French Living

French Living - it sounds like an ex-pats estate agents for Brits seeking a bit of la vie en rose in Provence. Not a bad name for the deli and cafe which are to be found at King Street level, but hardly an evocative one for the subterranean "capsule of Frenchness" which is the restaurant below.

It really is about as French as anything gets in Nottingham. The checquered table cloths, the sexy French accents of the serving staff, the whifs of garlic and formidable camemberts - they are all the real thing. This is provincial French cusine at its hearty and traditional best, without a hint of the insufferable snootiness of Parisian restaurants.

We arrived for an early dinner at 7.15pm, half of our party of four having tickets for a gig by Alabama 3 at The Rescue Rooms. The place was quiet but gradually filled up over the course of the evening - it's nice to see that they seem to be doing OK midweek.

I went for the fish soup which was superb. Last year I had the opportunity to see how a real chef makes this while I was on a barge cruise on the Canal du Midi. First you go to the fish market and buy a kilo of soup de poissons - actually a medly of small fish. These are cooked and then ground up and forced through a kind of sieve which creates a rich, thick, intensely fishy base for the soup. French Living's version had exactly the same aromatic and authentic flavour that I recall from that idyllic trip.

We drank house red by the 1ltr carafe - nothing special but an acceptable vin de table and good value at £12/ltr. They are happy to serve you tap water rather than requiring you to buy bottled, which is good news.

After I had ordered my venison and the waiter had disappeared, I realised that he had not said anything like, "How would you like that cooked?" or "The venison comes pink, is that OK?". Instead they just went off and cooked it the way they knew it should be done - and it was perfect. Really, the best venison I have ever eaten - incredibly succulent and gamey with a rich dark sauce which was sweet enough for contrast without overwhelming the meat.

Everybody gets the same veg, a small dish of potato baked in soured cream and a sort of ratatouille of mixed vegetables - both delightful and plentiful. I tried a mouthful of the lemon sea bass which was startlingly zesty and invigorating after the autumnal richness of the venison.

The menu gastronomique (£18.50) includes a plate of 3 cheeses or a dessert. The men went for the cheeses as usual - what is the reason for this gender divide? Why don't men eat desserts? - I don't know. The cheeses were mature, warm and formidably stinky - just the way I like them.

At £108 for four people including 2ltrs of house red, 3 coffees and a couple of strange Corsican fig liquors, this was an excellent value French holiday in the heart of Nottingham.

I'll definitely be going back to French Living, perhaps to sample one of their regular Gastronomy evenings and probably to take a croissant and a grand creme in the deli.