I realise that this is my third review of “Boulevard Brasserie”:http://www.boulevardbrasserie.co.uk/, but as I’ve said before it’s often my first choice when eating out in Covent Garden.
This time, we were meeting up with my nephew who lives in Germany, his German wife and their German friends. I’d sent them links to various restaurants, but they chose BB as they have very few French bistros in Hamburg.
I’d booked via “Open Table”:https://www.opentable.co.uk/r/boulevard-brasserie-london?refid=ppcbing&ref=4220&sp=ppc_b_UK_Restaurants&reengagement=1&publisher_id=169194&my_campaign=Kenshoo1&ref_id=592346d2-0646-4394-9f1f-033760f861fb&utm_source=K_UTM_SOURCE&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=K_UTM_TERM&utm_content=K_UTM_CONTENT&utm_campaign=West-End-London_X_Restaurants-BMM%5E209338 who offer two courses and a Kir Royale for £20 and I’d specifically asked for a quiet table as I knew we’d want to chat lots. I was therefore delighted that they gave us a table which is on a little raised dais slightly away from the main diners – it was perfect!
Marco was out waiter and whilst the food was excellent, he was the star of the night. He was friendly, professional, attentive without being over fussy and very amusing. We’d booked for 5.30pm and he sensibly asked whether we were heading for the theatre. When we said, no, he said he would ensure we had a leisurely meal. I asked where he was from and he told us to guess, so between starters and mains we had a great debate. Although I told him he looked like a Greek God, it turned out he was Italian, but had lived in England for 10 years. Interestingly he was a great fan of cricket and knew all about Yorkshire Tea and who Geoffrey Boycott was.
Now to the food. There were four starters and four mains but each couple chose the same: a baked brie in filo with cranberry chutney and citrus marinated salmon with celeriac remolade (like coleslaw) and mains of pork chop with chorizo jam, new potato, baby spinach, apple and prune salad with wholegrain mustard dressing and my absolute favourite boeuf bourguignon and mashed potato. All were excellent and all plates cleared. The four younger members of the group, still had room for puddings of a chocolate tart and Roquefort cheese with biscuits and apple chutney (all at £3).
We chose house white wine at £20.95 and Marco kept our table constantly supplied with carafes of tap water.
All in all, it was the most splendid evening in terms of food, wine, service and company.
