Last Updated on July 10, 2024
Little France’s Newest Culinary Gem, Joséphine Bouchon Brings Authentic Lyonnaise Flavours to London
What better pick for our Restaurant of the Month in April than Claude Bosi’s Joséphine Bouchon? The newly opened Bouchon Racine was one of the first restaurants we visited when we started this series. Now so popular that the earliest booking available is for lunch in a month, we popped in under the radar when it first opened. Joséphine, named after Claude Bosi’s grandmother, has been open for just a few weeks – and it’s already showing signs of going in the same direction. We booked for a mid-week lunch and arrived at an almost full restaurant.
Joséphine is a charming place that somehow feels as if it’s been around for years. Modelled on the traditional French restaurants of Lyon, where Claude Bosi was born, it’s in the heart of ‘Little France’ – an area of South Kensington that is popular with French ex-pats thanks to the Institute Française and the Lyéee both a short walk from the restaurant.
It’s also very close to Bibendum, Bosi’s iconic two Michelin-starred restaurant, though not to his other more recent openings. This baby is quite different to Bosi’s fine dining establishments – Bouchons are known for excellent but simple menus showcasing ingredients from local markets. With simple decor and an emphasis on hospitality, these are the types of places you might go with friends for a long lunch or relaxed evening meal.
We negotiated our way through the menu while nibbling on a snack of chicken skin (which neither of us particularly enjoyed) and some excellent salty and moreish French-style bread and butter. The table was a little on the small side and we struggled to balance a need to try everything on the menu with recognition that there might just not be space. We shouldn’t have worried – efficient service meant that somehow dishes we’d finished were whisked away in seconds, leaving space for more food. We ordered a bottle of Schaller Petit Chablis 2022, a delicious and dangerously drinkable wine that was perfect for my fish main course – light, fresh and lemony but not too acidic.
Both of us opted for classic French dishes to start. Soupe à l’oignon was the perfect choice for a chilly April lunchtime, a hearty peasant dish, and a French classic done very well.
Basically, it’s cheese on toast submerged in soup – quite delicious but challenging to eat. It arrived at the table piping hot and any attempt to get a spoonful of soup resulted in strings of molten cheese, inordinate amounts, to contend with. The bread croutons were suffused with cheese and onion juices. A wonderfully caramelly flavour, a rich broth and great sopping pieces of cheesy bread made this the ultimate comfort food.
By contrast, Soufflé au Saint-Félicien offered a light fluffy melt-in-the-mouth experience, though as it was served sitting in a pond of cheese sauce and scattered with chives it was still a robust offering. The double-cream cow’s milk cheese is made near Grenoble, Rhone-Alpes. It’s a cheese that is generally minimally salted to A very creamy experience, delicately flavoured and not too salty.
For her main course, my companion ordered the Vol-au-vent à la Lyonnaise – a larger-than-normal puff pastry shell filled with chicken and mushroom. As she pointed out it could be viewed as a more refined French variant of a chicken and mushroom pie. Light, crisp puff pastry, juicy chicken and mushrooms and most importantly masses of tarragon and mushroom sauce to tie everything together. The saucing at Josephine Bouchon really is excellent, and generous.
Cabillaud au beurre blanc à l’échalote ∙ Cornish cod, shallot butter beurre blanc – was a pretence at being healthy. I left craving more butter sauce – rich, creamy and a great complement to the cod. One to try at home I think – though I am not sure I’ll do half as good a job.
Then there were the potatoes. I’ve never seen someone get quite so excited about potato options as my companion when offered a choice of five potato dishes
“Joséphine Bouchon is my sort of place” she declared.
The problem was which to choose from Pommes duchesse, Purée de pommes de terre, Gratin dauphinois (for 2), Pomme vapeur or Frites. In the end, we went for the easy option and ordered the frites to share. Slightly fatter than the skinniest French version and served skin-on, they were very good indeed.
“Now we need to come back and test all the others – starting with the purée”
We did order more vegetables – haricots verts à la Lyonnaise: green beans with confit shallots were a fabulous combination with great caramelisation on the shallots. And, classic carrottes Vichy braised in Vichy water, were sweet and glistening with butter.
Of course, we really didn’t need dessert. But in the interest of research, we made the sacrifice!
The tarte au prâline, a thin sliver of deeply nutty, almost too sweet, dark pink tart came with a welcome accompaniment of creme fraiche to cut through some of the sugariness. We had to ask our waitress to solve the mystery of what makes this dessert pink and discovered it was thanks to pink crystallised sugar.
Bugnes Lyonnaises are doughnuts or baignets, traditionally served for Mardi Gras and served here with sauce au chocolat. These came from the prix fixe Menu du Canut and given the generous portion we could definitely have shared this ample plate of irresistible-looking sugar-dusted deep-fried dough.
While we worried a bit about over-ordering, we did manage to clear our plates. The quality of the ingredients shone through and the staff were efficient, knowledgeable and friendly. There was a genuine welcome here – and it will be hard to resist going back. As we left we discovered one local lady who told us she’d been almost every day since they opened…I wish I lived closer and had the budget to do just that too.
Joséphine Bouchon
315A Fulham Rd.,
London
SW10 9QH
Lunch or dinner for 2 from the main menu will set you back £160 or so for three courses, including a decent bottle of wine:)
Where else have we been eating? We really enjoyed Cafe Kitty, from the same people who brought you Kitty Fisher’s. And, for informal food from Puglia, you can’t beat Capilungo, just off the beaten tourist trap that is Covent Garden. We revisited Compagnie des vins Surnaturels and were really impressed with the food as well as the extensive wine list. Harrods Food Hall has a fabulous new Mediterranean Grill by Assembly which we loved. It’s about time I updated our ‘new openings’ summary – but for now do check out our review of Camille and of Arlington.
What’s coming up? I’m most excited to hear that there’s a new opening on my doorstep in South London next month. Café Britaly is just down the road in Peckham. And, as it’s the first project from a duo who worked together at Bocca di Lupo – chef Alex Purdie and operations director Richard Crampton-Platt.
We love Michel Roux and did guess he wouldn’t be able to stay out of the kitchen too long. He’s back at The Langham next month with a new restaurant showcasing British classics and we can’t wait to get stuck in!
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