I went to this place a couple of weeks ago with a group of 7 and will not be going back. The food is over priced, especially when you pay almost £20 for a steak and they can' t cook it as you ask. One of the group also ordered a fillet steak, which was poor by any standards - especially for £25. We pondered long and hard about whether to complain, then asked them very politely to change the fillet steak for another meal.

The service was nothing to shout about either, with far from gracious staff making asking for another meal feel like torture. What happened to the customer is always right? We did not pay the tip.

This place could be good if the prices staff and food get a lot better.

Be very wary about this restaurant. Beyond the miserable service and distinctly average food about which I completely concur, the staff seem to have some sort of agenda to inflate bills beyond their already over-priced levels. Not only did they add an extra bottle of wine to our bill, but then they tried to input an inflated total into the credit card reader when I came to pay. Mentioning this to friends over the weekend I was amazed to find that two other couples had had exactly the same experience at the restaurant. If you bother visiting this place - and I heartily recommend you choose one of Clapham's many better quality and better value establishments instead - then check your bill very carefully!

I went to Le Bouchon Bordelais restaurant in October 2006 and the manager was helpful and knows his job. The service was exceptional and the food perfect.



I went back last week and i noticed the restaurant management team had changed. The new one was useless and not professional at all. I do not know if he even knew what management means apart telling the waitresses to do things.



Le Bouchon Bordelais was packed and he didn't even give them a hand - he was just walking around and that's all.
I can give you some advice: get rid of him and bring back the other manager. I will not come back if this guy is still there. I was really enjoying the old manager too.

Le Bouchon Bordelais does delicious food but it's also a really good place to go for a few drinks. They're not exactly cheap but the setting for Le Bouchon Bordelais certainly makes it worth it. Really nice staff too.

Le Bouchon Bordelais has terrible service and the food was not much better. My fillet steak tasted pretty awful, rather oily and the only thing that arrived promptly was the bill which included a 12.5 percent service charge which I decided to pay just to avoid any problems.


I was not even thanked by the restaurant manager on the way out of Le Bouchon Bordelais, as he was more interested in chatting to his mates at the bar. I honestly felt like bumping him with my shoulder on the way out.

If you check restaurant review sites, you will, like me see a split of very good and very bad for Le Bouchon Bordelais. I didn't want my French speaking group to be disappointed so decided to check it out for myself.

My friend and I went to Le Bouchon Bordelais on a Friday night and were very reassured. We arrived at 7.30pm and it was quiet. Was that a bad sign? Not at all. The manager had the time to talk with us in his native French and the restaurant steadily filled up.

We were welcomed with an aperitif. Looking at the menu took me back to le patrimoine, ie: very French (but my tastebuds have matured and I didn't baulk at snails and rabbit). We enjoyed our starters, the mains were both delicieux and substantial and the desserts; creme brulee and mousse au chocolat, were at the top of their league.

Service was as one would like; attentive without being invasive, definitely not hurrying anyone along but not making us wait either. This was my second visit to Le Bouchon Bordelais and the bar next door was once again throbbing.

The atmosphere and the service at Le Bouchon Bordelais restaurant are pretty good, but the food leaves a lot to be desired! I had the watercress soup starter which was tasteless and lukewarm. I then had the pan fried cod in squid ink risotto - a dish that the front review on this website raves about. It looked good, with the black risotto, but it was a travesty of a dish! The risotto rice was still hard, although the consistency of was of extremely fine mud, while the cod was overcooked. Both sat in a large puddle of melted butter and both were utterly bland. If it weren't for the few little pieces of fried squid this meal would have been completely devoid of taste. How did they manage that. I felt quite sick after eating half of it. When we mentioned to the waitress that the rice was undercooked, she patronisingly informed me that perhaps I'd never had a dish with squid ink in it before and that everyone else loved it! And this is not a cheap restaurant. What a waste of £75 (for 2 with only 1 pudding and 2 glasses of wine). I definitely won't be going again.

I suffered the worst service I have ever encountered at this bar.

On Monday 15th Nov 2004 I popped in with 4 friends for a couple of drinks after a meal to celebrate my 30th birthday.

At 10.40 we were asked if we wanted another drink by the waitress and we duly ordered. 5 minutes later after having just refreshed our glasses the staff turned on all the lights, the music was turned off and the staff began clearing up around us and asking us to finish up our drinks. This was 10.45pm, 15 mins before normal last orders and us with our brand new drinks.

When we asked for some more time and for the music and lights to be put back to normal enjoyable levels we were told that the clock in the bar said 11pm and so they had to close. Even though every staff member admitted it was wrong and was different from their watches they would not back down and in fact became quite threatening in their behaviour towards our group.

I have never before been treated in such a bad way and the arrogance encountered by the French staff was something that did not give their fellow countrymen a good name.

In short I am disgusted by the place and will never return, despite a good friend living just minutes from the bar.

An excellent little spot for relaxing and watching the world go by during the day. Well worth a visit.