It may have a grisly history behind it, but Bleeding Heart Yard has a lot going for it today, including an excellent bistro that is authentically French in character.

The Venue
Bleeding Heart includes a restaurant, a tavern and a medieval crypt used for private events. Then there’s the Bleeding Heart bistro, a cheaper, but no less valid version of the Bleeding Heart restaurant. The Yard is a small enclosure, a cul-de-sac mainly devoted to Bleeding Heart eateries. The name recalls a bloody incident of the 17th century involving society beauty Lady Elizabeth Hatton, widowed daughter-in-law of Sir Christopher Hatton, after whom the nearby diamond and jewellery quarter of Hatton Garden is named. During a society ball Lady Elizabeth was abducted by a former lover and the following morning her body was discovered in the Yard, torn apart with her heart still bleeding on the cobblestones. The blood has gone but the cobbles remain and you cross them to reach the bistro in the left-hand corner of the Yard.

The Atmosphere
Having stepped over the stones of history and found yourself in the Bistro, you will find that it is French right down to its asparagus tips. Delightful and evocative French drinks posters adorn the dark orange walls. The room is also decorated with timeless memorabilia, bottle racks and plants, with the most noticeable item being a huge farmer’s plough suspended above the diners in this high-ceilinged room. The food is French and it would seem that the staff are all French too. Nobody except the French can really successfully run an operation like this. You can almost smell the passion and efficiency in the air. It’s all down to the detail and a desire to get things absolutely right. And the food’s not bad, either.

The Food
In fact for the most part the food is absolutely terrific. There’s a seasonally changing a la carte menu along with daily and weekly specials. Starters (£5.45 to £7.95) might such delights as goat’s cheese and caramelised red onion tart, Bayonne ham with cantaloupe melon, smoked salmon with buckwheat blinis, fromage blanc and chives, or tuna tartare with salade Nicoise. The asparagus salad is as perfect as you would want it to be; the vegetable cooked just right with a rich and runny poached egg on top and sauce choron, (similar to a bearnaise but made with tomato puree) to make an ideal appetiser. Duck rillettes, a sort of roughly shredded and potted pate, is rich and utterly delicious with an apple compote and a salad of endive and watercress. The fish soup with aioli (garlic mayonnaise) and croutons with Gruyere cheese lives up to the description of classic. You can’t beat a traditional dish when it’s as good as this.

Main courses (£8.45 to £14.95) cover omelettes, rib eye steak, lamb steak, homemade duck sausages with flageolet beans, a slow-roast loin of pork, and pot-roasted chicken Basquaise, while among the fish choices are sauteed plaice meuniere, a darne of Scottish salmon and fish cakes of cod and salmon. The tranche of haddock is a nice and tasty chunk of excellent fish with a fricasee of petits pois and lardons of bacon in a distinctively delicate melding of ingredients. The smoked mackerel is served with crispy bacon to make a satisfyingly brittle dish even crunchier, giving the whole thing a marvellous texture enhanced by the strong flavour of the fish which is actually improved by the frying. Served with spinach and Breton cider cream, it becomes totally irresistible. In contrast the duck leg confit is a tad ordinary, even when served with pomme Lyonnaise and an orange compote.

Desserts (£4.95) are beyond reproach and the vanilla cheesecake with strawberry compote, the dark chocolate tart with white chocolate ice cream and the mille-feuille of raspberries and vanilla cream are all as lusciously good as their descriptions make them sound. Alternatively, or additionally, a trio of cheeses with homemade bread make a fitting cheese course finale to an outstanding meal.

The Drink
Bleeding Heart Yard is known for its superior collection of fine wines. As well as a general list of wines, the bistro specialises in the Trinity Hill wines of New Zealand from the Hawkes Bay and Gimblett Gravels wineries. Many are available by the bottle (from £16.45) and by the glass (from £4.25). The Hawkes Bay Sauvignon 2008 at £16.95 (£4.50 by the glass) makes for very good drinking. The Gimblett wines are in a higher bracket with some options under under £30, with others rising to £90. The general list also includes many French wines from £16.95 rising to £52 for a Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

The Last Word
If you want to see how a proper French bistro should be run, then the Bleeding Heart bistro is the place to go. If the service is a little cold, it is nevertheless very efficient and practical. The food is for the main part quite exceptional and the presentation is fairly faultless.

venue information venue map view london review write a review image gallery (4) book a table