Saturday 14 August 2010

bob bob ricard- push the button

I came here for a bloggers meet up so it was a special set menu with paired vodkas. Frankly I was bit nervous about this, I haven't really touched vodka since university where double vodkas and coke were the fastest and cheapest route to oblivion. I was hoping this would act as vodka rehabilitation for me!
We kicked off with rhubarb flavoured G&T's which were the prettiest shade of light pink and a lovely refreshing way to start on a very hot evening.
I was also worried about the amuse bouche which was listed as tongue in aspic. For those of you who don't know what aspic is, this translates as Tongue.In.Cold.Jelly. Yeah I know slithery isn't normally a quality I look for in my food either but this was actually suprisingly nice, meaty and savoury like the jelly in pork pies. It was paired with Vodka Imperia sreved at -18 degrees. Vodka is actually meant to be downed neat as an internal heat delivery system for those cold russian winters, so I held my nose and did it. The vodka was smooth and cold with a pleasant afterburn.

Starters was a Russian salad topped with a quails egg and shaved truffle and paired with Vodka Kauffman Special Selected Vintage. This is supposed to be the most delicate vodka in the world made from the wheat of the finest harvests with a soft aniseed and liquorice finish.It also really intensified the flavours of the salad.
Properly fortified we moved onto mains which in this case was Veal Holstein, deep fried breaded veal on a mound of truffled mash topped with anchovies and a fried quails egg. As a little surprise a lake of special sauce had been hidden under the veal inside the mash. This dish was delicious but just a bit too rich and heavy for such a hot night.
Puds and I opted for the chocolate glory, described as chocolate jivara mousse and chocolate brownie with passionfruit organge jelly and meringue (which really I shouldn't have, given that only a moment before I'd been complaining it was too rich but I couldn't resist!). This came as a golden sphere and just as I was thinking what the hell, how am I supposed to eat this, hot chocolate sauce was poured over it causing the outer shell to dissolve, to much oohs and aahs around the table. I think it's worth getting this for the sheer theatricality of this dessert alone but it also tasted pretty dammn good.
I love Bob Bob Ricard for many reasons. The fabulously OTT decor, the fact that they have buttons that say "push for champagne", the pink jacketed waiters. Vodka has been successfully rehabilitated for me. I will be back especially as in August they have a caviar lunch for only £20!

http://www.bobbobricard.com/pages/home.html
Bob Bob Ricard
1 Upper James Street, London, W1F 9DF
Estimated cost per person:£40

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