Brasserie Blanc - Chancery Lane — Restaurant in London

So my first impression was that it wasn’t busy at all - I entered at 17:30-18:00 on a Monday evening. Perhaps this was due to the day of the week, but I entered because it looked like a French restaurant at more affordable prices.

I was met by a lady front of house (who I now know to be the manager) who was very friendly and attentive.

I sat down near the bar area and asked for the drinks menu. I was interested in getting some wine (I like burgundy wine) and noticed there was a bottle of hautes cotes de beaune on the menu. Living in Burgundy this is very standard but good table wine - yet the bottle was being charged at £67! I asked for the year of the bottle and I was told it was 2023!

So I then decided to go a bit more affordable and wanted to get a Kir Royale (which I couldn’t exactly see on the menu, but it may have been on there). I saw however that there was a glass of cremant for around £8, and a glass of champagne for around £11. I asked for a Kir Royale but for them to use cremant instead of champagne as anyone in burgundy will tell you, a Kir Royale is made with cremant and not champagne- although outside of burgundy it is made with champagne.

The lady said yes at first, but then came back to the table to tell me that she is unable to give me what I asked for because her computer system only allows her to make a Kir Royale with champagne. After some minor protests, I finally yielded and asked for it as it comes (with champagne). I find it incredulous that there is absolutely no flexibility for customers… they have a bar, and they have various different mixers, yet if a customer wants a particular drink making up they can only have it if it appears on their computer system.

The kit Royale was too sweet and I had to ask for a little more champagne to balance it out.

The food was reasonable standard, although I wasn’t massively enamoured with the level of cooking.

I ordered a starter of sweetcorn and crab Bon Bons (photos added) which were rather nice, until I bit into one which had a cold centre. It made me think that they had been pre-prepared and then heated up which is never a good thought. I ate everything as they were tasty nonetheless and I recommend that people try them.

I then ordered the leg of lamb (confit) which came with potato dauphinois and a very small portion of haricots vert but the dauphinois was ever so slightly under done (ie slightly too pale) but nothing worth sending back for. The leg was lacking something of flavour and sauce (Madeira sauce) was nothing more than a drizzle when the dish arrive so I asked for more sauce which when it came added something more to the dish.

Dessert was an apple crumble with custard. I was given a very tiny amount of custard in a tiny pouring pot. I again asked for more because it needed more custard. This dish was tasty.

So overall impression is that the food is a reasonable standard but not a place that I can say I would rush back to in a hurry. The inflexibility of making a drink as per the customer’s tastes was a little too far for my liking and I didn’t leave a tip because of it. The entire meal came to just about £54 without tip, which for me was slightly on the pricey side for the quality but not too...

Great food, awful service. A group of us came here for a Christmas dinner. Understandably, we were asked to pre-order our food. When doing so, I only put down a main course for myself as I wasn’t particularly keen for a starter and dessert. I was then informed over the phone that this would still be charged at the full price for the set three course menu (£42.50), despite missing two courses. It seemed unreasonable, and the man that I spoke to over the phone (I believe his name was Macron) acted very defensively when I suggested that I only wanted a main course. Alas, I ordered a starter and a dessert anyway. Unfortunately, this poor service did not stop there. From minute we walked in, our server was rude and dismissive. It was very clear from the offset that he didn’t want us there. All other diners had their coat taken and hung up upon arrival; this politeness did not extend to any of my group. He frequently spoke to myself and members of my group in a condescending and disrespectful manner. When the bill came, he had charged us all extra for mince pies that we believed were complimentary, despite none of us asking for them and it clearly stating that they were included with the three course dinner. When my friend raised this, she was met with the same patronising and dismissive tone that I received over the phone. Due to this, we were not prepared to pay the £80 service charge when the bill came. Unsurprisingly, this was not well received. He said that we should have told him before the dinner that we didn’t want to pay for service- which seems rather futile since we had yet to receive the service. Overall, a disappointing experience. A shame, because the food...

The food was the finest I've ever eaten. Truly spectacular, and we've been to some nice restaurants. Tops the food of places like the Ivy.

The service and vibe, however, lacked.

First we were offered some water, great, but this turned out to be a £5 bottle of water which was not made clear. I understand, though, that this may be down to my ignorance and this could well be standard practice.

Secondly our server seemed as if they were in a rush. At one point a lovely gentleman came over to ask us how we were and to offer us some nibbles as we mulled over the menu, but this is where the pleasantries ended. The server who attended us mostly throughout the evening was very hurried which was not what we were expecting.

Our plates also seemed mistimed. Our starters arrived while we were still eating our nibbles. We only had bread and dips so it was not like we were being slow. It'd been nice to have 5 or so minutes in between the courses. Once we finished our starters the mains also came out far too quickly. It would've been far nicer to allow the starter to settle. Dessert, finally, was well timed.

The ambience of the restaurant felt a little off. It was near empty (with maybe only 4 or 5 tables occupied throughout the evening) which was particularly strange since we attended on a Saturday night. The music was also a bit strange as it was popular British music whereas we would have expected a classical french note instead.

Overall the food was spectacular but the service and ambience really let the side down. Pair the food with an experience such as that you'd get at The Ivy and it would simply be the best restaurant I...