Weekly Review: Luc's Brasserie
Leadenhall Institution is optimised for a professional lunch.
Quick hit: City stalwart delivering quality brasserie fare.
Details: Booking essential. City. £££.
Restaurant website. More on Instagram.
Find it on Google Maps. 17-22 Leadenhall Market, EC3V 1LR.
When I first put together the Guide last year, I was conscious that the City was underrepresented. I worried that this was a big flaw, given the number of professional lunches happening in the Square Mile every day. So I solicited suggestions from friends, colleagues, my wife, and my Saturday morning golf group, which over-indexes on City-types. From the golfers, and in particular Colin and Peter, came the very strong view that I needed to try Luc’s. It was coupled with disbelief and appropriate ridicule that I hadn’t already been.
A visit has been on my to-do list ever since. And finally, a lunch with a city-based journalist seemed the perfect excuse.
Luc’s is a City institution. For more than 30 years, it has delivered solid brasserie lunches and great wine choices in Leadenhall market. The value of the deals done in the Luc’s dining room and private rooms upstairs would far exceed the GDP of most medium-sized economies.
It’s not hard to see the appeal.
Situated in a long gallery overlooking the market, Luc’s embraces the traditional brasserie feel. There are white table clothes, polished wood floors, and friendly, familiar service.
The menu embraces tradition, too, and ensures that there is something for every taste. There is steak tartare, escargots, duck bread, roast chicken, and bavette steak with frites. There is also a lengthy list of interesting sounding fish dishes and some nice-sounding vegetarian options. The wine list is full of classic French choices at a range of price points, from “just getting to know you” to “just closed the multi-billion transaction.”
Rather than bow to the obvious (steak) or to my desires (duck breast), I wanted to see what the kitchen could produce when some real cooking was involved. So, after a couple of straightforward starters — smoked salmon was both smoked and salmon — I went for the Toulouse sausage cassoulet, and it was very good. The sausage was well-sourced and nicely spiced then cooked properly, with a bit of bite retained. The beans and sauce in the cassoulet were pleasant and hearty. Paired with a glass of Cote du Rhone, they made a good antidote for the horrible, cold, rainy day outside.
In deference to waste-line, we passed on dessert, though I certainly felt a pang of regret about that on the way out.
Luc’s genius lies in recognising that almost none of its diners are paying the bill, and that an accountant will ultimately be scrutinising with a tightly-written expenses policy on hand. For our lunch, with starters, mains, a little wine, and coffee, we enjoyed Luc’s excellent hospitality for a bit more than £50 per person. That’s a lunch that any expense-conscious CFO could love.
So, of course Luc’s is for professional lunch. It is designed, maintained, and optimised with professional lunches in mind. The food is solid, reliable, and well-prepared. The atmosphere is conducive to a first meeting, a quiet negotiation, or a big celebration. And the location could not be more convenient for anyone working or coming to the City.
Thanks for reading my review this week. What are your go-to places in the City? (And don’t say the Ned.) Let me know in the Comments. And please subscribe if you haven’t already.