La Fromagerie Marylebone

A cosy little bistro experience, ideal for a nice lazy lunch. Although away from the cheese platter it was a little surprising that cheese didn’t feature that highly on the menu. Be prepared to spend lots in the cheese room on your way out!

The first impression is just the sense of being impressed. If you love cheese this must be heaven, but even if you don't, assuming you are not expecting a large meal, this is very very lovely. The antipasti contained everything from delicious olives, roasted beet-root to lovely firm goat's cheese. Flavours so vivid it makes you wonder if they have a riviera microclimate hidden somewhere. We were first suspicious if the seasonal pumpkin-soup would live up to expectations, Marylebone has many lovely places that serves beautiful soups at a much lower cost. But wow, I know not everyone may like their soup thick but with the rustic bread and beautiful flavours it may be one of the best soups I have tried. The man that greeted us on the door made and amazing effort in finding us a table, (not as in some places where they treat you like a hassle if you ask for one). The waitress at our table was of the new waiting staff type of increasing popularity, efficient but a level of english that makes you wonder if they are intentionally rude to you or not? A note is that you cannot book, and also they demand a mimimum 10 pound spend during lunch. But if you have a long lunchhour it is worth a try, even worth an across-london trek…

I'm not really sure why there's only “drinks” to rate since I've had some really good food at La Fromagerie. I'm a huge cheese fanatic and living close to a place like this is just too good. The recently enlarged store section is excellently laid out, with bread, small pots of random jams and other French-style foods and bits and bobs all over the place. My favourite is obviously the Cheese Room. A whole wonderfully smelly room full of all kinds of cheeses. I'm always impressed by the helpfulness of the staff in choosing appropriate cheeses for whatever occassion or wine. If only the staff serving you at the table were as helpful, which is a bit of an issue. Another, probably inevitable, downside to the restaurant is that they don't take bookings. The queue can sometimes be very long and the fact that you're seeing the queue from where you're eating doesn't exactly relax you.. Otherwise, a really nice and quaint place for a weekday brunch.