In London, there’s plenty of choice when it comes to French haute cuisine, but the more rustic, family-style food of Provençal cooking is a little harder to find. Enter Le Petit Citron, from husband and wife team Lawrence and Emily Hartley.
Le Petit Citron does a great facsimile of a French bistro, right down to the paper tablecloths. French posters are plastered all over the walls and soft lighting makes it a romantic spot for dates. The food is delightfully uncomplicated: from the starters, a red onion and goat’s cheese tart was different from what we expected, appearing in the form of what looked like a Pop Tart and boasting a buttery croissant-like pastry, rather than the usual shortcrust. This worked brilliantly with the sickly sweet red onion, and the sour goat’s cheese.
For mains, we had the confit belly pork, which as a confit should, fell apart at the touch of a fork, while the addition of lentils cooked in Dijon mustard really added an extra kick to the dish. For pudding, there’s pain perdu au chocolat, which is a very homely (and chocolatey) French version of bread and butter pudding. We mostly enjoyed everything we ate, although our side dish of potato dauphinoise could have done with a little more sauce.
Haute cuisine this restaurant may not be, but with affordable prices and delicious food, Le Petit Citron is the kind of place you’ll want to make a regular haunt.