Head to this Joburg bistro for hearty French fare at fair prices

22 February 2017 - 12:19 By Jono Cane
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French onion soup is a bistro classic.
French onion soup is a bistro classic.
Image: Supplied

The decor of A la Bouffe in Linden may be spectacularly bad, but the food is fabulous, writes Jono Cane

Badly decorated restaurants that serve good food are far preferable to well-designed ones that serve rubbish. A la Bouffe in Linden, Johannesburg, can be confidently placed in the first category.

There's something spectacularly wrong about most of the style choices made by the owners of this sweet little French eatery. No doubt the thinking was to go ''unpretentious", which is both admirable and in line with their food philosophy.

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But what's transpired is less the effect of under-designed than undesigned. The few (far too small) Persian carpets fail to hide or even break up the cheap floor tiles; the height of the ceiling, instead of adding space, adds only cavernous and echoey acoustics; and the dark bluey-green hipster paint treatment feels like an awkward attempt to recreate what was perhaps an attractive image in someone's ''trendy restaurants" Pinterest board. Yet the artlessly arranged tables, unfortunate framed pictures and reclaimed wood bar are the perfect foil for a good, honest meal.

I recommend sitting outside to be as little distracted from the food as possible. We ordered snails and French onion soup with croutons for starters. Both were lovely and uncomplicated and perfectly accomplished.

The blue earthenware crockery hit just the right note of French country cuisine, as did the red and white gingham napkins.

For the main course we ordered steak with green beans and chips and slow-cooked pork belly. Both were yummy and satisfying. The chips which accompanied the steak were, in both of our opinions, the best we had ever eaten, striking that elusive balance between crispiness and softness.

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For dessert we had rice pudding with lemon curd, and dark chocolate mousse.

The full three-course meal was R200 a head as part of an ongoing special.

A la Bouffe is recommended as an unpretentious and sincere place to eat. The owners and employees are dedicated to making good food and that's far more important than good lighting, comfortable spatial proportions and colour choices.

NEED TO KNOW

When to go: Thursday dinner.

Who to take: A date or the family.

What to drink: Red house wine by the glass.

Who you'll see: Linden hipsters with calf tattoos and ironic caps, groups of older gay men, Afrikaans families with neatly dressed grannies.

How much you'll need: R200 for three courses.

Contact details: 32 Seventh Street, Linden, Johannesburg, 011-888-8004, romuald@alabouffe.co.za

• This article was originally published in The Times.

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