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Claude Bosi at Bibendum

French·
££££
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Gold Award
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SquareMeal Review of Claude Bosi at Bibendum

Gold Award

“Claude Bosi is now at the top of his game in one of London’s most iconic rooms”, notes one reader – and we have to agree that the two-Michelin-starred master of innovative French cuisine is right at home in Bibendum. His tasting menu will make you “smile and swoon”, and the sheer dexterity is mesmerising from start to finish. 

An opening salvo of canapés spans everything from tricksy cocoa butter ‘olives’ encasing liquid pissaladière or light-as-air chicken for dipping into chicken-fat mayo to Bosi’s classic pea mousse with coconut foam and curry-filled egg.

Produce is best-of-the-best, yet never served without invention: a whole lobster glazed in Singaporean pepper with crisp wontons of claw meat; intense duck jelly topped with geometrically perfect cubes of sturgeon and oodles of caviar; a king-sized langoustine paired with punchy iced consommé and smoked pike roe.

Other dishes are now classics, from the gutsy tripe and cuttlefish gratin with pig’s ear and ham cake (inspired by Bosi’s mother) and the rolled turbot ‘à la grenobloise’ in foaming cream sauce with capers and croûtons to a vacherin involving new season’s ceps and banana or a seriously rich chocolate soufflé emblazoned with the Michelin logo and filled with whisky ice cream at the table.

“Effortless service” hits a mid-point between fun and formal, while the wine list is both inventive and unexpected without neglecting the big-spending classics. Bills are punishing but worth it, although kindly priced set lunches are a genuine bargain in this gorgeous room with its deep-pile carpets and stained glass caricatures of the Michelin man.

Good to know

Average Price
££££ - Over £80
Cuisines
French
Ambience
Fine dining, Glamorous, Luxury, Quiet conversation, Traditional, Widely spaced tables
Awards
SquareMeal London Top 100, Two Michelin stars
Food Occasions
Dinner, Lunch
Special Features
Vegetarian options
Perfect for
Romantic, Special occasions
Food Hygiene Rating

About

Located on the 1st floor of Michelin House, Bibendum is one of London's most extravagant and iconic restaurants, with a significant history to match. Many great chefs have worked a service here, among them Simon Hopkinson and Jeremy Lee, but now Claude Bosi has taken the reins, returning Bibendum to its rightful place as a temple of British gastronomy.

Stunning stained glass windows form the centrepiece of Bibendum's dining room, which retains its white tablecloth smarts but with less of the stuffiness of yesteryear.

Whilst Bibendum of the past was British with classical French underpinnings, today's menu is unashamedly French, with Bosi taking great inspiration from his upbringing in Lyon. Right from the get-go, the a la carte doesn't hold back on the decadence with a selection of amuse bouches, followed by starter dishes like beetroot, smoked eel, burrata and caviar, and duck jelly with onion, smoked sturgeon and (more) caviar. Some classic Bibendum dishes remain - the turbot a la Grenobloise, for example, and the Brittany rabbit with langoustine and tarragon too - but Bosi throws in a few twists and turns, like a Devonshire farm Peking duck with celery and celeriac. 

Tasting menus are available too, including the more modern addition of a vegetarian menu too. These playfully start with mini versions of the restaurant's best dishes past and present, before embarking on a culinary journey of around ten courses, with an optional supplementary board of international cheeses. In truly decadent fashion, diners can add white truffle to certain dishes at market price. 

Desserts are equally extravagant - the Bibendum double chocolate souffle is a chocolate lover's dream and surely must go down as one of the most decadent desserts anywhere in London. Add in the extensive cheese trolley, pitch-perfect service and humongous wine list, and Bibendum looks to be well worth its three Michelin stars. 


FAQs

Does the restaurant have a Michelin star?

The restaurant has two Michelin stars.

Helpful? 0

Are there vegetarian options?

Yes, there are several vegetarian options on the menu.

Helpful? 0

Do I need to book?

Yes, we recommend that you book a table before dining.

Helpful? 0

Location

Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 6RD

020 7581 5817 020 7581 5817

Website

Opening Times

Lunch
Mon Closed
Tue Closed
Wed Closed
Thu 12:00-14:00
Fri 12:00-14:00
Sat 12:00-14:00
Sun Closed
Dinner
Mon Closed
Tue 18:30-21:30
Wed 18:30-21:30
Thu 18:30-21:30
Fri 18:30-21:30
Sat 18:30-21:30
Sun Closed

Reviews

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21 Reviews 
Food/Drink
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Dales

07 February 2024   - Verified Diner

A stunning venue, although the downstairs Oyster Bar feels a little chilly and soul-less, in spite of the friendly and efficient staff. The upstairs dining room is beautiful and the food interesting and exquisite. Service absolutely impeccable. Is it worth the money vs single Michelin starred venues? Questionable, but nonetheless a brilliant experience.

Anon

23 November 2022  
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

CB at Bibendum is by far and alway the best meal I've eaten this year. The restaurant is purely stunning, with tables generously separated. The staff and food were absolutely at a 3star level. How this is not a 3 star restaurant is beyond belief. Having eaten at Core, RGRamsay, Arzak, El Celler de Can Roca, The Fat Duck and Eleven Madison Park, Bibendum is easily hitting their level. 
No other restaurant has used so many luxury ingredients throughout their tasting menu, and certainly not as generously as Bibendum does.

This is truly a special occasion restaurant!

Jonathan W

10 July 2022   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5

Fabulous food and attentive service in a spectacular dining room. Very classy.

Grenville C

01 May 2022   - Verified Diner
Food & Drink 5
Service 5
Atmosphere 5
Value 5
A truly wonderful lunch in the food capital of the world.

We were received as though we were returning Royalty, our greeting was simply wonderful and we were offered the best table in the house.

The kindness and charm of the staff was completely unexpected, overwhelming and most touching.

In order to steady ourselves we ordered a little champagne, a chariot of champagne duly arrived to enable us to make our selection. The champagne we chose was in fact the one that we drink at home, the only difference being in the price per glass, but so what, this was a once in a lifetime anniversary.

There are two or three set menus.

Previously, never having been to to this establishment, we decided to order from the set lunch menu. We were at once congratulated upon our 'excellent' choice and told that if there was anything on the lunch menu that did not appeal to us they were very 'relaxed' about our finding a substitute dish from one of their other menus.

The whole extraordinarily wonderful experience intensified from there.

We take the view that the only reason to go to the expense of eating in a two or three starred Michelin restaurant is to enable us to experience new and beautiful flavours, this we did in 'spades'.

The only slight concern was that my 'partner' found two of the courses a little salty.   

Please dear readers, just go to Bosi and you will understand what I am on about, the fish course alone was worth the cost of the final biil.

That Michelin has not upgraded this restaurant from two to three stars is more of a reflection upon Michelin than the actual restaurant itself. 

One last utter joy was that each order from the lunch menu includes a half bottle of wine.

We are so privileged to have been granted such a fabulous experience, the food we ate from this ever changing menu was, for us at least, better than the equivalent at Bray.

Thank you Monsieur Bosi! 

 

Anon

12 September 2021  
Food & Drink 2.5
Service 1.5
Atmosphere 4
Value 4
Disappointed

We waited an hour for dessert and every time we were told that it would be in 5 minutes.

As a result, they did not bring.

Alex G

20 July 2021  
Food & Drink 3
Service 5
Atmosphere 4.5
Value 3
Claude Bosi at Bibendum: Slow puncture

There is so much to like about the whole Bibendum experience that it was a real pity that the enjoyment of dining there for a special occasion on a recent Saturday night gradually – similar to a slow puncture – leaked away as the evening wore on. The analogy is deliberate. For those unaware, ‘Bibendum’ is the name of the jovial Michelin Man, famously comprised of stacked white tyres. Claude Bosi’s London venture (the chef first found fame and gained Michelin stars at Hibiscus in Ludlow, Shropshire) is located at Michelin House on the corner of London’s Fulham Road, the first permanent headquarters of the French tyre company. As a fan of Art Déco, I had always been keen to visit the building and having enjoyed Hibiscus when it opened briefly as a pop-up in London around a decade ago, the stars conveniently aligned for this visit to Bibendum. The building is an absolute marvel, both inside and out; a temple of architectural exuberance which has undoubtedly stood the test of time. Both my comrade and I loved the use of space in the main dining room and particularly the stained-glass windows. Tables are well-spaced, and guests are treated to a wonderful exercise in being made to feel welcome. Service throughout was exemplary, with just the right balance between informal conversation and the provision of necessary information; always polite and never intrusive. So far, so good. Our meal also started ever so promisingly with a glass of fizz to accompany our amuse-bouches. We liked the fact that my vegetarian comrade’s nibbles looked identical to mine, although clearly comprised different ingredients. Indeed, we both noted how thoughtful the chef and his team must have been. Our server then asked if we wished to know what we would be eating across our six-course tasting menu. We declined and he said we would hence be “surprised.” Attentive readers might well have been wondering after all this prior praise where the ‘but’ was going to come. Surprised we were. From my side – as an omnivore – Claude Bosi clearly merits his two Michelin stars. However, it became abundantly clear to us that after the early flourish of the amuse-bouches, Bibendum really does not care about or cater for vegetarians. That’s a big problem if one comprises half of your dining group! After a lovely take on tomato caprese, which we both enjoyed as our first course, things began to take a turn for the worse at dish three. I benefited from a piece of turbot with a small side of coconut, horseradish and pea risotto. My dining comrade felt justified in being disappointed that my side comprised her plate, an indication perhaps of the esteem in which the chef holds vegetarians. We were once infamously told by a front-of-house at a top Parisian restaurant when requesting whether vegetarian options were possible that it would be “boring for the chef” to prepare them. Perhaps this was the case at Bibendum too? Worse was arguably to come. Mashed potato and satay sauce (the fourth dish for my vegetarian comrade) sounds more like a student forage with cupboard ingredients than what one might expect at a top restaurant. It hardly bore comparison to my veal sweetbread with black olive, anchovy and feta. At least the paired wines helped ease some of the disappointment. They were all high-quality and intelligently considered, particularly the Sauvignon Blanc from Alto Adige and a Bordeaux blend from Lebanon. Pricing overall was at the top-end of what one might pay for comparable experiences in London. Needless to say, we won’t be returning.

Julia S

06 August 2019  
Impeccable service and reasonably priced, even with a wine pairing.

Wendy W

06 August 2019  
Everything from the downstairs welcome/reception, through to the greeting up on the first floor, and the whole dining experience is exceptional. Have only been twice but both occasions were superb. The tasting menus are divine, the food is truly wonderful, and beautifully presented, and the wine pairings, the service and all the staff are excellent. Highly recommend.

Alex F

28 June 2019  
Just stunning cooking.

ROOZBEH S

29 March 2019  
Food great, Dessert was super excellent-dã©cor was elegant;well lit & cool ambience;Well was pricy but worth it.
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