Terroirs

5 William IV Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2N 4DW - View on a map
0207 036 0660.

Overall 9.2
Food 9.1
Service 9.3
Atmosphere 9.3
Value 9.0

what the critics say

Giles Coren - 7.67/10

Saturday, February 13, 2010 - Esther and I had some first-rate squid a la plancha with a zingy aioli and a plate of big clams with ham, garlic and chilli in about a quart of olive oil, and different glasses of I don't know what excellent white wines from their 200 bins, and then shared a first-class cassoulet with a salad of leaves from Secretts Farm (dressed very oily and salty as the Frenchies will), a plate of smoked duck breast with beetroot and hazelnuts and a carafe of red wine so natural it was just a bunch of grapes squeezed straight into the glass from a Frenchwoman's armpit.

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Fay Maschler - 4/5

Monday, November 02, 2009 - The Downstairs restaurant is different from the wine bar in ways that are not connected to the cooking. Meal times are imposed. Larger tables encourage and enable sharing, as do items such as plateau de fruits de mer, potted foie gras mi-cuit and a whole roast Landaise chicken, all served for two or more...I may have tasted a better fish soup tricked out with croutons and grated Gruyere but, if so, I can't place it. Langoustines cooked a la plancha displayed an innocent sweetness in their buttery flesh.

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Jay Rayner

Sunday, August 30, 2009 - A lot of the food here is earthy and French. The coarse toast with parsley-ballasted garlic butter, snails and bacon is one of the best things I've eaten this year. The duck skin scratchings, all crisp fat and crunch and salt, made me feel giddy and ashamed at the same time. But there is also space here for sweet Jamon de Teruel from Spain and nutmeg-spiked potted shrimps from our shores...They are doing a roaring trade. It just happens to be a great restaurant, one which serves duck scratchings. Need I say more?

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Jasper Gerard - 5/5

Friday, June 05, 2009 - We have juicy, small clams with aioli in a broth with vermouth, as well as large whole Dorset crab with good mayonnaise. Both are faultless, but if we'd realised just how good this chef was, we would have gone for dishes to better show off his cooking...A procession of thrilling plats du jour pass, but our waitress bans me from ordering a pungent braised shoulder of Cornish lamb, with couscous, aubergine and harissa. She says I'll explode.

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Matthew Norman - 9.5/10

Saturday, April 25, 2009 - He was the warmest of hosts, expertly guiding us through a wine list as impressive in range as in pricing, and then unveiling a weird depth of knowledge about the rare breeds of pigs that make the charcuterie the highlight of a vastly enticing…All the charcuterie was magnificent, in fact, not least a terrine studded with pistachios, as were buttery, peppery potted brown shrimps.

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Marina O'Loughlin - 2/5

Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - We turn up for our 8pm booking and it's 9pm before we get a sniff of our seat… The tapas-y food when it does arrive – an hour and a half after we do – is great. Truly. There's fat, juicy, smoky chorizo reclining on excellent, eggy piperade; a broth of clams, pungent with ham and garlic; luxurious steak tartare; squelchy, slow-braised pork belly on savoury mulch of Tarbais beans; a charcuterie plate of glistening rillettes, saucisson and hearty, butch terrine. We neck fruity, elegant Cuvée Laïs Blanc, named after independent winemaker Olivier Pithon's favourite cow. How organic is that?

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Terry Durack - 16/20

Sunday, February 15, 2009 - Together with Soho's Bocca di Lupo, Terroirs raises casual, small-plate dining to a whole new level. The food is great, pure and simple. The wine is great, pure and natural. But the best thing is that, like me, Terroirs is genetically unable to see food and wine as being somehow separate. This isn't about food and wine "matching", so much as the two entwined, leading you on, making you enjoy both all the more.

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TimeOut - 5/6

Thursday, January 01, 2009 - The food was sensational, and just what you want in a noisy, informal place such as this. We knew we were in for a treat as soon as we saw duck scratchings on the list. Fat chorizo to dip into yolky Basque piperade, sourdough toast topped with black truffle and bone marrow, crisp-skinned wild seabass la plancha – gorgeous. Our only complaint is having to wait quite a while for the main courses and the bill. Ignore the five-star rating if you want but check the other reviews online, and you’ll find Terroirs has been warmly welcomed all round.

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Fay Maschler - 4/5

Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - Chef and partner in the business is Ed Wilson who spent some formative years with Chris Galvin. His menu is divided into sections of bar snacks, charcuterie and cheese — champion for wine browsing — plus small plates and plats du jour. Either start very hungry or eat with friends to maximise the pleasure of sharing as much as possible… Terroirs, with the sort of pictures, posters and chansons that spring to mind when the phrase French bistro is uttered, is a loud, joyful place where the enjoyment of wine is considered utterly natural.

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your comments review this restaurant

If you like good unusual wines with plates of cold meats and cheeses, this is the place to go to. Even dessert was of very good quality. The tables are a bit cramped and if you don't like meats the menu can be limited.

The service was friendly and the meals are well presented but the main deal is the very large choice of wines - no Hardys or Mondavi wines here but from small vineyards from mainly France and Italy.

One word of warning the bill climbs very quickly with the wines and various plates of ham.
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Dutch_Food - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Terroirs continues to impress with its consistency - good food, the best wines in London and very friendly service.
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Dave
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, July 25, 2011

Fantastic.

This place never disappoints. Dinner for 6 in the restaurant downstairs last Saturday evening. Service was first-rate: attentive, efficient, knowledgeable. Food was very good indeed. A few small plates to share for starters - the pick of which was the duck rillettes. Main courses were all exceptional - the pork belly was the best I've had, and the rabbit with polenta was to die for.

Wine was inevitably good, and very reasonably priced for the quality.

With 3 bottles of wine (all in the £30+ bracket) and one of champagne (the Philipponnat is excellent and served in very concentrating glasses) the whole shooting match cost just over £260, which I consider excellent value for money.

We savoured our dinner all the more as we were very nearly done out of it: a police cordon briefly closed the whole road. Five minutes later it came down, thank goodness.
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Kwev
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I love this place although unfortunnately it has become so busy that its hard to get a table last minute now. Seats at the bar are available if you can get there early enough though.

Staff are very knowledgable about the wines and can really find you exactly what you want, food is hearty and flavoursome. Best part is the atmosphere, you can end up staying wayy into the night here and not realising at all.

Its fairly expensive but you get your money's worth!
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Gospodja
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Monday, May 23, 2011

Last night was my second visit to Terroirs - had a fantastic time the first time round and was sat downstairs.

This time we were upstairs and it was a beautiful sunny evening with all the windows open.

I cannot fault Terroirs - the staff are knowledgeable, helpful and are great at recommending how much to order and what goes well together. As always the selection of charcuterie (rillettes, terrine and some saucisson) was delicious, and we combined that with a steak tartare, potted shrimps and an eel/bacon dish with horseradish.

Combined with a few carafes of excellent wine at reasonable prices - this place really hits the spot. Such a great atmosphere, delicious food and a great wine list and you end up getting a wonderful experience for the same price as many mediocre restaurants.

Amazing place to go - and always makes me feel like I'm on holiday. Highly recommend!!!
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Leah - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 21, 2011

Great fun, noisy and enjoyably chaotic small plates bistro with a cracking wine list, teeming with happy punters. Stand out dishes, packed with flavour included pork and pistachio terrine (a must have); smoked duck, beetroot and hazelnut salad; smoked eel and bacon with crepe parmentier and horseradish cream. Cheeses are in great condition and pannacotta is properly wobbly. Great value too considering the location.
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markj - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, March 20, 2011

Terroirs is a jewel in central London, a great place to go and relax over a drink with some first class nibbles or more substantial dishes if you are in the mood. The wine list is now legendary and the service very friendly.
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Davina
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, March 04, 2011

We ate here last weekend and it was my favourite meal of the year without question - we had the cod's roe, snails & bacon, herrings and also beetroot/goat's cheese; every dish was cooked perfectly and served by knowledgable, genuinely friendly staff. Really can't wait to go back.
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whipped
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Really love Terroirs; what a buzz. Great small plates, earthy mains, fabulous wine list. This place rocks.
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truffleman - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Tasty food, brilliant wine list and friendly service - Terroirs is what the modern wine bar should be all about.
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Dave - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, October 06, 2010

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what the bloggers say

Cheese and Biscuits - 6/10

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - The whole experience had left me extremely uncomfortable, and I'm not just talking about that table. The dishes, though well-cooked and using good ingredients, were clumsily constructed and often unforgivably imbalanced, making the eating of them more of a challenge than a pleasure. I really wanted to like Terroirs, and clearly plenty of people do, but perhaps in the future I'll pay more attention to their excellent wine list. fact, if you approach Terroirs as a wine bar that can serve you the odd bit of food to stop you falling asleep on the train home, then perhaps you'll enjoy it more than I did.

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Dos Hermanos

Friday, February 12, 2010 - The new (ish) space is lovely, lively and buzzing and our table, over looking the bar gave us the perfect chance to watch the comings and goings of the staff...The place may be jumping and the menu may read well, but the execution is sloppy and the final results depressing. A dish of clams with ham and chilli came with enough added salt to make my blood pressure medication worthless. A salad of smoked duck breast with beetroot and hazelnuts should have made the most of terrific ingredients but swamped them with so much dressing as to make any flavours impossible to detect.

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London Eater

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - The food was straightforward, easy to understand and cooked to near perfection and I think this is what makes it special. Terroirs is definitely a great place to have long lunches, and perhaps even longer suppers. I think the greatest compliment I can shower upon it, is that I like it enough to want to go back again and deep down, I want this place to succeed. There really is something special cooking in the Terroir kitchens, and I’m delighted to say that the only way to find out is to eat there.

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Oliver Thring

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - It was a magnificent lunch. The wine list, which naturally deserves attention, places strong emphasis on small growers and biodynamic producers, and has a groaning rack of organic bottles. The menu is self-consciously arresting, rustically artful, utterly du moment… London badly needs a place like this, dextrously serving honest, compelling food in a sociable and unpretentious setting.

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A Girl Has To Eat - 7/10

Monday, April 13, 2009 - At first sight, Terroirs would not appear to hold the secret to anything special. But the moment you enter this homely eatery, you know you will be treated to a dining experience that will resonate with you, for its simplicity belies a Gallic menu filled with some flavoursome, earthy eats…The wine list contains 34 pages of predominantly French wines…so if you are ever in need of a nice tipple and a touch of France, then Terroirs might just be the perfect place.

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Terroirs

what the critics say

Giles Coren - 7.67/10

Fay Maschler - 4/5

Jay Rayner

Jasper Gerard - 5/5

Matthew Norman - 9.5/10

Marina O'Loughlin - 2/5

Terry Durack - 16/20

TimeOut - 5/6

Fay Maschler - 4/5

your comments review this restaurant

what the bloggers say

Cheese and Biscuits - 6/10

Dos Hermanos

London Eater

Oliver Thring

A Girl Has To Eat - 7/10

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