Three Lunches at Le Vacherin: Sunday 4th September, Monday 12th December, 2011 & Saturday 14th January, 2012

Yes, yes: another Vacherin piece. So what? I'm happy going here and you should be happy to read my writing about it. Well, you should at least tolerate it for now.

Three lunches, three different occasions, three great outcomes. The first, back in September, was to bid farewell to a friend who was leaving the country. The second, in December, was a festive lunch which we thought would be cheaper than it actually was. The final one was the wedding breakfast after the wife and I got married earlier this year.

Each event was different in terms of guests, occasion and style but each was lovely. The great thing about favourites and well-trodden paths is that they are adaptable to any situation and can become familiar and reassuring whatever the occasion. And, true to form, I didn't eat the same thing once across all three meals.

The Sunday lunch in September was an enjoyable roam across the menu, encompassing some classic French elements and some less traditional fare. It was unhurried, filling and superbly inexpensive (around £25 for three courses). There were no poor dishes on display but by the end of the piece we were all far too full to enjoy each dish fully.

The starters were a good combination of dishes to put any French restaurant through its paces: snails, duck and soup. The snails were a properly decadent plate of food, slathered in rich garlic butter and cooked to perfection: rubbery snails are simply awful (left). The smoked duck breast was thinly sliced, cold, rare and a delight to behold and eat. As a light starter - something duck cannot always be called - it hit the spot just as hoped (right).

My starter was thick green pea soup with creme fraiche spun through it (left). There was no quail's egg as there had been earlier on in the summer but the soup was as fresh, vibrant and flavoursome as it had been then. Pea soup is a great dish to have on most restaurants' summer menus: it is seasonal, cheap to produce and fairly healthy. When it's done this well, it should be on every restaurant's menu.

Main courses were where we came unstuck slightly, though not through any fault of the restaurant. Le Vacherin bucks the trend for many French restaurants in London when it comes to portions: they do not skimp on quantity. A constant of the Vacherin menu is their braised steak (usually ribeye) served with challots and a jus. Here it was a classic delivered in the simply excellent way we have become accustomed to (right).

Lamb with roast potatoes and carrots was delicious but way too filling for lunch (left). Heavy, fairly dry food is never a great idea for a lunch which is going to take less than three hours, and this proved to be a great dish which we didn't do justice to in the circumstances. I veered off piste with my choice of tagliatelle with mushrooms and cream. It was again rather heavy and a little stodgy for a light lunch, despite delivering a surprising depth of flavour (right).

Our trio of desserts was just plain indulgence. The classic and near-ever present creme brulee and chocolate fondant were as rich, sugary and gorgeous as ever, whilst we opted for the untried profiteroles to go with them (left). These were pretty well put together, creamy inside the soft choux filling with a dollop of coffee ice cream to go on top. Not the greatest I've had but a worthy contender as the third pudding on show.

The lesson here was: watch the quantity. This is the sort of lunch that will wipe you out for the rest of the day, let alone fill you up for the evening.

The December lunch was our chance to firm up planning for our wedding meal. We had selected Le Vacherin as the venue (it seemed nearly inevitable) and unexpectedly this resulted in an impromptu meeting with the manager and the head chef. We had hoped for a relatively inexpensive £25-a-head set lunch but found out as we sat down that the menus had reverted to a la carte prices. It was an unwelcome surprise in that we suddenly found ourselves staring at the business end of a £70 bill for two courses.

That said, what we were paying for proved to be a real treat. Mid-December is just about the end of the game season and the hearty meats of the British Isles never seem more welcoming and homely than at this time of year. My main course of roast pheasant was perfect for the time of year (right). Served with creamed Brussels sprouts, Alsace bacon and chestnuts, this was a combination put together in at kitchen that is finely in tune with all the right elements of winter eating. Superb stuff which justified the £19 price tag.

Elsewhere, the velouté of Jerusalem artichokes with quail egg and truffle to start was exceptional (left). Costing only £8.50, this was serious bang for one's buck. Thick, almost sweet soup with the punch of truffle and the soft egg was another brilliant combination that was as wintry and pleasant as they come, but one that I would've eaten at any time of year.

The wife went for a vegetarian starter of ravioli of girolles & cepes, served with spinach and tarragon cream (right). This was a dish which was so up her street I almost ordered it before she'd seen the menu. It was therefore going to be tough to live up to expectation but the simple plate of pasta managed it. Somehow delivering waves of deep, fresh flavour, the second-perfect pasta combined dreamily with the accompaniments. This sort of thing could be served in a great Italian restaurant, never mind a neighbourhood French affair.

The wife's main course was shoulder of lamb with jus navarin (lamb gravy to you and me), sweetbread and pommes purée (left). An elegant, proud dish, the lamb had been constructed into a cylinder which gradually came apart with a few tugs. It was not on the same level as the pheasant but a lovely main course nonetheless, combining several classic elements in the most rurally Gallic way. What else is there to life?

Learning our lesson from the lunch we'd eaten there previously, we did not eat dessert (the bill was already big enough) and we went into the planning session with Paolo the friendly and talented head chef and Marco the professional and courteous manager. The scene was set...

Our wedding lunch (or 'wedding breakfast' as I believe it is traditionally known) was quite simply one of the best meals ever. But of course I'd say that, I'd just got married. But let me outline a few of the reasons it was as great as it was.

The guests were 30 of our closest friends and family (as well as the two of us) and despite a few absentees, the company was varied and in great spirit. The menu was a full-sized set lunch card. If you've ever tried to book for more than 10 people in a decent restaurant, you will know how big a deal this is. Trying to convince a restaurant that 32 of you should be able to order from a variety of dishes is like trying to explain the housing market crash in three sentences. It just doesn't happen, so when we were told we'd get five choices per course, we were delighted.

Champagne on arrival was a must for everyone apart from the wife and I, and they had given us exclusive use of the larger half of the restaurant. Readings were given, speeches were made (a few tears shed too), bread & butter were served out and then came the food.

I won't give a dish-by-dish breakdown here because that would be both extensively monotonous and nearly impossible. Sufficed to say that everyone at the table enjoyed themselves. Many of the guests were thrilled to discover such a friendly neighbourhood place that they had never heard of, whilst the variety of dishes on display was excellent and a tribute to a hard day's work from a fantastic kitchen.

Highlights included a delectable risotto of parmesan and truffle with chive oil, some tip-top ribeye steak, a creme brulee that topped even their more consistent past efforts and a cheeseboard as creative and pretty as any I've seen.

I received a sweet and polite e-mail from Marco after the weekend had passed, thanking us for choosing Le Vacherin as our wedding lunch venue. £25 per head for three courses from a varied lunch menu is outstanding on a Saturday anywhere. There is no question it was the right choice and I will look back on that sunny Saturday lunch as one of the greatest meals ever. A huge thank you also goes to my father in law for paying for everyone's lunch.

It seems foolish to write any more about Le Vacherin so I doubt I will mention it again. However, if you take one thing from my various writings on the place, it's that you should go there and enjoy yourself. The prix fixe menus look to have been shunted aside for more a la carte deals these days, but I don't think it matters. This is an institution, one that I'm proud to have eaten in so many times. The first meal I ate as a married man will always be special for so many reasons. For being one of those reasons, I thank Le Vacherin.

Le Vacherin

Carluccio's

There are chain restaurants and there are chain restaurants. I love expressing things in such a nonsensical way sometimes. It adds a carefree smugness to a discussion, a bit like using one's glasses to make a point whilst arguing. However, throwing in such a non-sequitur such as this should only be done if one has a handy case in point to illustrate what the hell they are on about.

Chain restaurants are a good thing in one sense. I know critics are supposed to turn our noses up at such widespread aberrations, but there is a lot of good to be said for affordable, unfussy and down-to-earth eating at places you're comfortable with. I will quite happily swallow my pride along with a cheap lunch in Byron, Nando's, or even McDonald's.

The fact is, few of us can afford to be snobbish. As long as food is bearable, we'll eat it. And price reflects massively on how we feel about what we're eating. If you've paid a fiver for a meal, the chances are you won't expect much. If you're paying £80 for three courses, naturally you expect a hell of a lot. Chain restaurants manage to help bridge the gap between the UK and the rest of the world in making us eat out a lot more. The quality may not always be as good, but at least we're getting out to restaurants.

The downside with chain restaurants is that you can get landed with some fairly diabolical food. There is nothing worse than sitting down to a meal that you're paying for to realise that you can easily prepare better yourself in the comfort of your own kitchen, and a darn sight cheaper too. Chain restaurants are very often an exercise in cost-cutting production line eating. They can be dismissive, stingy and downright unpleasant.

The most damning feature of chain restaurants is how they can take a potentially excellent product - or even an already excellent product - and ruin it. Popular opinion is that both The Real Greek and Gourmet Burger Kitchen suffered hugely at the hands of corporate mercenaries once they were bought out: an expanding empire often means a compromise on quality. (This is my biggest fear when it comes to Byron's plans for countrywide expansion.)

So, Carluccio's: one of the most instantly recognisable Italian restaurant chains up and down the country. They have branches in just about any major city and their brand of traditional Italian fare, usually fronted with a delicatessen / café is an excellent business model. It manages to straddle the fine line between fashionable and casual: the layout is always simple and welcoming, the brand is dressed up enough to make it seem better than your average. The appeal is widespread and the tables are usually full.

There are parts of Carluccio's that make you want to celebrate Italian food in all its simple excellence. Pasta specifically is the essence of what they are about. It's never pretentious or patronising, merely a little homely bowl of loveliness. Their pappardelle of wild mushrooms remains a gloriously basic delight. Similarly, their penne luganica (spiced sausage in tomato sauce) is something that, whilst uncomplicated, is not a dish that can be easily improved upon.

The downside with Carluccio's is the bill. The place is not cheap. That, to me, is the issue one must take with any chain restaurant. If the price point is too high then you're instantly in trouble. With Carluccio's, I believe there are a few instances where the price greatly eclipses the quality on show. Also, I don't think there's much outside of their pasta dishes which justify their price tag. It is a place where you really have to know what to order.

That said, I'll keep going back there every once in a while because in terms of a bowl of pasta, there isn't much you can't get here which you may otherwise need to pay top-end prices for. It's a well-conceived set of eateries with a formula for guaranteed success (even if their mark-ups seem a little high). And that mushroom pappardelle is probably one of my favourite pasta dishes anywhere. There are chain restaurants and there are chain restaurants. This is one of the latter.

Carluccio's