Have you been to: La Barbe Cuisine de France

Well I have; and I highly recommend this excellent non-smoking restaurant with delicious food and wine in a most pleasant setting. La Barbe is situated in Bell Street in Reigate, opposite the Bell Street car park. We had heard so many good reports and so my friend and I decided to book a table for two and try dinner and received a genuine welcome; we were shown to our table and asked if we would like an aperitif while we browsed through the menu.

We noticed how busy the restaurant was; especially considering it was a Tuesday evening but because of the lay out the chatter of the other customers did not interrupt us.

We chose the two-course meal, which is very reasonably priced at £24.95 per person. I had the pork fillet served with coarse grain mustard mash potato and garlic cream followed by chocolate and mint bavarois. My friend enjoyed grilled tuna steak served on a bed of mango salsa and coconut milk followed by the orange and Grand Marnier frozen mousse. We chose the house win to accompany our meal from the extensive wine list, which also recommends which wine be accompanies each dish. We had coffee to follow but it was also nice to see the different teas available from Earl Grey to herbal, which many restaurants do not offer.

Well what can I say; the La Barbe experience was superb with its excellent food/wine service. The whole experience was worthwhile and we both will definitely be returning. I suggest you book early to avoid disappointment. We noticed the restaurant is also taking party reservations now for Christmas and New Year with some interesting discount offers if you book in advance.

Mark Richards
The Challenger - September 2004