Mon Plaisir
A
Corner of Paris in Soho
Okay,
I know that strapline about Paris
in Soho is pretty corny, but that's
exactly what the original founders
of Mon Plaisir wanted to do some
fifty years ago. Dusting off my 1970
Egon Ronay Guide, I read that "this
miniscule restaurant is the closest
London gets to a French workmen's
café. A few small tables are laid
with oilcloths in a little room full
of character... the concise a la
carte menu is supplemented daily
by tasty plats du jour". At
that time I was diligently working
my way through Elizabeth David's French
Provincial Cooking, and visits
to Mon Plaisir were an important
way of checking my progress against
an accepted yardstick of bon cuisine.
Main courses were then costing around
13/6d, but that was still a lot to
a struggling young singer.
A few things have changed - they bought next door, so now it's two adjacent
busy dining rooms. The posters are still there, but it's more an up-market
bistrot than workman's café. The atmosphere remains thoroughly Gallic and
charming and the waiters have none of that attitude that gives certain French
restaurants
a bad name amongst the British.
The
menu offers a number of proposals,
for instance, the plats du jour are
still available and the Menu Parisien offers
excellent value. You could have had
a cassolette d'escargots,
followed by poulet fermier with purée
de pommes de terre, tarte of
the jour, café and a glass of the
house wine, all for an inclusive
price of £23.50, but you need two
persons to qualify.
The
great thing about Mon Plaisir is
that it has retained that culinary
benchmark I referred to earlier.
So if you want to check out the traditional
way of doing Coquilles St Jacques or
want to know exactly how coq
au vin should be prepared and
served, look no further - le coq
comes in its own individual casserole
dish. The foie gras was excellent
and its pineapple chutney was a well
judged modern twist. A rabbit and
foie gras terrine was earthy and
robust, and my pheasant and mushroom
in a pastry box was rich and gamey.
For main courses, we very much enjoyed
the scallops, whose slices were interleaved
with sections of black pudding. My venison en croûte was a little disappointing,
it was rather overdone and a bit dry, but the lobster and scallop risotto was
very tasty and creamy, if a little salty. That's always the problem with all-in-one
dishes, you can taste it in the kitchen and it's fine, but at the table after
the tenth mouthful the salt starts to kick in a bit too strongly! The
duck breast was a real hit - tender and rosy hued meat partnered with a foie
gras crème brûlée, (a brilliant and imaginative touch), cunningly offset
by a sharp flavoured compote of apples, that's what I call cooking!
The wine list is what you'd expect: French of course, and extremely well chosen,
with something for all pockets. We began with a crisp Sauvignon de Touraine
(£17.50) then progressed to a lovely domaine bottled St Amour (£22.00) which
partnered both fish and fowl admirably, and then went on to a really characterful
Chinon from Domaine de la Perrière (£19.50).
Desserts
were attractively presented - the
tart that day was au citron, another
benchmark creation; and both the chocolate
brûlée with pistachios and the chocopassion,
a warm mousse were equally wicked
and decadent. To sum up, Mon Plaisir
is indeed still a corner of Paris
in London, maintaining its high standards,
and from the happy buzz of diners
who surrounded us, I conclude that
it is every bit as popular 50 years
on.
Clifford Mould February 2004
The
cost of your meal: Our three course
dinner for four including three bottles
of wine came to £214.48
Mon
Plaisir
21
Monmouth Street, Soho
London WC2
Tel: 020 7836 7243
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