Mon Plaisir - London

Cosy and beautiful place. You can get the pre-theatre menu if you want to pay less than sometimes on Mondays they have accordion player which adds to the atmosphere!The service was great each time I have been there but the food is often just ok. I would say it is a worth a visit as a pre-theater meal because of the atmosphere.

Staff was neither friendly nor smiled. The service is rather long. The meat was not tender at all, nor particularly well presented, is supposedly be a French restaurant, but in France we do not find all this quality of food in restaurants. The wine was very warm. It's really a shame knowing that owners and most employees are French.

I haven't been for years but I was very much looking forward to a return trip to Mon Plaisir. After hunting high and low on Monmouth Street to find it (a sense of direction was never my strong point)I entered into one of those traffic jam situations when everyone stands around looking gormless with a kerfuffle of coat-taking and the like. It was worse for me as my nose was chilly wind-induced running(nice)and the first thing I did was to ask for a tissue which got em. By the time I was offered a serviette (napkin?)my host thought I was being most strange just hovering there not going to the table.Anyway. At the table, I sat myself down, and said host offered me a sip of his kir royale, saying it had taken him ages to get a drink. I don't know about you but that's not what I want to hear when I go to a restaurant. I want to unwind from the journey before being hassled head-first into ordering food.So I had to do that wave thing and try and catch the eye of a waiter/ress/ron ANYone to get me a drink, whilst trying to hold a hello how are you isn't this nice thanks for inviting me to lunch conversation. With my nose running. Not good.Food was just OK. I didn't have the snails as I was going to the dentist the next day and didn't want to freak him out, particularly as he looks like he should be in a boyband. I had scallops (too salty) and I forget what else, and I only went last week. Just shows. I think there were all sorts of comfort food on the menu from what I recall, coq au vin and the such, but nothing waved any flags at me.Happy to be taken (sort of); I wouldn't host lunch there myself.

We've been eating at Mon Plaisir before and after plays and on special occassions now for about a decade. It's authentically French and gives you the chance to show off with a few choice bon mots.I think one of the main reasons we've stayed loyal to Mon Plaisir as a family is that Dad rather likes the lingerie shop next door. Needless to say the rest of us find this a bit creepy!The first time we came here I ate perfect French onion soup followed by a rare entrecote steak frites with creamy peas with lardons. And it was so good that I have eaten the same thing each time! In many ways the peas are the star of the show. A bit like a pea carbonara they're so good they'll have you hooked like a smack addict. They set the standard for French bistro food in London.Over the years I've sampled (nicked from other peoples' plates) some fantastic garlic snails, delicious grilled salmon and a disturbingly cold coq au vin which Mum was too embarassed to send back! That one disaster apart we've collectively fallen in love with Mon Plaisir and will continue coming back until either they or we shut down!

A slice of old-school France in the centre of Covent Garden!Ask for a table upstairs and you can while away a happy afternoon with some superb traditional French grub. Great Muscadet on offer with some wonderful fish last time I went.And don't let the sneer of the waiter deter you they DO take bookings and WILL let you choose the table YOU want!! ;