Brasserie Blanc Reviews

I used to be more critical when I go to a fine dining place, but I must admit I haven't heard about Brasserie Blanc at all before I recently visited its Portsmouth restaurant. To be honest, I only booked that place because it had free table for 2 at Easter and I booked it last minute, and because I saw that their menu had quite a few vegetarian dishes as well from which my friend, who is strict vegetarian, could easily choose (although I also like when a restaurant makes effort and does sufficient vegetarian choices which I also equally enjoy).

We were seated close to the open kitchen which I usually like because I can quickly form an opinion of the place by watching the staff working. Yet I first noticed their menu, cocktail - and wine list and I must say that I was impressed by them immediately! I was in a "nice" trouble choosing from the menu because they had such great and well balanced menu. When I glazed over the wine list, I also saw quite a few wines which I very liked! All in all, there was enough variety on the menu and lists but not overwhelming.

They indicate now Kcal and other information as well which i understand is now mandatory by law but I was grateful for it nevertheless.

Only later I started to look around and curiously watching the locals coming to dine and it felt like a welcoming place to everyone.

Since we were so close to the kitchen counter, we could see a lot what was going on in the back end and only sitting there for a while I started to notice how well organised, quick, and professional everyone seemed to be working including the chefs, the waitresses, and the restaurant manager. Everyone was kind and welcoming, and had a few good words to us - the whole place just looked to be working like an oiled machine. The guests also looked to be generally happy.

We both were happy with our food choices and decided to come back for lunch the next day, which was as well, very nice. It felt a bit like a Michelin star restaurant - but again, I didn't know it was in fact Raymond Blanc's brand until very recently.

I don't know if the London brasseries are working similarly, but I am sure I will visit Blanc in London as well.
I just wanted to send kudos to Portsmouth and say thank you for the nice food and the nice vibe.

Visited Saturday 26 march. We had burgers and champagne. The champagne was barely cold but was in an ice bucket so did chill down. The Burgers were supposed to be served pink as standard - they were very charred on the outside as if pre cooked then reheated. We didn't complain but this was a disappointing visit. Standards are usually very high but I don't usually visit on weekends. Staff were pleasant but noone asked about our enjoyment of the meal or drink.

3 course meal with my partner was fabulous. The liver parfait was magnificent accompanied with the thick French toast. The salmon was fine cooked well no complaints the pudding was delicious all around will be coming back as its one of my favourite leeds restaurants.

First of all some context. We went in November 2021 and had a fantastic Sunday lunch at Brasserie Blanc Cheltenham. Great food, good value and highly recommended.

We decided to head back on the 1st Sunday in Feb 2022 and the experience was decidedly worse! For some reason the menu had been updated with prices up on average £2 per dish. No problem with that if its still good. The reality was quite different.

We both ordered Roast Pork. What turned up was a pan fried pork steak. Immediately we raised this and were told this is what theyve always served despite me showing them a picture of the menu when we went just 3 months ago. They agreed to change it for beef. When the food arrived it looked good. However looks are deceiving. The beef was good and I cant complain. But they veg was lukewarm at best, and in places chewy. The yorkies dry and hard work and the roasties substandard. We had to ask for 4 additional pots of gravy to soften them up. They obviously use tomato puree in their gravy because thats what the gravy tasted of. We didnt bother with dessert and we wont be going back. Ive also told friends to ignore my previous recommendations. £69 wasted tbh. Why restaurants change winning formulas is beyond me. And how you mess up a roast dinner is even more baffling. Very poor and a massive letdown.

So sad! We have been to Brassiere Blanc before and had a brilliant experience. However, having stayed in over Christmas we decided to visit the Southbank restaurant today. What a mistake! Having waited half an hour for my starter, it was swimming in butter and fatty lardons. The waitress agreed and took it to the Manager who failed to come over and apologise. They did take it off the bill later but such a disappointing meal. We won’t be back!

Brasserie Blanc is a lovely looking restaurant, the tall ceilings and modern decor create a lovely atmosphere, even on the busiest of nights.

For our party, unfortunately, that was where the positive experience ended.

On taking our order, no-one asked if our group had any allergens. We’ve had this in places in the past, however, given that Natasha’s Law has been in action for almost a month, staff should be trained appropriately.

My wife has a hereditary health concern which has caused her to be on a vegan diet; eating a dish that isn’t can cause serious issue.

The menu that was given to us had few vegan options, this isn’t unusual in most restaurants and by no means the route of this review. The issue was with the labelling on their menu - the Wild Mushroom Tart is not a vegan dish, however, it is labelled as a vegan option. The waitress, Claudia, informed us that it was originally vegan, but due to a switch in supplier the pastry now contained milk. Nothing has been done at Brasserie Blanc to reflect this change; all it takes is for the manager or head chef to simply cross out the vegan label next to the dish. Moreover, request that your staff inform guests on arrival that that part of the menu is incorrect.

The manager appeared once, she did not introduce herself nor did she apologise for the inconvenience that they had caused. She handed us an allergen list that was incorrect. On their list it had the Wild Mushroom Tart as being a vegan dish, again, not accurately updating their own records of allergens. This made it difficult to then pick a new dish to order as we could not trust that their list was accurate.

Claudia was a great waitress, she was extremely helpful in creating a new dish from scratch that catered to my wife’s dietary needs. She apologised profusely and I feel bad that she didn’t get any physical sign of support from her manager when dealing with this issue.

As mentioned previously, neither the chef or manager came out to apologise for the inconvenience that they had caused.

The restaurant still had the nerve to add on a £12 gratuity, of which the waitress would only get a % of. We declined paying this and tipped the waitress directly. The manager couldn’t even look us in the eye, say goodbye or apologise as we left.

Natasha’s Law came into full affect on October the 1st and I feel that this restaurant completely undermines it from their total lack of disregard to provide basic labelling of their dishes. It is seriously illegal and life endangering to operate in this way, please go through your allergens & ingredients and update them accordingly, then proceed to stay on top of them.

There is no excuse to be this ignorant.

We visited Brasserie Blanc at Chancery Lane on Saturday evening with Virgin Experience voucher for 3 courses dinner. We could not make a better choice. Food was delicious and flavourful, plating - excellent. Dominic, who serve us - extremely nice and professional. We spent fantastic 3 hours there, although restaurant was reasonably busy, we felt very welcome to extend our stay. We definitely will be back again.

Ian the waiter in Portsmouth made our experience really fun- he was very attentive (without being annoying!), made really helpful suggestions, and did his best to make our experience enjoyable. Manager Daniel was also very cheerful and friendly! Would definitely recommend.

Great restaurant in Oxford. Delicious food and Kasia our waitress was absolutely brilliant. Well done BB Oxford, we will be back.

My favourite restaurant in Leeds. Delighted you are open again. Simple, good French food. Delightful service.

Nice spacious restaurant and setting but...

Several of my party enjoyed their food but my mine was rather ordinary. The duck unexceptional without a really nice sauce to accompany.

ice cream balls absurdly small and came away rather peckish

The Beaconsfield restaurant is a lovely design, but a bit noisy with so many hard surfaces. It makes conversation quite hard work when the restaurant is busy. Nevertheless, the food and service were lovely.
The biggest problem in Beaconsfield is PARKING! Be warned, even Disabled spaces are at a premium and nowhere near this restaurant.

Brasserie Blanc Cheltenham is usually great, however today they tried to serve my pregnant wife a barely warmed chickpea burger and then redeliver it falling apart and covered in grease after we asked for it to be cooked to a safe temperature! The staff and manager made us feel like it was our fault and seemed completely surprised and almost in disbelief that Chickpeas were a high risk food? They mentioned taking my wife’s food off the menu, then charged us for everything bar the burger.. Then proceed to explain just how long and troublesome it would be to refund and recharge us the correct amount. An embarrassment- the food was a train wreck and the service appalling. Shame to see this place go down hill!

The Avebury Boulevard (Milton Keynes) MK9 2GA branch has long been a favourite of my family in MK, so I have usually taken them there for a meal when visiting 3 - 4 times each year. On a visit 28 April 2018 spent £96-30 on a nice meal for three, BUT incredibly noisy restaurant and the "accessible" toilet having the door hanging off spoilt the experience - Grotty ! I cannot climb stairs so no alternative but to have family guard the loo door while I was inside. Latest visit on 17 August 2012 spent £117-10 on a nice meal for four but the room was NOISIER, and the same toilet had the same unlockable hanging-off-the-wall door. I interviewed the Manager "Mike" at 21:40 17th and told him what I thought of Him, His Restaurant and His Company. There are better, cheaper alternatives - look them up. I have no personal or commercial interests in any dining venue in MK, but avoid this one, I shall. John Wiseman, Staffordshire. (Waitress Excellent, Food all right !)

Several excellent nights out here over the years and the most recent visit didn't disappoint. Great atmosphere, a nice buzz around the place on a Friday night. Menu selection was superb, an food and wine were as good as ever - plotting the next return!