Blues Bistro and Bar is not at all how I had imagined it: I pictured a dimly lit Soho dive, the air thick with the smoke and smell of gauloises, the thudding beat of a jazz combo, musicians sheltering behind sunglasses and five o'clock shadows, the rasp of a saxophone serenading honky tonk women.
For a start, Blues is not a dive, you enter the cool blue bar with its Venetian mirrors directly from the street. The restaurant is done in pale wood, decorated with striking paintings by Nick Moore. There is a display of stunningly colourful Murano glass, with pride of place going to a pair of Picasso plates that I lusted over throughout the meal, (with apologies to my dining partner who was so cavalierly passed over in the lusting after!). Even the word Bistro scarcely does justice to this rather sophisticated but informal dining room. At lunchtime in early December before the Christmas parties were swinging, the room was busy with serious foodies, such is its reputation amongst the local media dominated business people.
After a spell in New York, managing partner Anthony Whitehouse wanted to recreate a modern Manhattan style bar and eaterie in London's West End. His culinary partner is the chef Gerry Dowd, who trained at the Roux brothers' Waterside Inn before becoming head chef at Café Flo in the Fulham Road where he met Anthony who was then front of house manager there.
To the menu then, and the appetisers (3.95 to 6.95), from which we selected the top of the range tiger prawns, fully loaded, as they say, with coriander fritter and garlic cream. The prawns were juicy and wonderfully sweet, the sauce was terrific, unabashedly creamy, but the fritters had a disappointingly dull texture and flavour. I went down town Manhattan and had Eggs Benedict made with a nicely browned off cheese sauce rather than with Hollandaise. The yolk was perfectly soft, the muffin was fine, the Canadian bacon correct and smokey, though personally I always find it has a rather processed feel to it. That's the nature of the beast, if you don't like the bacon don't have the Benedict.
There is a rather good selection of salads from 3.95 for a starter portion to a very modest 5.95 for the main course size. Not that we tried one, but I did stare hard at one that was brought to the next door table and I admired it greatly, piled high with grill branded chicken and lots of other goodies. I suppose I should really have tried the Caesar Salad, as a good one is one of the benchmarks of good American catering. Not that I got the impression that Blues is claiming to be an authentic Manhattan dining experience, for this is emphatically not a theme restaurant in the current vernacular sense.
Main courses could be categorised into two classes: recipe dishes and grills. Prices start at just under a tenner for Maryland chicken with Corn Fritter or Roasted Salmon with Fig Compote and deep fried wantons. Pan fried pieces of tender rabbit came very nicely arranged in a deep dish lying on a finely executed celeriac fondant with lardons of smoked bacon, 12.50. We noticed that in general the sauces were smooth and rich with a satisfying degree of cling factor, no longer a thing of the past, it seems. Funny how one so easily reverts to the bad old ways after a spell of jus and more jus.
From the grill we tried a fillet of red snapper, 12.50, which had been given a second chance by the addition of coriander and shell fish oil, a combination that did little to enhance a fish so well disguised that we had to remind ourselves what it was by consulting the menu again. I preferred the grilled polenta, topped with flavoursome goat's cheese and surrounded by an attractively arranged salad with a super dressing.
Desserts are well priced at 3.50 and for an additional pound you can have a selection, more than sufficient for two to share if you are running the gamut of the menu. The individual pies and tarts were excellent in their way, but came bereft of their sabayons, creams and sauces, which rendered the degustation rather hard work. However, the cimmanon ice cream was really sumptuous, but it didn't go with the other desserts very well. Don't miss the excellent key lime pie, it was better than any I had in the North West last summer.
Outside the Christmas and New Year period, there's a very good set menu, three courses for 14.00, and only a tenner on Monday and Tuesday nights. Let me give you a taster:
Blues Bistro & Bar, 42-43 Dean Street, London W1 Tel: 020 7494 0717
Open for Lunch: Monday to Friday 12.00 - 3.00pm
Dinner Monday: - Wednesday 6.00pm - 11.00pm; Thursday - Saturday
6.00pm - 11.30pm
If you have visited Blues Bistro & Bar please let us have your comments:
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