What’s worse than anxiously awaiting snow-maggeden 2018 round two? Eating egg whites during a snow storm. It should be all mac and cheese and vino, but in (hopeful) preparation for this weekend’s black tie, it’s all carbless sadness. Instead, let’s reminisce back to meals of better days, the last great London meal of Bob Bob Ricard.

I came across Bob Bob by accident on Instagram. I’d seen this photo of the “Push for Champagne” button before, but always assumed it was just a funny thing. Nope. IT’S REAL. And there’s one at every table at Bob Bob Ricard. Oh hellll yeah!

I always follow instructions, so I had to give the button a push….

My God, it worked! And quickly too, I might add.

Conveniently, there were champagne buckets at every table as well.

I had to move our reservation a couple of times and the restaurant was very accommodating. They confirmed that they knew we were celebrating a milestone birthday. We were seated downstairs in the “red room” which was alright despite some folks online saying the lighting was dreadful. It was really not that bad, though I do think the blue room was more inviting. The restaurant ambiance was a little more casual than I’d expected, but again it was pretty. There was a mix of tourists photographing everything and some VERY intoxicated locals who were most unfortunately seated right next to us. They were so loud that we could barely hear eaach other speak which I guess was OK since their conversations were so raunchy, that they were rather entertaining to eavesdrop.

(Unrelated, but another small unfortunate note is that the restaurant does not offer guest wifi which seems a little odd given the price of admission. While my companion was wrapping up a business deal back home, I would have enjoyed the time on my wifi only plan, but no luck. The waiter claimed that we should talk to each other which is all fine and I agree, but given that the restaurant was not THAT romantic, and we had very annoying neighbors, I really think he had it wrong).

So, the ambiance was a little odd…. but the food was wonderful. We started with baked oysters topped with truffles which were absolutely out of this world. I’m usually a raw oyster purist, but these converted me.

We followed with the piece de la resistance, the beef wellington, what seems to be the restaurant’s signature dish. It was absolutely gorgeous! However, the waiter brought it by for us to see and then whisked it away so quickly that I did not have a chance to take a full photo. For 49 GBP per person, I wish it might have lingered for a moment.

Still, absolutely gorgeous.

Very delicious, too. Not pictured are the whipped potatoes which were tasty, but nothing special, as was the French bread served pre-oysters.

Aside from the drunk neighbors more suited for a very boisterous corner pub, the most disappointing thing about the experience was the dessert. There was none! They knew it was my 35th birthday at reservations and they did absolutely nothing. Again, I’d read online that the desserts are divine and dramatic and I was very disappointed not to indulge.

Would I return to Bob Bob? Probably not. I did enjoy the food and the champagne button. However, the price and lack of attention to detail just doesn’t seem to warrant making this a London staple. I would advise Mr. Bob Bob to acknowledge birthdays at this very expensive meal. And notice if your two guests from out of the country are dressed up for a special occasion, don’t sit them with the office party after-party. There were plenty of open tables and I’m sure somewhere there was an open dessert case and open wifi.