Bob Bob Ricard - A little bit too much

Logically, BBR should be my perfect restaurant. The restaurant itself is beautiful and the attention to detail outstanding. The layout and the booths make the place feel intimate and cosy but at same time the place seems lively. Even better its open all day so if you feel like having lunch at 4 because you woke up at midday - why not! It serves popcorn in boxes that match the plates and the menu, and the waiters dress in adorable outfits with the boys in pink blazers. And thats all before mentioning the now infamous Push For Champagne button next to every table. There really seems to be nothing that this place has failed to pay attention to except oddly, the food.

To begin with, I'm not a great fan of the menu. I found there was nothing that made me think "oh I want that, and that, and that, and that - I wonder if I can have two main courses... " Luckily I wasnt starving due to the popcorn and champagne I found waiting for me at the restaurant along with the ever agreeable Boyfriend.

We opted to start with Rabbit, Foie Gras and Date Terrine - £ 14.50. Which was fine really, nothing to write home about - a little chewy but fine. A tad expensive for what it was, but I guess throwing foie gras into anything lets restaurants feel like they can charge whatever they want.

Next, The Boyfriend had Poached Loch Duart Salmon with Warm Cucumber Dill and Mustard - £16.50 - which he described as "perfectly cooked" but aside from that, didnt look overly thrilled. The salmon looked a little lonely on its own, they had gone for the minimal look which was an improvement on my dish. 

I ordered the Veal Holstein - 21.50 after having read its the thing to order here. From an aerial view, my dish looked pretty normal, however, after moving the veal slightly, I discovered, every ingredient under the sun. 
Their dish included -
- The Veal 
- Water cress 
- Capers 
- Courgettes 
- Tomatoes 
- Quails Eggs 
- Anchovies 
- Truffle Mash 
- Gravy
and a lemon


Veal Holstein calls for the capers, quails egg and anchovies and the truffle mash was incredible (so I'm accepting of that too) but the other 4 ingredients were just too much. With 9 flavours to a dish, assuming you put a maximum of three ingredients together in one bite, there are 129 different combinations of flavours you can create. To me, that screams too much. There was so much stuffed on to the plate that it was, at stages, difficult to eat. And after all of this, the veal itself, the main star, was dissapointingly under seasoned with no sign of salt and pepper in sight *sigh*.

This was accompanied by a side of Macaroni and Cheese -£ 5.50 - not an obvious choice as a side but an excellent way to judge the restaurant. I consider myself a Mac and Cheese aficionado, eating the stuff at least four times a week. This did not live up to scratch. In a really great mac and cheese, breadcrumbs are redundant, as the cheese levels should be so high as to provide a crisp brown top with a satisfying little crunch. Needless to say, this mac and cheese didn't have enough cheese.


The Boyfriend seemed very impressed with the wine list which was apparently very reasonable. More reasonable then I found the total bill which was a little over 140.00 for two glasses of champagne, popcorn, a starter, 2 mains, a side and three glases of wine. A bit OTT to say the least, (the set lunch menu at Alain Ducasse is cheaper) but then again, that seems to be the theme at BBR.