French restaurant Bellevue Rendez-vous
218 Trinity Road, Wandsworth Common
London SW17 7HP

Bellevue Rendez-vous is a great local restaurant for those living around Wandsworth Common. It is owned by a couple who really work hard to provide an excellent friendly service. I have not reviewed every time I went there (over 10 times easily) but it has always been a nice relaxing dining experience. This time Pablo the chef was ill but his replacement managed to still provide a good dinner. For more reviews about this place, please take a look at the page of restaurants listed by alphabetical order.

We ordered a 3 course set menu at £19 for one, and the rest was à la carte. As starters we had a quiche and a foie gras (£8). As main course we had a boeuf bourguignon and a bavette (£13). For desserts we had a gâteau de Pablo and a fondant au chocolat (£6.50). We also had a 1/2 litre of sparkling water Badoit (£2) and a glass of house red wine (£4.50).

The two starters

Foie gras et chutney

La quiche

The foie gras was a quite big piece! It was very good, smooth and tasty. With the sliced baguette, it was a great starter. The bread here has always been fresh and light. The quiche, sadly, was a bit overdone. A shame, since it had a nice light pastry and tasty filling – but even if still quite edible, was not up to the usual standard here.

The main courses

Boeuf bourguignon et gratin dauphinois

Bavette aux échalottes et pommes de terre sautées

The main courses were good. The bavette (flank of beef) was perfectly cooked, a little burnt and crispy on the outside and red without being bloody inside. The shallots on top were a good balance to the meat. The potatoes could have been better cooked, but then the chef Pablo was exceptionally not there as explained above. Normally they are very hot and lightly crispy. This time they were mildly hot. The boeuf bourguignon was also very good. It is a simple dish, full of strong rich flavours – definite comfort food. It was served with rich creamy potatoes gratin dauphinois, which were a perfect accompaniment.

The desserts

Gâteau de Pablo

Fondant au chocolat

Close-up

The desserts were good, especially the fondant au chocolat. When you break the shell you have a nice hot melting chocolate that matches well with the vanilla ice cream. If you are into chocolate, this dessert is highly recommended! The gâteau de Pablo was light and a perfect way to end the diner. The presentation was a little less good than usual for the reason mentioned earlier.

Cost and conclusion: it was £53. At the bottom of the menu it is written a 12.5% service charge is added to rude people. We managed to escape it by being friendly enough 😉 So there is no “discretionary” service charge included in the bill as many restaurants rudely do. We really like that and restaurants like Bellevue Rendez-vous should be supported for following that policy. Highly recommended!