Monsieur Le Duck
French
27 Clerkenwell Rd, Farringdon, EC1M 5RN
££
The sign of a confident menu is a short one. It is no surprise then, that French restaurant Monsieur Le Duck has a mere 6 options for main: two of which being veggie choices. The three frequent travellers who formulated the concept of Monsieur Le Duck modelled the restaurant on their fond memories of South Western region Gascony. I have always thought of the France as a leisurely, stylish, self-assured place, and the attractive venue and delicious duck on offer here proves to be synonymous with those preconceptions.
It’s worth stating first and foremost how decently priced this place is. Starters range from £3-£6 and have everything from croquettes, to rillettes, to camembert. For main, you can choose Confit Duck (which I went for – obvs), Magret Duck, or a Duck Burger – each only £12. Non-duck options are equally as desirable and stopped me in my tracks, only for a couple of seconds, mind... They include: Vegetable and Goats Cheese Tarte Provencale (£12), Goats Cheese, Prune & Walnut Salad (£8) and the old favourite Moules Marineres (£7 or £12 depending on size). The sides are a mixture of delicious simplicity: Seasonal Greens with Lardons (£4), Deep Fried Cauliflower (£4), Green Beans with Garlic Butter (£5), Puy Lentils with Shallots & Carrots (£4) and the classic Frites (£4).
The interior is trendy and chic – a big round open bar as you come in, gold brass, open brickwork and strong wood. Service was friendly, although I think our waiter thought we were a bit pissed as he asked us if we were ‘sure’ we wanted more wine, and kept filling our tap water up very promptly… When he returned with our bottle of white (the cheapest but still good cause it was French innit) we ordered a set of Confit Duck Croquettes with Prune Mayo and a set of Spinach & Goats Cheese Croquettes with Truffle Mayo. Whilst I have definitely had worse croquettes, I have also definitely had better – why are these things so hard to get right? The veggie ones were definitely superior to the Duck, but on the whole a touch disappointing all round.
The Duck Confit, on the other hand, was everything I dreamt of and more: perfectly crisp, salty and succulently juicy inside. The whole concept of this dish means that you’d think it was pretty hard to go wrong, but getting it this damn perfect is a magical skill that is incredibly hard to come by. All 3 of us went for this option (even my mate who still claims she’s a vegetarian), but we decided to pair our confit with a selection of sides. We went for the Green Beans, Puy Lentils and Frites. The beans were aldente and swimming in the juice from the Gods, because, let’s face it – what doesn’t taste good when topped with garlic butter?! The lentils were flavour filled and a welcome ‘healthy’ addition to our seriously heavy dinner, whilst the frites were salty and crunchy – French has always been my favourite fry.
Desert time came around, and we chose the Crème Brulee (£6) and Dark Chocolate Mousse (£6). The Crème Brulee was as authentically French and brilliantly delicious as its previous descendants. However, the Dark Chocolate Mousse was covered in cream and described as ‘just too rich’ by a friend who could probably eat just chocolate for the rest of her life. We left feeling slightly groggy and a little too-full, but safe in the knowledge that it was the best damn Duck any of us had gobbled outside of République Française. I think that this feeling sums up Monsieur Le Duck on the whole: an excellent place to come for some tasty French indulgence, but maybe sometimes Decadence needs to be balanced out with a little Freshness too?
OVERALL RATING: ****
https://www.leduck.co.uk/
