Vicky Bhogal

Cafe Rive Gauche, 20 Warren Street, London, W1T 5LS
To begin, I must declare an interest in order to uphold both my own honour and that of the noble and fine art of restaurant reviewing. I must tell you, dear reader, that I know the owners of Cafe Rive Gauche personally, via a family connection. We know each other by name and they know my family even better than they know me. So you are likely to presume, incorrectly, that my impartiality will have been tainted but, as a ballast to counter the potential for bias you should know that the Queen of Restaurant Reviewers, the Evening Standard’s Fay Maschler, has frequently patronised and also (very positively) reviewed this excellent cafe. So, if you don’t trust me then please, at least take Fay’s word for it.

Cafe Rive Gauche is romantically named but somewhat more humbly located a few hundred yards from Warren Street tube and surrounded by the human cocktail of office workers, tourists, residents and students that converge on Tottenham Court Road. It wouldn’t immediately be an obvious destination unless you were a permanent or daytime local. The cafe is simply decorated and tables are squeezed into every nook, but the space is worth fighting for.

Owned by a delightful couple, Guy and Suava Gumuchian(a triumphal union of French and Polish), Guy is a master baker and patissiere so this already excellent cafe is gilded with a daily selection of pastries, tarts, croissants and breads and Suava oversees the savoury dishes and the running of the restaurant. Having been there so frequently I cannot reference one instance because the food is consistently good and service helpful and friendly. In addition to the pastries, tarts et al (which I have to screen my eyes from, lest I be tempted by their sweet, delicate richness...) they have a menu suited for the busy Londoner (and aren’t there about nine million too many of those?), who hasn’t got time to sit and eat. So you can choose a variety of sandwiches, baked potatoes and salads to take away and snaffle “on the go” or at your desk. When I am rightfully voted in as Mayor or Prime Minister (not quite decided which of the jobs I want), my first legislative act would be to ban eating whilst moving. Partly because it is not good, physiologically, to eat whilst moving, but mainly because we all ought to savour what we “fuel” ourselves with. If it is not worth stopping for, then why are you eating it? But the reason I love this place is because it is everything a “Great British” cafe should be, unlike the vast majority of “greasy spoons” that seem to revel in the amount of grease they rescue, on behalf of your plate and arteries, from the griddle. Why is that we revere our “Great” British “caff” so much? I love the notion of a café serving homely, wholesome food but it is rare that the execution matches the anticipation, as proved by many a dried, rubbery omelette and countless white speckled and flaccid bacon rashers. But we seem institutionalised into revelling in the mediocre grubbiness of it all, perhaps mistaking that for a sense of comfort and homeliness? Whilst on the subject of the word “Great” that is prefixed to our country’s name (originally, I understand, added in the 16th Century to distinguish between Britain and Brittany) seems to automatically raise the status of all beloved institutions or entities (the...pub, the...cafe, the...public), regardless of merit. Given that most are now pretty clear about the distinction between Britain and Brittany (as if the Channel weren’t a clear enough marker), I would have thought we could drop this somewhat arrogant adjectival prefix. Might it even, in a small way, reduce any anti-British feeling generated over the years (not dismissing the contribution of our foreign policy and rampant imperialism too)? However Cafe Rive Gauche, although gastronomically rooted in France, is British in its location and character and undoubtedly deserves the description of “great”. It characterises all that is good about a café. You can select from a variety of soups each day; the French onion soup (classic style) and fish soup (rich broth with flakes of fish, not the bouillon style “soup de poisson”) are my favourites. Then there are a wide variety of sandwich fillings (including duck rilettes and cucumber, chicken and celeriac remoulade), quiches and salads to satisfy your lunchtime appetite. However, for me the true joy of lunch at this establishment is ordering one of their omelettes (with mushrooms, cheese, ham, parsley, or a combination) “pancake” version, which is delicately cooked and delicious, a joyful reminder of the simple combination of lightly beaten and well seasoned eggs, a little butter, a gentle heat and cook’s light touch. Their main courses vary but staples seem to be; Beef Bourguignon (rich, deep flavoured and winey juices with tender beef), Duck Pie (not a pie by my definition of the word, but instead delicious, gamey, braised duck topped with swirls of oven-crisped mash potato), Fish pie (smooth and creamy sauce enveloping, mussels, prawns, squid and salmon, again topped with smooth mashed potato), Pasta (normally a choice of Bolognese, carbonara, tomato sauce or pesto) or Confit of Duck (rich and tender duck). So, if you want a good lunch that won’t break the lunchtime budget (one could eat very well for £10), then you must try Cafe Rive Gauche. Or for a business breakfast or lunch, you’ll score points for the food, providing you and your companion(s) can tolerate the intimate layout. But if that doesn’t appeal, they do outside catering too.