Brasserie Blanc, Leeds

10:36am Saturday 19th April 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

OPENED barely six months ago, Raymond Blanc's new restaurant is clearly to Yorkshire folks' taste.

When I rang to book a table at the Michelin-starred chef's new brasserie in Leeds for Saturday night, we were offered a 6.30pm or 9.30pm slot.

We took the earlier time, reckoning we might as well make a night of it. And as the Brasserie Blanc is a five-minute walk from Leeds Railway Station, we decided to take the train.

For drivers, there is a large car park on Sovereign Street, yards from the Brasserie's entrance.

The motto at Brasserie Blanc - one of six across the UK - is "Real French Food Close To Home".

On the menu, Monsieur Blanc sets out his mission: "Brasserie Blanc is a place for relaxed enjoyment where I can offer you simple, high quality food that comes as close as possible to the meals that my mother prepared for me and at a price that encourages you to visit us regularly."

Certainly, there are some good offers. The Dine With Wine menu offers a two-course lunch with a glass of vino for £11.50 or £14 for three courses; or £15 and £17.50 respectively for early-bird diners arriving before 6.30pm.

We were eating a la carte, and although the menu was more substantial (and substantially more expensive) than the Dine With Wine one, it was still relatively brief. There were nine starters and main courses, alongside five dishes from the grill (including steak, salmon and king prawns). As you would expect, there is a French essence to the menu, with snails with garlic butter and crispy St Loup's goat's cheese parcel with tomato chutney as starters, and Toulouse sausages and mash and steak and frites among the mains.

Over drinks in the bar area - for me, an excellent Cosmopolitan (£6) and glass of champagne (£7) for my husband, Nick - we made our choices then moved to our table, where a dish of home-made bread was promptly delivered.

Around £1 million was spent on creating Brasserie Blanc, which occupies a charming canal-side location in a former Victorian mill. It is essentially a cavern, with exposed beams and bare brick walls, but the clever mix of small tables either side of a long leather banquette through the centre of the building serves to break up the space. White tablecloths, elegant tableware and soft candlelight, lend it a romantic, almost magical ambience.

The food was artily presented on large white plates (which were warm - hurrah!). Nick's guinea fowl rillettes (£6.70) were an intense pleasure: two ovals of creamy, meaty paste, with a full flavour, akin to duck. The dish came with two thin slices of toast and a spoonful of soused vegetables.

In contrast, my Brézain-smoked cheese soufflé (£6.80) lacked a certain joie de vivre. It was served with pieces of pear and walnut and a drizzle of sweet Balsamic-like sauce, but I was expecting much more flavour.

Never mind, the seared seabream with ratatouille and roast tomato sauce (£14.50) which followed was delicious. The fish was beautifully cooked and the ratatouille was gorgeously sweet and tangy. I ordered a side portion of French beans (£3.50), but wished I had also ordered some potatoes (£2.75) because I still felt hungry after clearing my plate.

Nick ordered rack of lamb (£16.50) which came with butter potatoes and green beans. He asked for it to be cooked medium and it arrived just as he hoped, still soft pink in the middle. It was tender and moist and the best lamb he had ever eaten. He was a happy man.

However, like me, he still felt peckish. "They definitely don't do Yorkshire portions here," was Nick's comment.

So we had ample room for dessert. We ordered the baked Alaska (£11.50 for two), seduced by the idea of having it flamed at our table. In contrast to the petit portions we'd been served all night, it was a whopper. Unfortunately, the best part of the pudding lay in its theatrical delivery. The meringue was good enough, sweet and oozy and satisfying under the burnt crust, but the sponge and chocolate ice-cream inside reminded us of Arctic Roll.

We finished off our bottle of wine - the decent house white, Domaine St Jean de Conques Vin de Pays d'Oc (£13.25).

It was after 9.30pm when we settled our bill. It came to £93.65, which was more than we had expected, but did include almost £35 on drinks, including coffees.

Strolling back to the train, we agreed it had been a lovely - if expensive - evening out, but would have liked the food to have been as perfect as the atmosphere.

Brasserie Blanc, 4, The Embankment, Sovereign Street, Leeds, LS1 4BJ

Tel: 0113 220 6060

www.brasserieblanc.com

Maxine visited on Saturday, April 12, 2008