Blanchette has taken the small-plate concept currently gushing through London’s restaurant scene and painted it in the colours of the tricolore, but even tapa-sceptics should attempt an open mind; it’s in places like this that, for me, the format comes into its own.
With a recommendation of three or four dishes between two, the challenge here is to whittle the many spine-tingling combinations down to a scoffable shortlist. My favourites include crispy black squid, chicken with girolles, peas and runner beans and a cherry tomato tart, but don’t worry if they’ve all made their exists by the time you arrive: I suspect you’d be hard-pushed to slip up with whatever you chose. The desserts must be quite something, but I’ve never made it that far, distracted by the cheese every time; if you order the Comté I bet my bottom Euro you’ll go round again.
Add in the riot of bricks and the flicker of many a candle and you’ve a cosy evening of France-meets-Soho on your hands; if you’ve only one evening to spend eating in the West End, I’d say Blanchette makes a worthy front-runner.