Michael Deacon reviews Caractère, London: 'The roast lamb was as pink as a major’s cheeks and explosively juicy'

As restaurant gimmicks go, it’s an odd one. At Caractère, a new French-Italian place in Notting Hill, the menu is divided not into starters, mains and puddings, but into ‘character traits’. So all the meat dishes, for example, are listed under ‘Robust’, the fish dishes are listed under ‘Delicate’, and the cheese is listed under ‘Strong’.

There’s a section headed with the word ‘Curious’, and another headed with the word ‘Subtle’. Which all seems harmless enough. Until, that is, you get to the puddings.

Because the puddings, for some reason, are listed under the word ‘Greedy’.

Greedy. Great. Thanks for that. They could have gone for, I don’t know, ‘Indulgent’, say, or ‘Decadent’. Maybe ‘Insatiable’, or even ‘Ravenous’. But no. They went for ‘Greedy’.

Now, I don’t for a moment suppose that the people in charge meant any offence by it. I’m sure it was just their little joke. All the same, though, it does feel a tiny bit off-putting, trying to choose between the chocolate cake and the baked apple rose, while right under your nose the word GREEDY is jumping up and down and pointing and sniggering at you. Greedy-greedy-greedy!

But perhaps I’m being over-sensitive. I suppose it could have been worse. At least they didn’t go the whole hog and call it ‘Big Fatty Oink-Oink’, or ‘Waddling Blubberguts’, or ‘You Know What? You Sicken Us, You Repulsive Bulging Sack of Flab. There Are People Out There Starving. Children in the World’s Sixth Largest Economy Will Go Hungry This Christmas. And Yet You Have the Gall, the Sheer Screaming Shamelessness, To Sit There Cramming Your Fat Privileged Face with Pecan Praline in a Salted Caramel Sauce. Christ. How Can You Sleep at Night? We’ll Tell You How: Because as Well as Hideously Overweight, You’re Either Blisteringly Ignorant or Mind-Bogglingly Callous. PS. Do Try the Mille-Feuille, Sir, It’s Simply Divine.’

Also, to be fair, the menu did have a point. I was being greedy. My friend and I ordered no fewer than five courses each, plus the cheese. We couldn’t help it. Because, in our defence, the food at Caractère is absolutely top-notch.

And so it should be, really, given the backgrounds of the couple responsible for it: Diego Ferrari (former head chef at the two-Michelin-starred Le Gavroche in London) and his wife Emily Roux (formerly of the three-Michelin-starred Louis XV restaurant in Monaco). Emily also happens to be the daughter of Michel Roux Jr, and the granddaughter of Albert Roux. Albert opened Le Gavroche, back in 1967, and Michel Jr runs it.

But back to Caractère. First, from the menu’s ‘Curious’ section, we had the veal sweetbread and the roast scallops. The veal sweetbread – served with roasted artichokes and olive paste – had a thick crispy exterior and a faint unexpected spiciness. The scallops – served with salsify purée, mustard and beurre blanc – were meltingly dreamy.

Next came the section called ‘Subtle’. Another odd heading, that. Puts the diner under pressure. Feels like a kind of test. ‘Are you capable of appreciating our exquisitely delicate subtleties, our intricate diaphanous nuances? Or are you a numb-tongued thug who can’t tell a truffle from a Turkey Twizzler? Well?’

Personally I recommend ignoring the heading and ordering the risotto, fat cheesy blobs of pleasure, zigzagged with a reduced port sauce and sprinkled with ‘black crumble’ (Parmesan, turned black using trendy edible carbon powder). Or there’s the celeriac ‘cacio e pepe’: celeriac sliced into long slim ribbons and served in a creamy, pasta-style tangle.

On to ‘Delicate’, the fish course. Roast turbot, presented on the bone and teamed with smoked cauliflower and red-wine sauce, and then grilled monkfish, served with a raw citrus aniseed sauce (about as delicate as a jet of lemon in the eye, but still good).

My ‘Robust’ meat course was the roast rack of Herdwick lamb, pink as a major’s cheeks and explosively juicy, and accompanied by grilled aubergine. My friend had wild duck roasted on the crown, with shiitake mushrooms and fondant chervil root.

Next it was time for ‘Strong’: a hefty helping of Stichelton, a punchy English blue cheese that’s made with raw milk.

The ‘Greedy’ puddings, incidentally, were excellent. The mille-feuille beautifully brittle, and the chocolate cake heavy but velvet-smooth.

Caractère is really good. Not cheap (£78 a head for the courses my friend and I had, and that’s not counting drinks), but good. To be frank, it doesn’t need the gimmick. It’s the kind of idea you come up with after one glass too many. ‘We’ll name all the courses after character traits! And call the restaurant Caractère! Which is French for ‘character’! Because it’s a French restaurant! Partly!’

They can easily drop all that. The food speaks for itself.