Bob Bob Ricard City

Bob Bob Ricard is a much-loved Soho institution, but the glam interiors and luxe menu always felt better suited to the Square Mile. In 2019, Bob Bob Ricard birthed a City sibling, which enjoyed just a year of trading before the onset of Covid-19 forced it to temporarily close. Instead of reopening once restrictions lifted, the restaurant remained shut for 19 months in order to undergo a multi-million pound refit which brought the look of the place in line with the Soho original.

In real terms, that translates as replacing the lighting, furniture and artwork, and switching up the menu of special occasion comfort food. The interiors are still jaw-dropping though, featuring bespoke chandeliers and mirror-polished steel trim. Every table in the dining room is also a booth, a refreshing find in London where so often you are elbow to elbow with fellow diners.

It’s easy to see Bob Bob Ricard as tailormade for City suits with more money than sense, but the restaurant backs up its sheer ostentatiousness with an extremely capable menu. We kicked things off with a quartet of Russian dumplings stuffed with a heady mix of truffle, potato and mushroom. Next came chateaubriand, aged for 28 days and boasting a marbled texture that practically melts on the tongue. Sauteed spinach and fries topped with nutty truffle made for strong supporting acts. Pair your food with a glass from the mightily impressive Champagne list - we loved the crisp Dom Perignon 2012.

If you fancy a pre-dessert palate cleanser, try Bob Bob Ricard’s vodka shots, infused with lemon and served straight from the freezer at -18 degrees. For your actual pudding, it’s hard to beat the indulgence of the ‘Chocolate Glory’, a gold embossed sphere that melts under the heat of warm chocolate sauce (poured tableside) to reveal a centre akin to a pimped-up Ferrero Rocher.

Now that hospitality is open once more, there has been lots of talk of the ‘roaring twenties’ and it appears Bob Bob Ricard is leading the charge for the return of fun, big-ticket dining in the City. We’re all for it.

A luxurious Franco-British restaurant Bob Bob Ricard City is the second London site, offering as much glitz and glamour (if not more!) as the original restaurant in Soho. Just a short walk from Bank and Liverpool Street tube stations, the restaurant resides on the third floor of the Leadenhall building (aka The Cheesegrater) and is dressed in the same decadent style as its sister restaurant, this time, taking inspiration from the Royal Yacht Brittania.

Created by designer Shayne Brady, the interiors set the benchmark for 21st-century nautical chic. Blue booth seating allows parties of all sizes to feel a sense of privacy, while shiny marble floors, a million different light fittings and a wall of mirrors are like an optical illusion designed to arrest and beguile. Perhaps its most famous feature is the ‘press for champagne’ button at every table - push it and receive champers poured from a magnum or methuselah for maximum effect.

It says a lot about a restaurant when the menu boasts dedicated sections for caviar, oysters and vodka shots chilled specifically to 18 degrees. Whet your appetite with one of the above, or opt for the likes of French onion soup, steak tartare, escargots and truffle potato vareniki dumplings, all created by chef director Ben Hobson. For the main course, seemingly straight-forward dishes get a luxurious upgrade: chicken pie is made with a splash of Champagne, while macaroni cheese comes with a whole lobster tail and aged parmesan. Comfort food fit for momentous occasions.

A host of classic French desserts include dark chocolate eclairs with Guernsey cream and a flaming crème brulee flambeed tableside. Like its sister site, Bob Bob Ricard City has capped markups on fine wine at £75, today this price policy remains in place, offering the best value fine wine and Champagne in London.