My earlier “review”:http://www.silvertraveladvisor.com/review/restaurant/148571-review-boulevard-brasserie of “Boulevard Brasserie”:http://www.boulevardbrasserie.co.uk/ said it was often my first choice of restaurant for many reasons. It was a while since I’d been, but I booked a table for four of us to meet before Christmas.
At 1pm on a Saturday, it was relatively full and we were shown to a table in the basement. We arrived first and as I had a seat next to the wall, I subsequently found I was a bit hampered when eating.
When our friends arrived, they were shocked that a bottle of wine wasn’t open and waiting – this wasn’t tardiness on my part it was because we’d been sat for ten minutes and no one had approached us. Although once the service kicked in, it was fine.
“Boulevard Brasserie”:http://www.boulevardbrasserie.co.uk/ has an extensive “menu”:http://www.boulevardbrasserie.co.uk/pdf/2016/oct/a-la-carte-menu.pdf but we decided to dispense with starters and head for fishy mains – with two of us opting for beer battered cod and chips with tartare sauce and two for a cassoulet of cod, chorizo, butter beans and tomato served with rice.
The cod was beautiful with a golden crisp batter but I would have preferred chunky chips to a bowl of skinny fries. And why were there no mushy peas – sacrilege to a northern girl from Hull. The cassoulet was served in a Le Creuset style dish with both lids being lifted in unison with lots of juices to mop up the rice.
For “pudding”:http://www.boulevardbrasserie.co.uk/pdf/2016/oct/desserts-menu.pdf two of us had a large, rich, creamy slice of Roquefort with biscuits and pear chutney and one had warm coconut and poppy seed cake with white chocolate sauce and raspberry compote.
Although our reservation said the table was ours for two hours, we sat chatting over wine and coffee for over three without being hurried out which was sensible as by the time we’d finished, we were well between lunch and pre-theatre dinners.
My only quibble is the “wine list”:http://www.boulevardbrasserie.co.uk/pdf/2016/oct/wine-list.pdf – the cheapest bottle of white wine is £19.95 and the next, my favourite of Sauvignon Blanc, was £24.95 which compared to many similar places in the area e.g. Cote is steep particularly if you’re in a group and having a couple of bottles.
