Le Sept

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

Le Sept's airy dining room is all casual Gallic chic rather than over-coiffed stuffiness or Eiffel-and-onions pastiche. Black and white photographs crowd one wall and ledges are decked with red rosehip fairy lights. By day the lunch deal attracts both soigne city chicks and older souls, and in the evening it's more romantic. For starters, chicken liver pâté is slinky, soft and creamy, while a juicy fat mackerel fillet comes warmed with lightly piquant horseradish sauce. Savoury crêpes make good comfort food, bubbling with bechamel and Jarlsberg. A grilled fillet of sea bass is cooked with just the right lightness of hand, with juicy basil pesto and crisply sautéed potatoes. Prime Aberdeen Angus steaks have six optional sauces, from Bleu d'Auvergne cheese to mixed berries and port, and there's Chateau Margaux on the wine list. Ingredients are impressively sourced: organic free range eggs in crêpes and omelettes; free range chicken in the coq au vin. Puddings are fairly plain. While the lemon crêpe is fine, it's the sort of thing you might easily make yourself. Likewise, the chocolate and cointreau terrine is so spare with liqueur that it's really more of a straightforward chocolate hit. But for pure and simple French cooking with a focus on quality ingredients rather than finicky flourishes, Le Sept remains a good bet.

• High point: Proper French home cooking – with happy chickens
• Low point: Paper napkins