Soutine

Food was good and the service by our waitress Shaira was excellent. She took her time explaining the dishes for my friend who is celiac with severe gluten allergy. We will return for the special service.

As devotees of Fischers in Marylebone when Soutine opened we were keen to sample its offering. Advertised as a Parisian style bistro I suppose I expected something a bit like La Coupole in Montparnasse, and the decor, all warm wood panelling, brass, mirrors and Toulouse Lautrec style paintings didn't disappoint. The brunch menu provides a good range of choices including vegetarian and gluten free, and it's great to have the choice of smaller portions. And yet.. The nod to the great French bistro classics is limited and somehow the formula which works so well at Fischers and Delauney doesn't quite translate at Soutine. Our choices ranged from steak tartare through smoked salmon, chicken and tarragon salad, steak frites. Some of this was superb some a bit boring. Bread was great, a salted caramel eclair was dry and tasted of sweet cardboard. Beetroot terrine with horseradish cream was just beetroot and horseradish while tarte au pommes was to die for. Service was all over the place, though the staff were all delightful. It's early days and we will go back. Hopefully the high standards we have come to expect from this stable of eateries will come with practice.