Cafe Des Amis

French Restaurant in Covent Garden
Cafe Des Amis image
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5 / 10 from 3 reviews
Address
11-14 Hanover Place
Covent Garden
London
WC2E 9JP
Map
Telephone
020 7379 3444
Cuisine
French
Region
Covent Garden
Nearest Station
Covent Garden
0.07 miles
Opening Times
Monday Open 12:00 - Closes 01:00
Tuesday Open 12:00 - Closes 01:00
Wednesday Open 12:00 - Closes 01:00
Thursday Open 12:00 - Closes 01:00
Friday Open 12:00 - Closes 01:00
Saturday Open 12:00 - Closes 01:00
Sunday Closed

Established over 25 years Café des Amis has become an institution in Covent Garden for good quality food. In summer, Hanover place is the perfect place to dine al fresco, hidden away from the euphoria of the shopping streets.

All In London Review

Generic and poorly executed food

Café des Amis has been going for 25 years. On the Thursday night we visit it’s packed, with a queue of people waiting to either be seated or get into the basement bar. It must be good, right?

Not at all, as we soon find out. The steak tartare is chewy, lacks any kind of flavour, and the addition of half a boiled quail’s egg defeats the point entirely. A gristly rib eye steak in peppercorn sauce has me reaching for the salt despite a liberal sprinkling of pepper. The duck breast looks unattractively limp, but with Armagnac sauce tastes ok, if uninteresting. Only the foie gras is nice and creamy, but as the friend points out this wouldn’t have been made on the premises anyway.

Desserts are a mixed bag; the vanilla cheesecake is adequate, the tarte tatin’s thin pastry has baked for too long and is verging on burnt round the edges, and the most adventurous-sounding dish of the evening, the soup au chocolat, is effectively a melted fondant plonked in a bowl with a dollop of pepper ice cream that may as well be labelled plain vanilla.

The popularity of this generic, cack-handed approach to French food might be less baffling if it was dirt cheap, but it’s not. Upwards of £30 must be spent for a decent bottle of wine (the 2010 Cotes du Rhone we choose is £21 and extremely acidic) and a meal for two is around £85.

Reviewed by Leila
Published on Feb 27, 2012


User Reviews

Anonymous

Jun 8, 2010

I had lunch last week at Café des Amis on the terrace. The table was in the sun and the meal was splendid. The food was simple, yet tasty. The chef has the quality to mix flavours in a delicious way. On top of that, I was expecting a quick lunch, but I was amazed by the friendliness of the staff. They were polite, professional and kind! After a great lunch, I told my colleagues about Café des Amis, and a few have them already went and had a great food and experience too.
Anonymous

Feb 24, 2010

The food was acceptable, but nothing great. Hence considering that the prices are fairly high, it is poor value for money.
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