Looking into Marjorie's - those tables at the front were popular all night
What can you tell us about Marjorie's?
Set in a compact two-level space in Soho, Marjorie's takes its inspiration from similar venues you might find in Paris. Billed as a wine bar and restaurant, we'd say it's closer to a wine bar with an excellent menu of small-medium plates, with a decidedly French influence. It comes from a pair that are new to hospitality, Michael Searle and Josh Anderson, but who have brought in a chef with plenty of experience to run the kitchen. That's Giacomo Peretti (ex-Le Gavroche, Temper, Firebird and The Culpeper), cooking from a small open kitchen down in the basement.
Where is it?
It's taken over what used to be an old poke restaurant, on a side road just off Carnaby Street, with Oxford Circus as the handiest tube station.
Marjorie's is a two-floor affair with the upstairs space more of a traditional bar layout, mainly centred around a long bar. If you're after more of a wine bar feel, this is the place you need to be, as are the few tables on the terrace. Head downstairs and things are a little different and probably better for larger groups. There's either a big central table that seats eight, but ideally four of you will want to grab either of the tables hidden in one of the arches:
Downstairs at Marjorie's - if you can grab those booths at the back, that's the place to be.
Down here, you'll also find the small open kitchen, so if you want to see just how they turn out such excellent food, grab one of the four stools here:
Sat at the kitchen counter
And what about the food at Marjorie's?
The food here has been billed as French, but it's very much a modern take on French as opposed to your classic French bistro. So you'll see things you recognise on the menu like tartare or millefeuille, but they've been given some decidedly modern twists. It's a style that suits Marjorie's very well, bringing in a flavour of Paris but in a Soho setting and approach.
Small (and a few medium) plates are the order of the day here. The kitchen was very on top of things when we visited on a busy Friday, so you can get away with ordering two to three dishes at a time. Space is limited, particularly on the counter seating, so you'll need to utilise it well. Take a look at what we ordered below - it's a pretty good guide for two of you to leave nice and full. That said, you can easily cut out a couple of dishes and still have a great meal at Marjorie's (the bread with fantastic brown butter on the side is also worth a look):
Chicken liver rocher, hazelnut, morello (£4 each) - yes, that's a gooey chicken liver parfait take on a Ferrero Rocher.
Crab tartelette, kumquat (£6 each) - beautiful, bite-sized crab custard tarts.
Fried courgette, rouille, trout roe (£8) - these claw-like snacks are a must-have.
Lamb tartare, spring vegetables, goat's cheese (£15.50) - combining a standard (but very good) tartare with a smattering of veg really elevates this.
Poached chicken, rice, brown butter (£16) - One of our favourite dishes of the night, served in a fantastic brown butter emulsion and with the rice scraped from the bottom of a pan for a crunchy texture throughout.
Bavette, egg yolk emulsion (£28) - The steak was wonderful, but the egg yolk emulsion was easily one of the best steak sauces we've ever had. Move over, bearnaise.
What about dessert?
They do have a cheeseboard (French cheese, of course) by La Fromagerie, but if that's too much then the millefeuille is the must-have. It looks enormous, but it's all incredibly light.
Mille-Feuille, strawberry, créme diplomat (£11) - that impressively tall pastry is much, much lighter than it looks as it crumbles under a spoon or fork.
Hot chocolate mousse, hazelnut, olive oil (£9) - yes, there is a chocolate mousse on almost every menu right now, particularly if it's a French restaurant, but this warm affair helps it stick out from the pack. There's also a hidden hazelnut praline at the bottom of the dish.
And drink?
Wine is the main draw here (it is a wine bar, after all) and the list is exclusively French and being French, that does put things on the punchier side with bottles starting at around £45 and glasses at £9. Their stated aim here is to concentrate on contemporary and small-batch producers, while the wines by the glass will be changing regularly. We went for a 2022 Guillemain Pinot Gris at £48, which went very well with the whole menu, so we can definitely recommend that.
There is a small cocktail list with drinks at $14 each, There, we'd say the Butter Martini is the one to go for.
We covet their wine glass
Overall thoughts
Regular readers will know that we do love a wine bar and as such we found a lot to love about Marjorie's. Almost immediately popular, it had a buzzy vibe all night long, the wine was great and the modern French food was fantastic. There aren't too many wine bars like this in Soho, so we can see this being a well-deserved massive hit.
More about Marjorie's
Where is it? 26 Foubert's Place, Soho, London W1F 7PP
How to book: Book online
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @marjories.london.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Marjorie's. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
Subscribe to be the first to get the news from Hot Dinners
