Horses for main courses

Whisper it gently in Ascot, Epsom and Goodwood but horse meat is on the menu at a London restaurant. Le Tigre et la Grenouille, in the unlikely setting of Bethnal Green, is cooking up publicity by offering the equine dish as its house speciality.

The horse meat - or Steak de Cheval poele Marchand de Vins - is sandwiched between thin layers of palm heart and accompanied by a red wine and shallot sauce, and a dull English side dish of carrots and potatoes. Manager Xavier Claustres claims his restaurant is the first in London to offer horse as meat rather than odds, and is reaping the financial rewards at £13.95 a go.

"It is proving very popular. We've not had any problems from people. Most of my customers are adventurous and want to taste something different," said the Parisian.

His head chef and business partner, Konor Miah, said the French restaurant was selling 30 dishes a week, or the equivalent of two horses a month, imported from a supplier in Brittany.

But what did it taste like? Well, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so there was no other option than to tuck in. After a salad starter I waited for my horse to come in. Chef Miah explained that he had to cook it quite rare because the longer it pan-fried, the tougher it became.

And the verdict? Not bad. A little tough, and a bit too much blood oozing from my fork, but the beast tasted like a...cow. It was perhaps a little sweeter and certainly chewier than beef but not a lot different. While my horse-loving girlfriend watched through gritted teeth, I indulged further squeezing blood from the morsels of meat in exchange for a fairly bland sauce. She had opted for the ostrich, which proved leaner and, in my view, tastier.

Would I recommend it? If you fancy a nice chewy bit of meat, horse is your choice. If you would rather something more tender then go for something else.

Either way Le Tigre et la Grenouille is an interesting place to visit, not least to meet the manager. Mr Claustres, who moved to England more than two decades ago, teamed up with Mr Miah, a Bangladeshi, in 1996 to open the restaurant bearing their countries' adopted symbols - the tiger and the frog. Mr Claustres said Bethnal Green was chosen after he and his wife got in the car at Covent Garden and headed east. "It seemed the best place to stop, and it was near Liverpool Street to get lunchtime trade," said the optimistic manager, who still speaks with a strong French accent.

But will horse meat ever become popular with wider British palate? Stephen Potter, at horse meat exporter LJ Potter, thinks not.

"As people in Britain become more cosmopolitan they have become more used to having different things on their plates," he said. "But people do become very close to their horses. It will just not catch on in the country."