Food and Drink

Quecum Bar

Above: Quecumbar

This venue, like a fine wine, seems to improve with age. Its name is now so renowned that people arrive knowing what to expect; to be taken back to pre-war France, to a time of gypsy jazz and the great Django Reinhardt. The décor complements the music delightfully with early 20^th century Paris captured evocatively in the faded murals, plants and furnishings. The menu meanwhile is peppered with traditional Gallic favourites like frogs’ legs, fried bread-crumbed Camembert with continental salad and sweet cranberry sauce, or escargots served with French bread. The dishes are presented without clutter – order a half duck in hoi sin sauce and you’ll find it arrives as exactly that; a full roasted duck sliced down the middle. Nothing here is allowed to distract from the pleasure of the performance and the atmosphere. The lighting in low, the tables are close and cosy, and there’s a convivial with people talking between tables in a way usually so alien to us Londoners. It’s the music’s fault, of course. Gypsie jazz is upbeat, acoustic and nostalgic, and the performers obviously delight in the informality of the venue, happily chatting with patrons between sets. Quecum Bar adheres strictly to its Parisian Gypsy jazz roots and this is one of the café/bistro’s most alluring and enduring traits. It’s the reason the venue can reel off a list of performers which reads like a Who’s who of Gypsy jazz – and the reason why it should be treasured.

Two-course meal for two with bottle of house wine: £50