Bob Bob Ricard Soho

The years don’t seem to have dulled the shine on Bob Bob Ricard’s original Soho site. It’s a Monday night and the place is heaving with diners still hellbent on feeling that high from hitting the ‘press for Champagne’ button. 

It’s fun and a bit silly, but the sleek surrounds and smart team ground the whole experience, making it feel luxurious rather than gimmicky. The dining room is lined with navy leather banquettes accented by brass and mirrored detailing: a combination that wouldn’t feel out of place on the Orient Express.

Crystal champagne glass acquired and it’s time for the obvious accompaniment: caviar. In case you missed the memo, you’re firmly in the realms of excess. From lobster and Champagne through to scallops and truffle, BBR (as it’s known to its friends) is no place to hold back. And the caviar is good by the way; fresh and bright with creme fraiche and soft blinis giving it the perfect stage to shine on.

Starters of traditional pelmeni dumplings come with little bellies turned up, ready to accept their fate as they’re drowned in lobster bisque. They’re generously filled with sweet seafood, and the bisque is richly flavoured, if slightly on the thin side. Mains too are comforting and cosy - an immaculately topped pie of Champagne, mushrooms and chicken and a piece of belly pork with an architectural piece of crackling. The only complaint here is that the pastry is thin, and only on the top. As any pie connoisseur knows; nirvana is found in the gravy-soaked sides. Desserts are ‘gram-gratifying, with a flaming brûlée and a chocolate dome concoction which melts away under hot sauce that is poured table-side.

None of it is mind-bending stuff. You’re not here to try new things but instead to embrace good old fashioned flavours, have fun, drink Champagne and be looked after like you’re royalty. And who could find complaint in that?

Located just off Regent Street, in Soho’s Golden Square, the iconic Bob Bob Ricard Soho serves a classic British and French menu in one of London’s most glamorous dining rooms. Here, French and British classics are reinvented with the finest ingredients to produce comfort food fit for a special occasion.

With interiors taking inspiration from the Orient Express and the Golden Age of travel, every table is a booth and each one is fitted with a ‘press for Champagne’ button. In fact, the restaurant is famous for pouring more Champagne than any other restaurant in Great Britain. The elegant restaurant is dressed in a rich palette of colours - royal blue, gold, and ivory. It’s majestic and elaborate with blue and white painted walls and pretty chandeliers sprinkling light all over the restaurant.

The Bob Bob Ricard Soho menu reads like an extensive list of luxury foodstuffs starting with small bach and reserve vodka shots to get you buzzing for rounds of Siberian caviar and Jersey rock oysters. The starters continue with all types of tartare from salmon to steak, and specialties of truffled potato vareniki and lobster pelmeni dumplings.

Once your taste buds have been thoroughly excited, you can move on to mains of chicken Kyiv, beef Wellington, and 28-day aged Aberdeenshire beef chateaubriand. The fish menu is equally decadent with lobster macaroni and cheese thermidor, and Loch Duart salmon en crute with a Champagne beurre blanc.

For afters, a shot of Limonnaya Vodka served at minus 18 degrees, a stunning strawberry and cream soufflé, and the signature Bob Bob Ricard chocolate glory all await your attention. Bob Bob Ricard might be about opulence, but over a decade ago, Bob Bob Ricard caused a sensation, famously capping the markup on fine wine at £75. The policy remains in place today.