Club Gascon was established in 1998, a collaboration between Pascal Aussignac and Vincent Labeyrie with a mission to promote the cuisine of Gascony, the area in south-west France with Bordeaux, Bayonnes and Toulouse at its boundaries. The restaurant has had one Michelin star since 2008.

Pascal Aussignac was born in Toulouse and trained from an early agein a number of French restaurants before cooking his way through his National Service. He then spent his time cooking at different functions round the globe whilst plotting his route to setting up his own restaurant. I first encountered him at Taste of Christmas at ExCeL in 2010 where he went out of his way to play the crowds. Despite not trying his food, I walked away with a copy of his Cuisinier Gascon book and the idea of visiting his restaurant when I had a chance.

Club Gascon is just off West Smithfield circle at Smithfield Market in a former Lyons tea house. The interior decor is quite odd with clashes between the marbled walls, huge mirrors, wooden screen and fussy tables all set with heavy linen cloths, clunky pottery and full dinner service. The bar at the end of the main dining room was dominated by a massive flower arrangement that seemed to further clash with the rest of the decor.  Food is brought up from the kitchen to the 15 tables in the dining room via a staircase at the front of the restaurant. The background music in the main dining was a soundtrack of solo piano music that probably wasn’t needed.

It's always pleasant when nibbles accompany the menu. The long cheese straws were crisply light and had a wonderful strong cheese flavour. Black pepper gave a nice kick and the lingering aftertaste was hugely comforting. I could have eaten way more than the two cheese straws that were provided.

The amuse bouche was a celeriac and turnip cream with black olive powder. Black olive is a taste that I find very difficult to deal with and it was way to strong here. However, brushing away the dust meant tha it was possible to concentrate on the hugely satisfying cream that was thicker than expected with celeriac flavour to the fore. Without the olive this was lovely.

Breads were a choice between a baguette with a superb smoky flavour and a wonderfully light and fluffy brioche. These were served with a Chantilly butter and a smoked salted butter.

Starter was cracked capon wings with scallop ballotine, nuts and lovage. The scent of the dish as it came to the table was enticing. The chicken meat with its lovely crisped edge was well worth its main billing on the dish. The nutty-crusted scallops were actually a feather-light mousse with a quite subtle flavour that was hugely boosted as it paired with the chicken.  Savoury notes were added by the sour cream sauce, seared celery and the courgette foam. The undoubted star of the dish was the scallop caramel with its full-on flavour that was just unbelievably tasty. Overall this was a really good dish.

The next dish was brilliant. The braised snails “diabolo” were served with a wild fennel infusion. The tender snails, contained in a “flower” on the fennel stem, were served in a chorizo tomato sauce where the combination provided a subtle heat and a sweet background that uplifted the snails. The red wine shallot reduction added a tart element to the dish that also boosted the snails. The pork crackling spirals added a salty crispiness while the foam had a delicious fennel kick to add to the crunchy stems.  There was loads going on here but it all added up to a very satisfying whole.

Main course was a heather-smoked mackerel with pink tapioca pearls and frosted oyster. The mackerel at the centre of the dish was delicious with its crisp skin and wonderful flavour. The silky oyster foam and the crunchy braised salsify provided similarly complementary flavours to the mackerel. This was a nice dish but ultimately puzzling thanks to the tapioca that added substance but little else. The tapioca was helped to some extent by the parsley chopped through it for a fresher taste.

My chosen dessert was a plum posset with blueberries and a rosemary and fig leaf crystal. The dish was rounded off with fig jelly, almond cake and a sprinkling of cinnamon crumble on top.The posset was deliciously creamy benefitting hugely from the plum syrup on top and the plump blueberries in the syrup underneath. The almond sponge was a refreshing counter to the main cream but the fig jelly contributed little. This was a good course to round out things.

This was followed by a variety of mignardises. First up was an Armagnac foam topped with popping candy. This was like an ultra-light syllabub and delicious.

This was followed separately by a plate with a rich chocolate truffle and a sharply sweet mandarin jelly. These were accompanied by chocolate raisins soaked in Sauternes that acquired a perfumey flavour almost like an aromatic passion fruit and were utterly delicious. The dish was rounded out with light fragile sheets of chocolate caramel that simply melted in the mouth.

Overall verdict.
It wasn’t the most comfortable dining room but the food at Club Gascon was impressive with a wonderful mix of flavours and textures, excepting the tapioca. The service was brisk and it wasn’t always easy to catch dish descriptions but the staff were very helpful in answering any questions, particularly the maitre d’who was very helpful and sociable.

Would I revisit Club Gascon?
Definitely. I didn’t sample the comprehensive foie gras menu so that or the tasting menu is a treat in store.


Overall Rating - 4/5