Reader Special Offer: Cote Brasserie, Camden

With the sun out and its grand trees gently dappling light across the pavements, Parkway can have touch of the French boulevard about it. Well, more so than its cartographical status as one of London’s arterial thoroughfares might otherwise belie, anyway.

So the arrival of Cote, the bistro chic chain that has rapidly dotted new branches across many of the UK’s most desirable post codes, fits the street ambiance as if it’s been there for aeons. In fact, this is a relatively fresh addition to an strong line-up of potential dining options on this leafy Camden strip.

So on just such a sun-dappled lunchtime, we took up their invitation to come down, found ourselves a choice table out front and eased into an all too rare chance to sit back, eat and watch-the-world-go-by.

Starters both impressed and surprised. Tuna Carpaccio (main pic) was an early stand-out moment, melting away oh-so silkily alongside the sharper peps of rocket, zesty capers and olives.

Tomates Breton was easily better (and bigger) than similar efforts served in upmarket joints across the Channel, a bouquet of colourful heritage tomatoes tumbling over springy grilled sourdough.

After cooing over this duo, it was going to be hard for the mains to deliver on a par, and whilst tasty, they did prove more standard fare. Fish Parmentier reminded of my grandmother’s trademark such pie, perfect comfort food rather than another special discovery.

The 10oz sirloin cut was juicy, cooked rare and made for a decent stab at our minor indulgence of lunchtime steak ‘n chips. It couldn’t muster quite enough to dazzle like some of London’s bigger guns, but Cote is big on providing value for money, and this is certainly the case here (it was around £16). It was helped down with what tasted like an equally well priced glass of bold but highly quaffable Le Pas De La Beaume Cotes Du Rhone.

Feeling replete, with only room for a strong coffee to set the afternoon back on an even keel, we agreed it would be hard to grumble about the value that the solid French classics – plus more than a scattering of pleasant modern twists – offers here, set beneath the merciful foliage of Parkway. The restrained bistro stylings inside are pleasant if you’re in the mood for all that, but restrained enough not to jar if you are not.

The lunch and early evening menu, at 2 courses for £9.95 or 3 for £11.90 has to present some of the most keenly priced good eating out in the area, even more so if you throw in a glass of fizz, which was such a damn good idea that we spent the remainder of our visit thrashing out just that exclusive little deal for you all…