17 The Arches, Villiers Street,
Strand,
London,
WC2N 6NG
0871 971 6363
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Champagne Charlies
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Had a lunch with a work colleague at Champagne Charlies yesterday. The menu has changed and for the better . The waitress told us that they've put in a new kitchen and have a new chef . It shows.
Starters were a warm chicken rillette and a salad of beetroot , orange , fennel and saffron . We shared as they both looked so good . Mains we chose were a Barnsley lamb chop with spinach and a crisp lamb croqette and Skate with pickled kale . The fish was different but very good .
We still had time for a pud and went for a chocolate brownie ( well you have to don't you ) and a plum & almond tart .
With just bottled water and coffee the bill was £65 so the new menu is not cheap but in my view the quality justified the price and there are less expensive choices on the menu.
Still one of my favourite places to visit.
Absolutely awful, my girlfriend had a crab salad with little crab. I had the pate which had a lot left to be desired, the main meals were atrocious I had the ravioli. The whole experience was dreadful, only bonus was that we had a tastecard and managed to lower the extortionate prices. I had this meal over 2 months ago but still sticks in my mind as the worse meal I have ever had (and I eat out a lot.)
Unfortuantely I was left disappointed with Champagne Charlies. I can't have much complaint with the intriguing and reasonably unique old-school layout of the place.
The food however left a lot to be desired. I had the sirloin steak, which at £24 you'd want to taste nice. It didn't taste of much at all apart from charcoal on the outside. Textually it was absolutely fine, but taste wise it was bland, even when dipped in the peppercorn sauce. My friend had the corn fed chicken and when I tried some I agreed with her assesment that it was also reasonably bland and in fact quite dry.
We had a bottle of the house Rose, which was pretty nice to be fair.
I don't plan on returning.
I met a colleague at Champagne Charlies last week for the first time and really enjoyed my experience.
There was a warm atmosphere and the staff were friendly and approachable. Glad to see there was no music.
We went through to the restaurant and enjoyed a very pleasant meal supported by excellent wine. I had a starter of smoked salmon with devonshire crab followed by a 350g rib - in bone steak ( £5 supplement).
My colleague enjoyed prawn and avocado followed by guinea fowl with spiced cabbage and daupinoise potato. We also enjoyed an excellent bottle of ventisquero chilean merlot ( on offer at £17.95).
Two courses were £14.95 and the we received excellent service. We both enjoyed a fantastic evening for under £60.I will be back. Karen M.
Champagne Charlies was recommended to me by a colleague who uses the wine bar for business lunches .
He said that they do good food in the evening which is what we wanted for a pre theatre meal .
We started with an excellent pate and some smoked salmon and followed this with Sea Bass and Duck Confit .
This menu was £14.95 a head and you can have any 2 courses from their full menu for this price . Portions are good ( none of these pre theatre half portions ) and there is plenty of choice .
Expect to pay a small supplement for what looked like a huge steak.Service was good - friendly and efficient .
There were quite a few other diners there as well as us - away from the main bar area and they have small rooms which were occupied by groups of about 6 people.
We will definitely go back when we are next in town for supper.
We always go to CC's for a girlie catch up, there are lots of nice nooks and crannies and the service is always with a smile. It can sometimes get v.crowded, but the wine is always good and fairly priced for central London. On the occasions we've eaten we haven't been disappointed, in fact we booked the little private booth for a few christmas nibbles on 15th Dec :-)
I went to Champagne Charlie's the other night. It was such a good night out and I can't wait to return. The ambience is great, candles and cozyiness. Champagne Charlie's is a good place to escape it all.
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