Bon Vivant

Bon Vivant

75-77 Marchmont Street

London WC1N 1AP

Star-rating-4-stars-590

Bon Vivant, a brand new restaurant that opened in 2017, brings a little slice of the Gallic to the UK serving traditional French cuisine for lunch, dinner, and bottomless brunch. The Gourmet Girls headed to the restaurant to sample some of their fine offerings from raclette to charcuterie.

In true French fashion, Bon Vivant is set up with an al fresco dining tables under a striped canopy outside the establishment. My guest and I arrived at Bon Vivant and we were greeted by a friendly host dressed accordingly in a striped shirt. What struck us first about the restaurant was the bright interiors, from the pink wallpaper and erotic art to plush sofas and golden palm tree candle sticks. It almost resonated a little Art Deco.
 
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My guest and I decided to start the evening with cocktails. I opted for the Dirty Pink (gin, Chambord raspberry liquor, lemon juice, sugar syrup, egg white) while my guest went simple and original with a gin and tonic. My cocktail was a lot sweeter than I had anticipated, so if you have a fruity, sugar cocktail palette, this one's for you.

The food menu wasn't vast, but the selections all sounded fantastic. To start the meal, I opted for the moules a la crème- mussels with white wine, shallots, garlic, fine herbs and a garlic baguette. Albeit a little fiddly, the taste was fantastic and the mussels were far from overcooked. My guest ordered a French staple- a planche de charcuterie featuring a selection of cured meats, terrine, rillettes and cornichons.
 
 
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For mains, I indulged in the flat iron steak with truffle creamed spinach,confit garlic shallots drizzled with a red wine jus. My guest tried the 'poulet farci'-stuffed chicken, with butternut squash, mushrooms, Romanesco with tarragon jus. We ordered gratin dauphinoise and French fry sides (because two types of potatoes are always better than one), along with green beans. The steak was very tender, and the truffle and red wine jus made for great flavouring. I found the spinach and onion to be a little over-saturated and wilted, however. The gratin dauphinoise wasn't too rich or creamy which I particularly liked as it didn't weigh down the rest of the meal, and the green beans featured a bit of garlic and shallot seasoning too, which were delicious.
 
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There was one dessert on the menu that stuck out to me as soon as the menu was brought to us for perusal: the deconstructed Snickers cheesecake. Not necessarily French in origin, but too good to pass up. This was a butter cheesecake with chocolate crumble, candied peanuts and a caramel crunch. It was every bit indulgent as it reads, even arriving with a scoop of caramel ice cream. This was the star of the meal, and if you were in the area, I wouldn't hesitate in recommending you to stop by for pudding.

All in all I really enjoyed the fun, contemporary twist on French dining. I had no complaints about the service and the restaurant was easy to get to. The only critique I truly had of the experience was the closeness of the dining tables in the restaurant, but it didn't take away from the exceptional food.