<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ploussardlondon.co.uk/">Ploussard</a>

97 St John's Rd

London SW11 1QY 

United Kingdom+44 207 738 1965 

BY NEAL MARTIN | MARCH 27, 2026

The Food:

House
bread and butter

Crab
and black pepper tartelette

Cured
mackerel, blood orange and grape vinegar

Vacherin
and lardo croustade

Shiitake,
hazelnut, egg yolk and Comté

Trout,
pink fir potato and brown shrimp butter

Chicken
breast, Black trumpet mushroom, January King cabbage and vin jaune

Duck
&amp; Gruyère pithivier with shallot &amp; kumquat

The Wines:<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>1996 Krug Vintage</td>
 <td>96</td>
 </tr><tr>
 <td>2020 Domaine Samuel Billaud Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</td>
 <td>91</td>
 </tr><tr>
 <td>1983 Palmer</td>
 <td>96</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>1942 Lafite-Rothschild</td>
 <td>92</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>1954 Yquem </td>
 <td>90</td>
 </tr></tbody></table>

You
know what they say…

Eat
where chefs eat. 

Ploussard
has an innocuous glass façade; you could easily walk past this gem hiding
in plain sight. Someone who apparently does not walk past is famed chef
Michel Roux Jr., who, now that he is no longer running La Gavroche, frequently
dines at Ploussard. Since opening a couple of years ago, Ploussard has not garnered
any Michelin stars, nor have I come across a great number of professional
reviews. Yet this was one of my favourite meals in some time, a restaurant I
would warmly recommend to my friends and Vinous readers. In fact, the standard
of cuisine and quality of ingredients has surpassed some of London’s more
lauded and expensive restaurants. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555428141-ploussard_facade_Vinous.jpg">Ploussard
is a bijou restaurant, around 30 covers, with simple décor of plain wooden
tables and chairs, rows of empty wine bottles lined up on a high shelf (always
a good omen), a few discreet art prints and a small kitchen located at the
rear. Parisian bistro ambiance relocated to South London. Chef Matt Harris
focuses his menu on European dishes. The name comes from an alternative
spelling of the Poulsard grape variety that is synonymous with the Jura.

Four of
us gather for lunch, including two gentlemen with unparalleled knowledge about the
current restaurant scene. One is restaurant critic Andy Hayler, fresh from
declaring in a national newspaper that there is not one bona fide three-star
restaurant in the UK. That is a debate for another day. What can be said
is that London is brimming with great value lunchtime deals. Ploussard offers a
set menu for £38, as well as a carte blanche menu for £85. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555446257-crab_VT.jpg">Crab and black pepper tartelette.We begin
with crab and black pepper tartelette. This has a light texture, and the crab
flavour comes through strongly, the black pepper lending just the right amount
of tang. A strong start. This is more successful than the Vacherin and lardo
croustade, the only real misstep during our meal, a bit too creamy and
overpowering. I must mention the bread that is baked on site. It is wonderful,
quite unusual in texture, with a consistency that reminds me of a warm crumpet.


<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555477734-VT+Mackerel_Vinous.JPG">Cured mackerel, blood orange and grape vinegar.Things
get back on course with cured mackerel served with blood orange and grape
vinegar. This is a risky dish, so straightforward that it could have easily
skidded off track, but Harris pulls it off. The blood orange lends just the
right amount of sweetness to marry with the saltiness of the oily finish,
whilst the grape vinegar provides a perfect canvas. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555509801-shiitake_Vinous.jpg">Shiitake, hazelnut, egg yolk and Comté.I fall
hook, line and sinker for the next dish of shiitake mushrooms, hazelnut, egg
yolk and melted Comté, a winter dish that instantly warms you up. I might have dispensed with the cheese, though it does not detract from the dish as
a whole. The crucial ingredient is the hazelnuts that provide texture and
bitterness to counterbalance the sweetness of the yolk. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555548829-trout_Vinous.jpg">Trout, pink fir potato and brown shrimp butter.The trout,
one of my favourite poissons, comes with pink fir potato and is dressed
in brown shrimp butter. Delicious. The fish has an irresistible crunchiness to
the skin, the meat tender and moist underneath, the shrimp butter brimming with
flavour, almost veering towards lobster in taste. Keep some of the bread handy
to mop it up. 

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555603432-chicken_VT.jpg">Chicken breast, Black trumpet mushroom, January King cabbage and vin jaune.The main
course is breast of chicken, black trumpet mushroom, January King cabbage and a
vin jaune sauce. Enquiring about the source of the chicken, we are informed
that these are free-range chickens from Packington, fourth-generation pig and
poultry farmers in Staffordshire. My learned friends immediately tell me these
are the best in England, indeed, the same used by some of London’s most celebrated
restaurants. Quality just shines through on the plate. The chicken is beautifully
cooked, moist and flavoursome. The black trumpet purée has a wonderful
consistency, the vin jaune lends acidity, and the January King cabbage adds a
soupçon of bitterness and crunch. Again, this is not setting out to be a
masterclass in culinary wizardry, rather a lesson in execution and showcasing a
chef who puts quality of ingredients first and foremost.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555662918-pithivier_Vinous.jpg">Duck &amp; Gruyère pithivier with shallot and kumquat.

As an
extra course, the duck and Gruyère pithivier with shallots and kumquat is
like the previous dish insofar that, whilst not overly complex, it is
perfectly cooked and seasoned. The pastry is light and flaky, the duck moist
and moreish. Because I have dinner booked that evening, I skip the Ossau-Iraty
cheese and tonka bean dessert.

Ploussard
has a comprehensive wine list centered around French regions. Mark-ups are reasonable,
the most expensive offering a Pommard from Philippe Pacalet at £268. Twenty-six
wines are served via Coravin or by the glass, ranging between £8 and £26. Where
I must wag my finger, not for the first time, is that the range is rigidly
“natty,” i.e., almost exclusively biodynamic, organic or natural. Apart from
limiting choices, it makes wine black and white, inferring that winemakers who
protect their wine with sulphur are committing a crime and therefore do not merit
inclusion on the list. This inculcates people with negative ideas about what
may be traditionally made, delicious wine.

On this
occasion, our host generously provided some gems from his cellar. We commence
with a bottle of 1996 Krug Vintage. At 30 years old, it is developing an
iridescent straw hue, though not particularly deep. The nose is engaging with
walnut, warm bread and light smoky scents of moderate intensity. The palate has
the presence one expects from a mature Krug, a very subtle background oxidative
element mingling with orange bitters and a little oiliness towards the finish. It
does beg the question: where will this go from here? As such, I would not
hesitate to open bottles in the near future, but there’s no rush. Next is the 2020
Chablis Vaudésir Grand Cru from Domaine Samuel Billaud.&nbsp;Curiously, I
had never tasted this vintage. Frankly, I would not place it among my favourite
editions of this wine; it's just missing some of the trademark mineralité and
subtle reduction that I associate with one of my favourite Chablis winemakers and
lacking a bit of complexity. The palate is better, well balanced with the
weight one expects of a Grand Cru, though I prefer more bite towards the
finish. Fine, but not up to Billaud’s usual standard.

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555686037-lafite_1942_bottle_Vinous.jpg">Two
clarets with some age came next, purchased at auction for well below market
prices, which is always taking a risk since one cannot guarantee provenance.
Thankfully, we were treated to two exquisite wines that had evidently been
stored correctly. The 1983 Palmer is an absolute peach, though without
question, it benefited from decanting. It is one of those Margaux that can feel
a bit light at first, yet aeration magically gifts it with weight and density.
Leaning a little more towards red fruit, the nose unfolds with tobacco and
pressed flower scents, resplendent with that delineation and focus, though
never powerful or intense. The palate is very harmonious and refined,
understated and perhaps not displaying the fireworks you might associate with a
lauded Margaux. Yet it builds in the glass, gaining depth and grip towards the subtly
estuarine finish. Beautiful. The 1942 Lafite-Rothschild is a wartime
vintage that I was meeting for the first time. Examining the bottle, the level is
sound for its age, and as expected, the bottle has a faint blue tint since
glass was difficult to come by at the time. Crucially, the colour of the wine is
clear, showing a decent amount of bricking on the rim. What I love about the
nose is that it delivers all the signature traits of this First Growth: light
vestiges of red fruit, autumn leaves, touches of leather and fireside hearth. It
gently builds in the glass and coheres wonderfully, but it is a Lafite, so it
never gains intensity. Likewise, the palate is fresh on the entry with
lace-like tannins that support the pretty remnants of red fruit. This comes
across as a “transparent” Bordeaux, not much grip, yet there is presence and
tension, with just a little flesh towards the off-dry finish. Next to me,
Hayler, who has good knowledge of wine, confesses that this bottle altered his
hitherto sceptical view of old claret. Glorious!

<img alt="" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.vinous.com/uploads%2F1774555706320-yquem_1954_Vinous.jpg">We
finish as all lunches ought, with a Sauternes. The 1954 Yquem is a
vintage that I encountered at the château a couple of years ago, although, as
seen on the label, this was bottled by the Bordeaux merchant Mähler-Besse. It is
not dissimilar to château bottling: marmalade and estuarine scents on the
mature nose, still vital and fresh. The palate is relatively lighter compared
to other vintages, as there is just 79 grams per litre of residual sugar. Mandarin
and marmalade emerge once again on the palate. There’s fine weight and a
slightly viscous texture towards the finish. The 1954 does miss a bit of
bandwidth, but it is still delicious and perhaps not as taxing as a more
concentrated Yquem might be. Lovely.

Actually,
that is not quite the end. We drink a very special coffee from the multi-award-winning
Elida Estate in Panama. The Geisha Classic Natural DRD (Dark-Room Dried)
Aguacate Lot comes from an elevation of 1,900 metres in the Barú Volcano
National Park, and these highly coveted beans were auctioned for $1,610/kilogram.
This coffee is sold in the UK in handy capsule form by The Difference Coffee
Company. It is so subtle in flavour, with discreet touches of red fruit and
a conspicuous citrus element that enlivens the finish.

Our
lunch had lasted around five hours. Apart from uncovering everything I needed
to know about the current restaurant scene, our conversation had spanned wine,
reviewing, artificial intelligence and politics. Ploussard was a joy from start
to finish. It is a refreshingly unpretentious local restaurant south of the
river, though not that far from central London. You could cab it quite easily.
The food is everything. Instead of investing money in fancy artwork or bespoke
cutlery, at Ploussard, it is spent on quality ingredients that are given space
to shine on the plate. Less is more. Harris is clearly a very competent chef
with the nous not to overcomplicate dishes. Service was friendly throughout.

Making
my way back to Clapham Junction station, I completely understand why Michel
Roux Jr. comes to Ploussard. If you fancy something off the beaten track that
will leave you wanting to return as soon as possible, you should, too.© 2026, Vinous. No portion of this article may be copied, shared or redistributed without prior consent from Vinous. Doing so is not only a violation of our copyright but also threatens the survival of independent wine criticism

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