L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, London

L'atelier offers a casual dining experience at a bar table. The diners are able to overlook at what the chefs are doing, which makes the eating process more interesting and enjoyable. Service was very attentive yet a distance was maintained while we were indulging ourselves with the food. Excellent.

 Amuse bouche - foie gras, port reduction and parmesan foam. A good combination.

We both opted for the small tasting dishes, and in total we ordered 6 dishes. My first dish was Le Tourteau - les petites gaufrettes aux herbes fraiches. The overall dish was nice, but I couldn't really taste the crab.

He went for La Saint-Jacques - en carpaccio parfume aux argumes sur une mousseline de fenouil. I felt that the citrus fruit was a tad too citrusy, but otherwise it was a very refreshing dish.

My second was L'oeuf - cocotte a la creme L'egere de champignons des sous-bois. YUM. The cream of mushrooms went very well with the runny egg, and the only thing to criticise was having difficulty to get to the bottom and to have all the layers together at once.

His second dish was his favourite - liver. Le foie gras de canard - chaud sur une marmelade de coings et clemetines. The foie gras was one of the most perfectly cooked ones I had this year, very crispy and it literally melted in the mouth. But I was not that keen on the celementine marmalade, as I don't really enjoy anything cooked with an orange flavour.

My main tasting dish was La Joue de Boeuf - ivre de genereux grenache noir, moussline de celeri. Under the creamy celeriac mousseline, there were tender ox cheeks that had been braised for 12 hours. Ah, they were a perfect match for each other. 

His main tasting dish was le burger - au foie gras at aux poivrons verjutes. Yes, foie gras again and he loved it, and burger was very much his thing too. But beef and foie gras can't go wrong, ey? Just as long as they are cooked well then they are a happily married couple. As to the chips served on the side, hot and fresh but lacked seasoning.

We got the  famous pomme puree as a compliment from the chef. This heavenly mashed potato was soooooo smooth and creamy, but warn'ya it's extremely evil because of all the butter that went into it. 

After we had ordered our dessert, we were brought to the bar which was situated on the top floor. He ordered Les Tartes, and they were just so-so.

As for my dessert, I had le souffle. Slightly disappointing in terms of appearance and texture, yet the passion fruit flavour surprised me just because I thought I would not be very fond of it. 

Overall the food was above average and the experience was certainly enjoyable. 

L'Atelier de Joel Roubuchon

13-15 West Street

London

WC2H 9NE

020 7010 8600