Humble, homely and high on Gallic charm, Bar du Marche is back-to-basics bistro fare that’ll have you thinking you’ve shuffled off the Champs-Elysees and into a little Parisian cafe.

The Venue
Now part of the furniture on Berwick Street, Bar du Marche has resisted the temptation to undergo a makeover in an attempt to preserve its authenticity. Beaming a traditional French blue from the outside, the interior is simplicity defined. A small scattering of tables, angular bar and a narrow winding stairway leads to a rather shaggy shack of a room complete with withered lights, empty shoe boxes and unkempt, disregarded lights sockets. Couple that with a row of ramshackle cupboards adorned with dusty overturned glasses and spindly, wax-spewing bottles and it makes for a rather shoddy backdrop on which to consume your dinner.

The Atmosphere
Bar du Marche is nothing if not faithful to its origins. All staff are French and serve in a semi-detached state of inertia - mirroring the speed of the molluscs on the menu. In truth, it’s no bad thing. Too many restaurants are intent on stifling their customers – churning out dish after dish with little pause for deliberation and pouncing on them as soon as their wine glasses are empty. Here you can quaff in peace, forget the fact that the tube is only a stone’s throw away and enjoy a leisurely conversation.

The Food
The food is, as you would expect, classic and uncomplicated with several staples of the French back catalogue of cooking. Snails in garlic butter arrive in a miniscule bowl with six cut out holes. It’s an intricate little arrangement but for all its cutesy charm it’s blink and you miss it stuff. The snails themselves can be gobbled up in the blink of an eye and though succulent and wholesome, are overpriced at £6.20. Pan fried frogs’ legs (£7) are also served in garlic butter and amount to a healthier portion. They’re served in a pleasing tomato sauce though the meat itself is hard to prise of the bone and doesn’t do enough to justify its means.

Rabbit stewed in wine with new potatoes, mushroom and bacon (£12.95) is as appetising as they come - on paper at least. As for the final product – it’s more of a mixed bag. It’s rustic, old fashioned fodder, the rich and tender meat being the standout segment. Visually speaking, stewed guinea fowl (£13.95) is hard to tell apart from its floppy eared friend but the meat is less of a success – too standard and stodgy to inspire and bereft of real, long-lasting flavour.

For dessert, creme brulee (£4.50) is a disappointment. Pierce through the crispy top and you’ll be treated to nothing more than a soggy, lukewarm layer of undercooked cream. The Chocolate mousse (£4.75) makes a better fist of it. Seasoned with a delectable strawberry sauce and moistened with frothy cream, it makes for a pleasing end to the evening.

The Drink
Wines are reasonably priced and dominated by reds with prices ranging from £13.50 a bottle to £31.50. Whites are also generously priced (£13.50 - £26.95) even if there are only five options and the house offering is one of the best in recent memory. Otherwise, Champagnes range from £32.50 to £45, beers (San Miguel and Kronenbourg) cost £3.50 a bottle with spirits cost anything from £5 (dark rum) to £8.50 (pricey indeed for a Jack Daniel’s and Coke). Shots (tequila, sambuca and the like) are also overpriced at £6 and best saved for an evening of an altogether different nature.

The Last Word
Bar du Marche’s refusal to cave in and opt for a facelift is refreshing on a strip with so many synthetic chain restaurants. That said, it is in need of a makeover. A lick of paint here and a bit of refinement there is all it needs to take it into the 21st century. The restaurant itself has nothing to be ashamed about. It’s cheerful and charming and more laid back than most - so laid back you might just walk on by without realising it’s there.

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