Alert: if you have a weakness for cheese, cured meats, and/or fine champagne, this could get dangerous. French Bubbles is a shop selling champagne and whiffy French cheeses along with terrines, saucisses, and other indulgent items. Champagne + Fromage is their minuscule café, where you may wash down the contents of a charcuterie board with a glass of bubbly, or simply pop in for a platter of cheese.
We start with their fromage board, served on a wooden tray. There’s a mature, nutty Comté, a runny, very creamy Paulinetois, and a blue goat’s cheese that’s so good it must be bad - it’s intense in both richness and sharpness. Although the portions of cheese look small these are strong flavours to be savoured and not scoffed, and there are grapes, bread and quince jelly on the side.
The tartines consist of sliced sourdough bread with various toppings; the Savoyarde has melted raclette, onions, thinly sliced Corsican ham, and potatoes, which add a soft, sweet element to the otherwise salty ingredients. The Montbéliarde combines smoky Montbéliarde sausage with Morbier cheese and mustard. Both are £8, and extremely satisfying.
There are only two desserts on the menu, but what a treat they are. Melted dark chocolate oozes out of the fondant, with cubes of Bleu des Basques cheese swimming in the rich sauce; it’s a similar effect to that of salt on caramel, only far more sinful. An equally exuberant, if slightly less devilish choice is a strawberry and mint gazpacho with pink champagne served in a flute, it’s refreshing, with just a hint of fizz.
And the champagnes? They have an award-winning selection, the most expensive at £18 a glass is the Colin Vintage, a deep gold, citrussy variety. The Pertois-Moriset Cuvée Sèlection, priced at £11, made from 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir, is fruity and fresh, with a little acidity. And the Lacroix Cuvée is a smooth, practically creamy operator.
Ask the staff any question and they’ll answer it, they’re specialists and it shows in the food and the drink. An impressive little place.
