‘Don’t change a winning formula’, so the saying goes. Well, there’s no fear of that at the recently opened Le Chardon Clapham, for owner Robert Benyayer has chosen to replicate both the food and wine menus from the pioneering restaurant of the same name in Lordship Lane. The danger of replicating a winning formula is that it may not travel well – just ask Tesco USA. Having not been to the first restaurant it’s difficult to say how exactly it compares, only that Le Chardon East Dulwich would have to be damn good to top this. The entrees are reassuringly Gallic: snails, duck liver foie gras and mussels are all present and correct. The goats’ cheese was moist and potent and decorously served on puff pastry. A dish of homemade fishcakes meanwhile was a colourful mix of balsamic, ginger and chilli and represented just one of seven seafood starters. There were five more fish offerings in the mains section including oven baked plaice, tuna steak, roasted sea bass and a dish of gloriously tender scallops on a bed of seafood rice. As you’d expect with a truly Gallic menu there were no shortage of red meat dishes to be had: sirloin steak, steak tartar, lamb shank and grilled fillet of beef. The latter was a nod to the ‘Auld Alliance’ with Scottish beef and French flair combining to provide a delightfully rare and rich fillet with carrot mash and dauphnois. This combination of fish and meat left us baffled as to a wine accompaniment but fortunately Robert was on hand and solved the dilemma with a perfect chilled Saumur Champigny Loire valley red. Le Chardon is certainly an apt and welcome addition to Abbeville Village.
Two-course meal for two with bottle of wine: £60