Cigalon

2 Reviews on “Cigalon”

• Connie Consumes

  We visited Cigalon to try out one of their wine dinners, a prospect I was rather excited about because I’m always into a wine paired with each course and the restaurant is from the same family as Club Gascon…The restaurant has a wonderful dining room, I love the booth seats in the middle, the high ceilings, the atmosphere was buzzing from City workers unwinding from their days. We were seated swiftly and presented with the menu to peruse – artichoke and grape salad, grey mullet and caponata, crispy lamb belly and beans, crushed figs and pastis ice cream – all sounded interesting but there wasn’t anything I couldn’t wait to try.And when it arrived, I still didn’t change my mind. Everything was pleasant but it just seemed a little plain and inconsistent. My favourite course was probably the mullet which was well cooked and well paired with the caponata, but the boyfriend found it to be a little bland. The lamb belly was fatty, as expected but it lacked any other defining feature, and the crushed figs were definitely not my cup of tea.However, what we really felt disappointed about was the whole wine matching experience – the sommelier came and described the first two wines together, the other two were ably presented by the wait staff – but there was very little discussion about why the wines were chosen for the food. Surely that’s the point of the dinner? Otherwise I could order any old bottle and hope for the best?The staff, who were exceptionally friendly and efficient, later assured me that they were having a bit of an off night due to staffing issues… I really do hope so, because the wine dinners have potential to be really fun and informative, this just wasn’t what we experienced on the night. I guess one redeeming feature is how friendly on the wallet the meal is…I would rule out visiting again and trying another wine dinner to see if it really was an off night, but I’m not rushing back in a hurry. connieconsumes.com

  December 12, 2015, 3:47 pm

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• Walshy

  Just delicious. Fabulous food and service, beautiful room – favourite meal of the year so far, despite my high expectations. Interesting menu with too many delicious-sounding dishes to choose from – nothing too wacky but not just the usual choices either. Good bread (no cover charge) served with a generous dollop of tapenade. Mainly provencal/corsican wine list – took a bottle on recommendation that proved perfect for the meal, and from the cheap end of the list too. Service was charming and helpful without being over-bearing, and despite the empty tables, the ambience did not suffer. I’d class this as something like a Central London Chez Bruce – very high standards without pretensions. Will happily return – soon, hopefully!

  August 16, 2011, 9:58 am

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