone: 0208 672 0114
www.chezbruce.co.uk

Thanks for reading, Im already planning my return visit!

Shona

P.S for those of you who were upset by the sad fate of my shoes, don't worry, my lovely neighbourhood cobbler was able to work his magic on them and they are now in a stable condition and will hopefully soon make a full recovery!
 

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