Le Relais de Venise - May 2011

Where: Le Relais de Venise, Marylebone
With Who: Mr Pipes
How much: £25 a head with drink and service (no pud...)
Come here if: you're terrible at making choices

In the slightly rarefied surrounds of Marylebone, Le Relais feels like a bit of an anachronism. It's a French style old school canteen of a place that wouldn't feel out of place on the Left Bank with waitresses in formal maid's outfits, paper table cloths and decor that hasn't been touched since the 80's. Oh, and they only serve one dish. One. A plate of steak frites. I exaggerate slightly, if you force me to include the lettuce and walnut salad you get for a starter and the short dessert list of French classics, but your main course options are limited to one. Un. Eine. Uno. Served rare or medium.

Now if you're going to do that, you better be bloody sure that you've got the right dish and you're cooking it perfectly. Since for me, steak and chips is pretty much my perfect dish and certainly my last meal (on the proviso I die in close proximity to Hawksmoor or Peter Luger), this should be my perfect restaurant.

It's certainly not up in that rarified company, though neither are the steaks £30-£40 a pop. It's not 'alf bad though... The Parisian sibling is just known as L'Entrecote so you'd expect the steak to be an entrecote cut - or rib-eye as you might see it called elsewhere. It feels like something else though, faux fillet or sirloin, as there's less marble than you'd expect and it's just not as flavoursome as I'd want from a rib-eye. You receive it in two parts, the second held back and kept warm by the team of French maids, served with yet more shoestring frites. This is often disconcerting for the newbie, as the first tranche of meat is a good sized portion on it's own.

Their USP comes with the sauce. A thick tasty secret recipe sauce in the truest sense, it's got a kick of white mustard, thyme and a thousand and one other ingredients. It's an interesting accompaniment and though pleasantly spiced, it doesn't overwhelm the steak at all.

A weird and wonderful old establishment, and certainly somewhere you should come at least once. The concept started in Paris and has (very) slowly spread over the last 50 years to take in 2 branches in London and another, relatively recent, in New York. It's not the finest steak you'll ever have, but it's competently cooked, quality meat at a reasonable price in a quaint setting.