Colbert is the new ‘Parisian all-day cafe’ from master restaurateurs Chris Corbin and Jeremy King (who own The Wolseley, The Delaunay and Brasserie Zedel). Situated on the corner of Sloane Square in Chelsea and slap bang next to the Royal Court Theatre, it’s location is rather a splendid one.
We managed to get a table during the opening week meaning we received 25% off the bill whilst they were still finding their feet (I do love a good discount).
The restaurant consisted of two dining rooms and a bar area. We were seated in a very comfortable (if not a little drafty) corner seat by the window in the smaller of the two rooms. The atmosphere was really buzzy and very relaxed.
The menu was varied and ranged from the reasonable (chicken paillard £9.95 and moules mariniere £12.75) to the slightly more expensive (steak Diane £27.50 and grilled halibut with bernaise sauce £29.50) but after all we were in Chelsea!
Some warm and soft fluffy bread started proceedings and was served alongside some perfectly salted butter.
We both decided to start with something from the eggs section of the menu. My eggs Royale (£8 for a small portion or £16 for a large) looked beautiful. The thick and slightly salty smoked salmon worked perfectly with the creamy hollandaise sauce. The poached egg that elegantly balanced on top burst to reveal a perfectly gooey yolk. This was faultless.
My gentleman companion ordered the eggs Benedict (£7 for a small portion or £14 for a large) which is exactly the same but with ham instead of smoked salmon. Again, faultless.
For main, I ordered the bacon and cheeseburger (£12.50) which was on the specials board. The burger itself completely exceeded my expectations – the meat was tender and juicy like it had been steamed then finished off on the grill yet it remained medium rare. The bacon had so much flavour the quality was superb. The thinly sliced tangy gherkins and sweet tomato were the perfect accompaniment.
A side of pommes frites (£3.75) were salty and crispy and we devoured them in seconds. Lovely.
My gentleman companion decided to go off piste and order the Cassoulet (French slow cooked stew) de Toulouse au confit de canard with white haricot beans, sausage and confit duck (£14.25). The flavour was lovely but he felt there was slightly too many beans and not enough duck.
For dessert I ordered the crepes au sucre (£5.75) which were served with half a lemon wrapped in muslin which I generously squeezed over the perfectly cooked crepes. Sweet, sour and totally delicious.
My gentleman companion ordered the tarte fine aux pommes (£5.75) which is an apple tart and not a potato tart like I thought – obviously! The slice was so thin it was actually very impressive as the pastry was still crispy and the apples weren’t soggy but it meant that he could have done with a slightly bigger slice – because it was so delicious (and he’s greedy).
The design of the restaurant really was lovely – with an eclectic array of framed posters dotted around the place. The bathroom was a particular highlight and was absolutely stunning.
We managed a very affordable dinner on our visit to Colbert but you could easily spend a lot so order wisely. To conclude, they’ve done it again, another fantastic restaurant to add to the Corbin and King collection. The restaurant, only in it’s first week, was running like it had been there forever. Bravo old chaps.
8/10
