Private Dining Rooms

Overview

Mon Plaisir is said to be London’s oldest French restaurant, situated in the heart of Theatreland it has for over fifty years been family owned and run.

The private dining room is set at the rear of the restaurant premises and features giant canvasses hung on rustic brick walls with comfortable banquette seating the length of two walls.  Our private dining room seats up to 25 diners in an intimate and cosy atmosphere.

We offer many of the classics such as Terrine de Foie Gras, Gratinée à l’oignon, Entrecote grillée and Coq au Vin as well as more modern dishes as well as one of the finest French cheese boards in London.

Insider View

There’s only one restaurant in London that can justify the accolade of ‘London’s oldest French restaurant’ and zut alors, that’s Mon Plaisir. That history spices up the venue and it makes for an attractive and exciting restaurant. It’s a place jostling with stories to tell and you can be in no doubt that the owner will be happy to regale you with tales.

This charming spot in Covent Garden goes back all the way to the 40's and many elements of the décor celebrate this. Each private dining room oozes with character. In fact, it’s easy to picture VIPs of yesteryear sipping a good wine whilst tucking into the delicious Gallic fare. It’s no wonder you’ll feel special doing the same.

The French proprietor Monsieur Lhermitte has been at the helm himself since 1972 and his zeal for the place is immediately obvious. The place is chockfull with antique paraphernalia and everywhere you look, there is a striking piece of glass or a delightful piece of pottery. Taking the first private dining room on the ground floor for example and you’ll see shelves stacked with old clocks and accordions; just some of the many items that Monsieur Lhermitte collects with passion. That’s not to say that this venue is over-crowded, far from it. Decorative displays are well positioned; fantastic sets to relish and not intrusive in anyway. Indeed, minimal modern elements such as plush striped benches and simple sturdy chairs, sit wonderfully alongside collector’s items.

Art fills every wall and gives Mon Plaisir its idiosyncratic feel. From original Parisian posters and modern abstract paintings by Melissa Aitken to exquisite art-deco tiling, you genuinely feel art and design are championed here. Indeed, no corners have been cut in celebrating design in all its guises. The rooms were converted by no less than Tim Whitmore and Steve Thomas (famous for creating the celebrated Biba store in the 1970s) and the bar is a genuine pewter, solid wood and brass piece brought here from a Lyonnais brothel.

Here the welcome is warm, sincere and very French. Staff are incredibly accommodating and the private dining room arrangement also reflects this. Other spaces to choose from include a top floor room in the eaves complete with skylights and exposed brick walls, easily sitting 20. The downstairs room known as ‘next door’ comfortably caters for 30 and would be an ideal private space.

With settings so inspiring and with the location perfectly situated in Covent Garden, where better to enjoy traditional French cooking and soak up history, French culture and Gallic charm. Mon plaisir? No, the pleasure will be all yours.