It sounds like a Fawlty Towers gag, but a restaurant called Monsieur Le Duck, focusing solely on duck, has opened in London’s trendy Clerkenwell district.
Duck obsessed owner Richard Humphreys is passionate about the food from southwest France, and keen to bring Gascony classics to London.
Among the signature dishes at Monsieur Le Duck are: a Barbary duck burger with prune mayo; duck steak baguette; duck Wellington; confit Moulard duck leg; and duck magret breast. If you don’t like duck, you’re rather stuck.
The wine list meanwhile, shines a light on southwest France, with wines available by the glass, carafe or bottle. Armagnac is also shown a lot of love on the list.
The duck-centric restaurant went permanent after a successful six-month pop-up near Liverpool Street.
Undeterred by the niche nature of the concept, Humphreys, a former financier, is keen to expand his Monsieur Le Duck brand with additional sites across the UK capital.
He also dreams of taking the concept to Paris, Europe, Asia and the US.
“Duck is a relatively unexplored meat in the UK, but the health and sustainable benefits make it a great alternative to beef.
“The carbon footprint of duck is one fifth of that of beef and lamb, and it contains more iron than beef,” Humphreys said. “Duck fat has a melting temperature of 14 degrees, whereas beef is 45 degrees, which means your body will processes the fat a lot easier than other red meats.”
