Bellanger

Traditional French restaurant on Islington Green, inspired by the original Alsatian brasseries of Paris. Open 7 days for coffee, cake and à la carte dinner.

Bellanger | French Restaurant & Brasserie | Islington London

A traditional French brasserie and grand café in the heart of Islington.

Relaxed, informal dining serving food inspired by classics from Alsace, with both French and German influences.

True to the atmosphere of the original Parisian brasseries with a restaurant, bar, terrace and live music every evening.

Bellanger is the latest opening from Corbin & King - the team behind The Wolseley and Brasserie Zédel amongst others.

https://www.bellanger.co.uk

Bellanger, London

Bellanger, restaurant review: You don't have to be a star to dine at ...

Valentine's Day falls into that category, but that doesn't mean we're not loved-up – we had a stealth night of fabulous romance at Claridge's hotel with dinner at the Colony Grill Room a couple of weeks before the 14th (after 25 years together, we thought we deserved it and, as it turns out, we won't be splashing out on such treats in the future, but that's another story…) I mention all this because the Colony Grill Room is owned by Corbyn & King, two of London's most accomplished and best-loved restaurateurs.

Yes, the fabled service is in place and the menu made up largely of glamorous dishes (with a punchily priced wine list to match), but it's like being in a reliable, neighbourhood place, not a stellar showstopper.

It's all warming and gorgeous and to be best enjoyed while wearing an elasticated waist (possibly not, then, the place for new romances), apart from a couple of rogue dishes that nod to the eat clean brigade – salad of avocado and superfoods, and grilled chicken with a little gem salad.

My husband's made a long-term study of rum babas, and the Bellanger version is judged to be a success, although neither of us has enormous reserves of appetite with which to attack the extensive pudding list (or some marvellous-sounding cheeses).

And if, of the local celebrities, you're more likely to spot Boris Johnson than Jeremy Corbyn, well, you can't have everything… Bellanger, 9 Islington Green, London N1, Tel:020 7226 2555.

Bellanger review: a posh Islington restaurant for semi-ordinary people

Islington is a bellwether, and also a joke: the most unequal borough in London, where social housing leans against £4 million terraces (for now, loyal Conservative voters, only for now), and also the holy font of Blairism as it appears in ‘It’s Grim Up North London’.

There is more news in Islington, better news for the critic herself spiritually resident of ‘It’s Grim Up North London’: Chris Corbin (note the ‘i’) and Jeremy King have opened a new restaurant called Bellanger, which rears, like a Cinema Paradiso, from Islington Green.

Corbin and King run some of the best restaurants in London — the Delaunay, the Wolseley and Fischer’s.

This pair want everyone in their restaurants and they are priced for it, particularly Brasserie Zédel, the pink barn in Piccadilly; the owner of the Richmond Crescent house with the super-basement might, therefore, be surprised to find semi-ordinary people in Bellanger.

If there is another restaurant homage to Strasbourg in north London, I have not found it yet.

Grace Dent reviews Bellanger: Terrific fun, but nothing that will make ...

Bellanger, on Islington Green, celebrates the food and ambience of the classic brasseurs of yesteryear Alsace.

But ten minutes through the doors at Bellanger, having demolished a tarte flambée Alsacienne, a plate of baeckeoffe with a side of pommes aligot, then a cleansing scoop of sorbet Gewürz, you’ll be quite the expert.

Tartes flambées, you’ll know by this point, are wafer-thin, wood fire-cooked Alsatian pizzas, slathered with crème fraîche and scattered with various non-diet items such as lardons, Munster cheese or Calvados-laced apples.

A strong reason to stay put in the capital is for Corbin & King’s elegant, dependable yet still surprising restaurants such as The Delaunay, Fischer’s and The Colony Grill Room (the last being one of my favourite places to be in London).

Bellanger feels to me like a delightful mix of The Delaunay (European old-school glitz pulled off with Manhattan chic) and the gloriously eccentric Fischer’s (schnitzel, würstchen and Viennese konditorei).

New Openings: Bellanger

The concept: Working once again with designer Shayne Brady (the former David Collins Studio senior designer with whom they worked on Fischer’s), Corbin and King have travelled back in time to turn-of-the-century Paris and the Alsatian roots of the grand brasseries.

After the glamour of The Colony and the tongue-in-cheek of Fischer’s, Bellanger feels like a go at solid bourgeois respectability.

Bellanger | Restaurants in Islington, London

Like those, it’s named in connection with classic cars (backstory: The Wolseley site was originally built as the showroom of the Wolseley Car Company).

Bellanger is a nod to the Société des Automobiles Bellanger Frères, a French car manufacturer from 1912 to ’25 (fun fact: Monsieur Bellanger sold Delaunay cars).

And once again, it pays homage to the golden era of all-day ‘grand cafés’.

If you can call interiors straight from the Alsatian brasseries of turn-of-the-century Paris ‘new’, that is.

There’s an irresistible nostalgia across the dessert list, from our dinky black forest gâteau, to the moreish crêpes suzettes: a couple of warm folded pancakes dressed with a grand marnier sauce, grated orange zest and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.