Chez Bruce

High quality cooking

Fast approaching its 30th anniversary, Chez Bruce still has the Wandsworth wind in its sails. As a neighbourhood grandee, it's true testament to Bruce Poole and Nigel Platts-Martin's conception that a restaurant should be a place of resort for those who love to dine well, rather than an excuse to massage the egos of celebrities – either out front or in the kitchen. With its expansive views over the Common, the cream-toned dining room is light and uplifting, with linened tables and service that is all about courteous professionalism. It is, par excellence, a place for unhurried lunches. Matt Christmas has been at the stoves for a sizeable chunk of his career, resulting in a formidable level of consistency and a commitment to excelling that doesn't waver. The daily changing menu, viewed through one prism, could be characterised as the best of modern European bistro cooking, with plenty of choice and plenty going on in each dish. A starter of braised and crisped lambs' tongues comes with tomato and pepper couscous, a heap of properly smoky baba ganoush, a little creamy labneh, silky garlic pesto, and a scattering of crunchy shallot – the Levantine world on a plate. Pasta never subsides into the starchy humdrum, witness duck ragù and morteau sausage with pudgy little cavatelli under a pangrattato top. Fish cooking might take inspiration from India (tandoori sea bream partnered with curried smoked haddock and a potato samosa, dressed in almonds, lemon and coriander, say), while the French country tradition is celebrated in flawless blanquette de veau with a sweetbread raviolo and veal sausage in a satiny sauce sprinkled with chervil. Nor do desserts repine into the standard double-act; instead, there might be poached pear with hazelnut meringue, caramel cream, caramel ice cream and chocolate sauce – a Belle Hélène that's been to finishing school. The cheese platter is fully worth the supplement for the breadth of choice, the quality crackers and the membrillo. On the drinks front, an expertly curated modern wine selection does an agile job of satisfying novelty-hungry imbibers as well as traditionalists, with a selection of small glasses from £8.50.

3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence

Overlooking Wandsworth Common, this humorously named London classic is on hallowed ground (the building was once home to Harvey’s, the restaurant in which Marco Pierre White made his name). Its current custodians are the Simon Hopkinson-trained owner Bruce Poole and head chef Matt Christmas, who have worked together for over a decade. The pair have taken the South London restaurant in a rather more egalitarian direction with a near total lack of bells and whistles (the restaurant admits to not being into gadgets and tricks in the kitchen and risk being seen as slightly old fashioned by some) and the utmost respect for time-honoured cooking techniques. Together Poole and Christmas have put together a menu that's largely inspired by regional French and Mediterranean cuisine. Technique is all here, with the restaurant excelling in homemade charcuterie, braises and offal as well as bread making and classical desserts. As in France, the cheese board is also taken very seriously. The wine cellar benefits from years of careful investment and allows Chez Bruce to list many great and rare wines during their perfect drinking windows at reasonable prices, which – as the team delicately points out – is not necessarily always the case in other restaurants. The space is simple and grown up with tasteful modern art and plenty of natural light – and the views overlooking the leafy common aren’t half bad either. Chez Bruce’s front-of-house game is as flawless as the food, in fact, there are few restaurants that feel as professionally run as this one.