Upper Street Islington is heaving with eateries which have come and gone over the years. Le Mercury, a French restaurant offering reasonably priced meals for lunch, pre-theatre and evenings, has stood the test of time. They have been prominent on the street for over thirty years now since 1985. The menu provides a small selection of well-executed French brasserie-style dishes at very reasonable prices for London. If you’re searching for a French restaurant Islington, French bistro Islington or restaurants near Almeida Theatre do give Le Mercury a try.
“Charming French restaurant serving a well-executed bistro menu at affordable London prices, a popular and well-loved Islington institution,” Homegirl London
Le Mercury French Restaurant Islington Menu
This restaurant specialises in bistro food at great prices. The menu is concise but offers all you need to experience French cuisine, which includes meat, poultry, fish and vegetarian dishes. I went to Le Mercury recently with five women, one lunchtime for a birthday celebration, and everyone found the selection ample. For starters, there is a soup of the day which happened to be vegetarian on our visit. A couple of people ordered the mussels which they thoroughly enjoyed. They commented on the quality of the mussels, saying they were fresh and juicy. The white wine and cream sauce was expertly seasoned with shallots, garlic, lemon and parsley. This seemed to be the favourite starter. The other seafood dish was deep-fried calamari with homemade tartar sauce which was simple but well cooked. Or you could try the crayfish and lobster ravioli with spinach and shellfish sauce.
Mussels
Meaty starters were ham hock mustard terrine with spicy beetroot relish and toast. Chris tried the beef carpaccio with capers, red pepper relish and wild rocket salad which she enjoyed. I was happy to see a couple of vegetarian options of grilled goat’s cheese with salad and a drizzle of pesto which I ate. Alternatively, it was white wine poached pear with blue cheese, roast walnuts and balsamic reduction. There were nine starter options in total which included baked Camembert and toast to share if four people were willing to opt-in.
Calamari
You have a choice of ten mains. For seafood, it’s smoked haddock and salmon fishcake with wilted spinach and shellfish chive sauce. The pan-fried sea bass fillet comes with crushed new potatoes and mint pesto. They also had a seared fillet of Scottish salmon accompanied with broccoli and a lobster sauce. For a French experience, try the guinea fowl breast on garlic potato puree and green peppercorn sauce. Or the Barbary duck breast with the potato puree and savoy cabbage plus a red wine jus. Meaty options are slow-roasted honeyed pork belly, the braised neck of lamb or rib-eye steak with a shallot sauce.
Duck Breast
Vegetarian mains are pan-fried black quinoa with spring onions, radish, cucumber and egg mimosa (stuffed hard-boiled eggs). I didn’t fancy a boiled egg so went for the mushroom risotto with grated Parmesan topped with wild rocket. This was very good with big slices of mushroom, it very creamy and the portion size was decent.
Mushroom Risotto
The dessert offering is full of crowd-pleasers like Crème Brulee, banoffee pie, sticky toffee pudding, lemon tart or dark chocolate tart. Most of these were served with a side of vanilla ice cream. Three people went for the Crème Brulee and gave it the thumbs up. They thought the custard base was perfect although one person did comment that they would have liked a thicker hard caramel layer on top. Drinks-wise it’s a concise wine list of white and red wines plus prosecco, two champagnes, dessert wine and port. They also have a few cocktails.
Crème Brulee
Overall, the food is a good standard for a lunchtime catch up with friends or a leisurely business meeting. It’s also great for pre-theatre meals if you’re heading to the Almeida Theatre or even Sadler’s Wells. After the theatre lot have departed, they turn the lights down low. That’s when you can cosy up with your lover in the candlelight and share a bowl of mussels and a glass of wine. It gets quite busy in the evenings, so it’s good to book.
Le Mercury French Restaurant Islington Interiors
The restaurant is situated on a corner with expansive windows. It has a quaint exterior with an old fashioned appearance painted in a dramatic black gloss. It’s somewhat let down by the laminated menus in the window which I wish they would remove because it spoils the building.
Restaurant Interiors
Inside it’s cosy and is spread out over three floors. It’s nice to sit downstairs because you can people watch. The walls are painted yellow with contrasting pale blue on the pillars. They have a few decorative objects and plants dotted around, and a lovely ornate mirror hung on the wall. The space is quite relaxing and reminiscent of a typical French bistro. A bit of a turn off for me was the paper table cloths which could be replaced with brown paper secured with clips as in other restaurants who don’t want to use linen. The paper serviettes were a poor quality which could do with an upgrade. Other than those small improvements, it’s a great place for a decent French lunch or dinner in the heart of Islington.
Le Mercury French Restaurant Islington Information
Restaurant Exterior
Cuisine: French bistro
Price: Starters £4.45, mains £10.95, desserts £3.45, 2 course set menu £9.95 and 3 courses set menu £11.95 (certain times and days for the set courses)
Website: Le Mercury
Address: 140A Upper Street, London N1 1QY
Near: The closest station is Highbury and Islington and then Angel. You are near Lower Holloway, Essex Road and Canonbury areas. Almeida Theatre, Sadler’s Wells and Islington Vue cinema are close by
Open: Check the website for up to date opening times
Wi-Fi: Sorry, didn’t notice as was dining with friends, it’s not a place where you can get your laptop out so please retrain yourself!
Décor: French bistro cosy style
Seating: Over three floors
Toilets: Basement
Reservations: Can book via telephone which you should do for the evening
Author: Homegirl London. Photographs: Homegirl London. Thanks: Wolfie, Chris, Louise, Lulu and Lucy for letting me take photographs of their food.
