French Cuisine at Barbican’s Morgan M

Everything about Morgan M says class. Named after its world class Head Chef, Morgan Meunier, the restaurant maintains a ‘modern approach to cooking rooted in classical French cuisine’ (Morgan trained under Michel Guerard in south-west of France, and Marc Meneau in Burgundy) bringing to The City of London food of Michelin star quality and probably breaking the hearts of its community fanbase in north London from where it has moved.

On entering the restaurant you are immediately struck by a sense of balance and purpose, this is clearly all about the food. The décor is tasteful and the atmosphere is classy yet slightly homely. Reflecting people’s natural tendency to eat specific foods at different times of the year, Morgan M sources seasonal foods that are unique to the season and the time of year and marries them with an extraordinary attention to detail in the balance of tastes, presentation and overall impression of the food that Morgan so carefully crafts.

There are two ways to eat at Morgan M, from the haute cuisine menu where you can choose from the finest of Suffolk Valley’s meats, including partridge, venison, hare and duck alongside starters of fois gras and snails, and a range of deserts that really are ‘to die for’ or from the seasonal tasting menus.

The tasting menus really show of the depth of thought and flavour that is on offer at Morgan M and it is worth mentioning that the restaurant boasts a formidable reputation for vegetarian food. The autumn ‘from the garden’ menu, which my partner had, was, I can safely say, some of the best vegetarian dishes I have tried this year.

The food is prepared in such a way as to really distil the flavours and essence of each dish. Lobster and crayfish cannelloni with shellfish cappucino, oven-roasted leg of partridge with liver raveoli, seared fillet of John Dory with parsley root puree and champagne froth. To finish I had a pineapple soufflé, coulis, Pina Colada sorbet and coconut tuile.

It’s hard to find fault at Morgan M. The service is impeccable and the accompanying commentary to each dish and guided tour of the French wine-valleies as we drank wonderfully selected wines, which did nothing but enhance the liveliness of each round of food, was like going to a fairground with limitless tickets for the rides. I looked around to see what other people were experiencing and there was a lovely settled atmosphere of intrigue and conversation. This is a restaurant where you can come and really wow people with your underground knowledge of what is surely one of the finest French restaurants in London.

Morgan M was until quite recently resident in Holloway and was a well kept secret of North London with fine dining and a somewhat local or community spirit. This element to the restaurant has been incorporated into a lively bistro version of the restaurant on the ground floor that was humming with the after work London elite tasting from a selection of smaller versions of Morgan’s signature dishes, the ballotines of foie gras and snails and a flute of champagne.

There is something for everyone here and a range of options, flavours, styles and dishes that show’s Morgan’s extraordinary attention to detail that make this a stand-out restaurant and one to watch out for when the stars are in town, Michelin or celebrity.

Morgan M
50 Long Lane
Barbican
EC1A 9EJ

Tel: 020 7609 3560