You have to feel a little sorry for Pierre Koffman. How can the man live up to the burden placed on him by being the hottest ticket of the brand new London Restaurant Festival. People were killing for a table until Selfridges, who created his pop-up restaurant on their 5th floor, extended his run by a week then extended it again ‘til the end of the month
 
I have to say he did pretty well in a temporary kitchen with a temporary brigade but - and it’s a big but - I didn’t think the meal was worth the £75 he (or Selfridges) was charging for it.

Time has moved on since Koffman left his Chelsea restaurant La Tante Claire, now Gordon Ramsay's flagship. I remember going there and being bowled over but to be honest there wasn’t that much around at the time. Chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White were just starting their careers. Nearly 20 years on and Britain is a different place, with at least 20 chefs can cook as well as Koffman.

His food, while delicious, appeared slightly dated - not that one can lay that at his door. According to Bloomberg's restaurant critic Richard Vines he wanted to serve more  of the more recent dishes in his repertoire, but was persuaded to trot out the old favourites just like a rock star has to sing his old hits at a comback concert. Well, it would have been wrong not to have the famous trotter and I’m glad I reminded myself just how good it was: seductively sticky, stuffed with sweetbreads and morels, accompanied by the most unctuous mash and an almost sweet jus, it’s a dish you never forget.

I was less impressed by a rustic dish of wild mushrooms and rather earthy snails with bone marrow. I like rustic but not when I’m paying £20-odd pounds for a starter.

A pistachio soufflé with pistachio sorbet was perfectly executed but a touch over-sweet for my palate with its dusting of chocolate powder - I much preferred my colleague Fiona’s light crumbly fresh walnut tart with chestnut honey ice cream which went superbly well with a glass of Jurancon, Clos Uroulat from Charles Hours

She also chose well for the first course, a light, bright terrine of ‘pressed’ leeks with langoustines and a truffle vinaigrette though her main course of roast cod with ceps was disappointing - the cod was too salty (actually salted I think) which detracted from its sweet flavour and threw the accompanying ceps off course.

I suppose to install a temporary restaurant like this and pay the very senior chefs in the kitchen (two superstars in their own right, Eric Chavot and Bruno Loubet)  is expensive but the ingredients weren’t and if you think about how the £75 adds up you’re talking about £35 for a main course, and £20 each for a starter and dessert. The final bill for two came to £242.16 including coffee, an annoying extra £4.95 for petits fours we hadn’t ordered and five wines by the glass, a modest choice from quite a pricey list. I know many people wouldn’t think that was expensive but it seemed quite steep to me. Another of his former chefs  David Everitt Mathias of the two starred Le Champignon Sauvage charges £64 for four courses (admittedly out of London) and The Capital’s two star restaurant where Chavot used to cook gives you five courses for that amount.

Koffman is a modest man who I’m not sure really likes all the attention his return to the restaurant world has attracted. He’s also held in high regard by the chefs who have passed through his kitchen, many of whom are now big names themselves. He was an icon of his time so if you have a couple of hundred quid burning a hole in your pocket ring up the booking line (020 7318 7778) and see if you can get a table. (Evenings and weekends are booked out but there’s still some availability at lunchtime) I’m just not convinced it’s the best deal available at the festival.

The London Restaurant Festival runs until Tuesday October 13th. You can read the piece I wrote on the star sommelier line-up at the restaurant on decanter.com