City Eatery Has Foie Gras, $3,413 Wine: Richard Vines (Update1)

 Fancy a leisurely lunch with expensive dishes and fine French wines? No, I thought not.

These days, people are canceling lunches, saying they don't want to be away from their desks for hours at a time because of the markets. I suspect we are all becoming a little more price- sensitive, too, as bonuses shrink and jobs disappear.

Cue Le Bouchon Breton, a new French brasserie, Champagne and shellfish bar in Spitalfields market, handy for ABN Amro Bank NV's London headquarters and as many bankers as it takes to fill a venue that can accommodate 320 drinkers and diners. There's a 2001 Petrus for 2,200 pounds ($3,413) if you are feeling lucky.

The food prices are, shall we say, ambitious. Steak tartare, for example, costs 18 pounds for 200 grams (which I ordered as a starter) and 25 pounds as a 300 gram main. Now, this is no bog- standard steak tartare, admittedly. It's prepared tableside with raw chopped fillet of beef by a manager who previously worked in London at Brasserie St. Jacques.

I know that because he served the same dish there, under the supervision of the three-star Michelin chef Pierre Koffmann. It's an epic steak tartare, with fantastic texture and flavor. But Brasserie St. Jacques, not a cheap venue, charges 9.50 pounds for the dish as a starter and 16 pounds as a main. At Racine, another respected eatery, steak tartare is 8 pounds and 16 pounds.

Le Bouchon Breton is brought to you by a heavyweight team. It's the brainchild of the restaurateur and former broker Ian Stoppani, with Michel Roux Jr. of Le Gavroche as adviser. The chef (Nicolas Laridan) and manager-sommelier (Francois Bertrand) are also ex-Le Gavroche, possibly London's finest pedigree.

Gallic Treats

This new brasserie is attractive, though the location isn't ideal, perched above what is now effectively a shopping mall. You can stand outside and still have to ask where it is. Once inside, there's a beautiful tiled floor and comfy banquettes. The long menu -- with its art-deco typeface -- is full of Gallic treats, from snails and steak frites to profiteroles and creme brulee.

There are many good things about Le Bouchon Breton. I had a homemade game terrine with hazelnuts and Madeira jelly (9.95 pounds) that was as meaty and coarse and authentic as you would wish. A main of pan-fried veal kidneys with tarragon sauce served with tagliatelle and mushrooms (16.95 pounds) had all the full-on flavor you'd want. Ditto the ox cheeks. The fries are good and the all-French cheese board is a match for almost anywhere in London.

But I kept stumbling over the prices, including 15 pounds for a pan-fried foie-gras starter, and some dishes were less than stellar. For example, a main of grilled fillet of gurnard, squid in garlic and parsley butter with ratatouille lacked flavor. I'd resist paying this much out of my own pocket for brasserie food.

Pork With Mash

Desserts are modestly priced at 6.50 pounds to 7.50 pounds. I did try the set lunch, at 18 pounds for three courses and it was a bit dull, particularly the main of roast pork with mash. If I were on a budget, I'd try St. John Bread & Wine, over the road.

The French-dominated wine list is a thing of beauty, with modest markups by London standards. The house Champagne, Henriot Brut Souverain, is good value at 34 pounds a bottle, or 10 pounds for a glass. The sommelier turned up a beautifully smooth red from the Rhone -- Saint Joseph ``Les Rocailles'' Domain Finon 2004 --for 35 pounds with smoky black fruit aromas and a lot of oak.

If you can afford to pay more, Meursault ``Vireuils,'' Domaine Guy Roulot 2006 offers value at 86 pounds. Meursault, Domaine Coche Dury 2005 is another for the connoisseurs and costs 125 pounds. There are more than 700 other options.

So there you have it. Drinking at Le Bouchon Breton can be a bargain, while eating there can leave you feeling short-changed. You really need to order carefully. The excellent steak frites (starting at 16.50 pounds) are the way I'd go if I returned, and I'd trust the sommelier to find a red that wouldn't -- how shall I put this? -- break the bank.