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Chez Gerard

French Restaurant in Lambeth
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No longer at this address

Our records show that Chez Gerard is closed.

Address
The White House
9 Belvedere Road
Lambeth
London
SE1 8YP
Map
Current
Cuisine
French
Other Branches
Chez Gerard
Region
Lambeth
Nearest Station
Waterloo
0.14 miles

Chez Gerard are a chain of brasseries offering a menu of French style cooking. They can cater for private parties of up to 60 people and have disabled access.

All In London Review

An extensive menu, a good wine list and the frites are fabulous!

The best steak frites this side of Paris” they say. Well, say I, “That depends”. It’s certainly a good place for steak frites although I did have one occasion when my steak was distinctly tough and inedible. Whilst I didn’t make a fuss, the staff were mortified that I hadn’t eaten it and asked why I hadn’t complained – they offered me an alternative which I declined and they removed my main course from the bill without me asking.

However, apart from that bad experience I do like Chez Gerard. Mostly I frequent the branch in Chancery Lane – rather formal but good for business lunches. Mind you, the al fresco area is a bit of a disappointment there – practically a walled yard.

Occasionally, I go to the one on the South Bank near Waterloo – which is huge and canteen like. And with a really diverse clientele – foreign tourists, business people, couples having supper before or after the theatre, shoppers, teenagers, older couples. And I used to be practically a regular at the Opera Terrace in Covent Garden (great location – especially if it’s a warm evening and you do sit out on the terrace, lapping up the ambience of the busy piazza below although it does tend to get rather warm inside when the weather is good).

I like that each of the restaurants is a little bit different. It makes it less like a chain. There is an extensive menu – and a good wine list – although I nearly always have a steak. And, apart from the occasion mentioned above, is usually cooked rather well. And the frites are fabulous.

There is a good selection of starters. I usually have the crab and brown shrimp timbale (although sometimes it is so cold that the taste is affected) at £7.95, the gravadlax (£6.75) or the goat’s cheese (£5.95). All delicious. One of my dining companions had the snails once (portions either £4.25 or £7.95) although I can’t say whether they were good or not. Whilst there is a good choice of fish and vegetarian mains (for a French restaurant) I always go for a steak. Either the onglet (£12.95) or sirloin (£18.50). I rarely have room for a dessert (eat too many of those delicious fries and sides) but it’s a mouth watering selection and I admit that on one or two occasions I have given into gluttony for the crème brulee.

Reviewed by KimT
Published on Aug 5, 2008

User Reviews

PeterMW

Jan 31, 2010

We ate here last night after a trip on the London Eye, to which it is conveniently close. After the unusual experience of a short queue for the Eye we turned up at Chez Gerard early, and had to wait in the lounge area for our table. At 7 in the evening the place was very busy, apparently with the pre-theatre crowd.

There is a special deal arrangement for people pre-booking for the Eye, which gives you a limited choice menu for two courses and a glass of bubbly for £22.50, or three courses and half a bottle of wine for more (I'm not sure how much). I'm told that this deal saves quite a lot on the normal a la carte prices, and on that basis I'd say the normal prices probably aren't particularly good value. The rather ordinary Muscadet was £21.50 a bottle.

After quite a long wait we were seated, and after a very long wait our orders were taken. The food was fine without being outstanding - good but not brilliant steak frites, but my supreme de volaille was good, moist meat which can be difficult to produce.

By 9 the restaurant was much emptier, which confirmed the impression that it's primarily a pre-theatre venue.

Overall, I think the service was pretty slow and the normal prices would not be good value. There's a lot of competition among restaurants on the South Bank these days, and I think they need to do better. I wouldn't rush to go back.
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