Red Onion

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £17 (lunch)
   £17 (evening meal)
• House wine: £12.95 per bottle

• High point: Accomplished and confident menu
• Low point: Boring artwork
• Food served: Mon-Fri 11am-11pm; Sat/Sun noon-11pm
• Open since: 2004
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs, Wheelchair access, Pre-theatre menu

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

Red Onion is the venture of former 'chef to the stars' John Quigley and his wife Gillian. Now he's settled in his hometown, the restaurant demonstrates his intention to keep things global - indeed, some canny marketing and a solid reputation abroad mean almost half the restaurant's bookings are from overseas customers. 'Fusion' is not a concept so easily applied to décor, so it's understandable that the interior plays it safe, with tall, light wooden furniture and white walls upon which paintings of (remarkably) red onions hang. The principal influences are France and the Far East, so something as rustic as meaty, savoury French onion soup - replete with a thick wedge of toasted emmental hiding a mass of shredded onion - seems as natural as some light, egg-bound crab-cakes and sweet chilli sauce. There's a similar breadth of influence in the mains. On one hand, seared beef salad tosses tender strips of teppanyaki-style steak through crunchy beansprouts with a drizzle of sesame oil. On the other, there's a cassoulet with the smooth aroma of top quality stock introducing an authentically complex dish of rugged Toulouse sausage, soft pork belly and confit duck, with tarbais beans and breadcrumbs soaking up the full-bodied sauce. Hints of simple classiness carry onto desserts too: frozen raspberries explode with a little chill in the mouth before a white chocolate sauce soothes. As far as casual dining goes, this is most impressive.