Past the Friday night strip of Upper Street and halfway towards Highbury is one of the capital’s most reliable restaurants.

The Venue
Le Mercury offers a simple and consistently well-cooked meal for less than the price of a cocktail in one of the bars down the road. The surroundings are unpretentious and unobtrusive in a classic French bistro style. Downstairs the corner location is well used in a room that is made up of two walls of windows and a bar. Upstairs is a slightly larger room with the same warmly lit and unfussy comfort you would find in any continental bistro.

The Atmosphere
Diners are generally a mix of local Islingtonians and those who know the place and keep coming back from all over the city. Expect well-heeled families, trendyish couples and groups of twenty and thirty-somethings enjoying a relaxed, slightly boozy dinner. What is striking is how busy the place gets; there is always a degree of trepidation when walking in off the street that this will be the time they are fully booked, but you can always get a table. Better still, it is possible to get a table after midnight, no mean achievement. Service takes the ‘don’t ask, don’t get’ approach. Interruptions are minimal and requests are guaranteed to materialize, especially if you ask twice, which is advisable when it’s busy.

The Food
The very best thing about Le Mercury is the menu, for its variety, its simplicity and the fact that prices are uniform. Starters are all £3.95, mains are all £6.45. Bread and is always bought to the table after menus are cleared and is good enough to keep you occupied until starters arrive. A rabbit terrine is gently gamey, with a coarse yet slightly creamy texture. Crisp skinned trout with mild salsa is delicate, the flesh separating smoothly at the press of a fork, the skin perfectly salted so as to provide a counterpoint to the freshness of the tomatoes. Presentation makes no real fuss - the fish is draped over the salsa with a parsley garnish - allowing the ingredients to speak for themselves.

An entrecote comes with a slick of deep rich onion jus and melting shallots. The well-marbled rib eye is accurately prepared, sized just the right side of modest, and oozes beefy moisture with every bite. It is impossible to resist laying the fine frite - a worthwhile extra - in the gravy and allowing to soak. Catfish is not something that regularly appears on London menus. Yet the catfish fillet is every bit as meaty as monkfish with a softer flavour, the herb butter neatly completing the mouthful. The side order of vegetables is plentiful, broccoli is firm, as is cauliflower and each complements the dishes without overpowering them. Desserts are similarly priced to the starters. The creme brulee is suitably creamy, making up in vanilla butteriness what it lacks in burnt sugar topping, which is unfortunately too thin to illicit a mouthwatering crack when rapped with a spoon.

The Drink
When ordering drinks go for wine, avoid ordering by the glass and only order a coke if you like it flat. Reds are best, affordable (starting at about £10 a bottle) and accessible. The Pinotage is especially good as it works well with meat and fish. The light red has a pleasant leathery top, with finishing tones passing playfully smoky through blackcurrant and apple. There is a range of liqueur coffees, but best is a no-nonsense port. It rounds off the meal with a deep dark sweet finish.

The Last Word
Le Mercury is not a culinary adventure. If you want jaw dropping creativity and exotic flavours this is not the place to go. This is the place for a comfortable, affordable meal when all you want is familiarity and reliability. Le Mercury gets four stars not on the food alone - the open all hours feel, and incredible value for money put it above the average tri-star rating. There are better restaurants, but not at this price.

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