Where: 66 Knightsbridge (just across the street from Knightsbridge station)
The Scene: An elegant and trendy after work crowd in the overly posh Knightsbridge area
Delight: Scrumptious mains
Disappointment: The crowds and my starter
Bar Boulud is located in the beautiful Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel. The front of the hotel (above) is absolutely stunning. As I waited for the mister to arrive I stood in front of the restaurant people watching and counting the number of Christian Louboutin's that walked into the restaurant. I had thankfully thrown on a dress before I left the house, but was all of a sudden feeling incredibly under dressed.
We were seated immediately and since we were celebrating the mister's new job we decided to order a bottle of wine. I asked for the wine menu, which was practically indecipherable to both of us. We weren't offered any help either, which I wasn't impressed by, especially when I saw the sommelier at the table behind us.
What I was impressed by was the open kitchen and floor plan. You could pretty much see the kitchen from any seat in our section, which I absolutely loved. You could also sit at the bar of the kitchen, which I would definitely do if I went back for their insanely reasonably priced fixed menu lunch.
One last thing before I mention the food. The tables for two were ridiculously close together. The reservation next to us didn't get seated until nearly the end of our meal but we were sitting so close I felt like I was part of their conversation. At a buzzing tapas house (Polpo) this can easily be pulled off, but for a finer establishment, really?
Ok, on to our food. For a starter I had the pâté grand-mère (fine country pate chicken liver, pork and cognac). I was tempted by the tourte de canard (duck, foie gras, figs, pastry crust) but decided to go for the cheaper (£6.50 as opposed to £11) yet still delicious sounding pâté. I was definitely wrong to do so. The pâté grand-mère was dry and while not flavorless, tasted of something I didn't like (although I couldn't figure out what it was). The mister ordered the salade de roquette, which he happily enjoyed with no complaints.
For our main courses I ordered the Saint-Jacques forestière (sautéed sea scallops, mushrooms fricasse of peas and watercress) and the mister had the dbgb piggie burger (rilled beef patty with bbq pulled pork bibb lettuce, green chili mayonnaise cheddar bun, red cabbage slaw and pommes frites). YUM! We both thought our main courses were delicious, although the mister did wonder why they would make a burger so tall that you can't get it into your mouth. My main was a little shy on scallops (there were only 3) but it was a full plate of food and I ate it all.
Scallops
dbgb piggie burger
As I mentioned before they have a very reasonably priced set lunch, so you'll be sure I'll be back.
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