Fantastical experiences either seem to involve being plummeted below the earth, as in the case of Alice in Wonderland, or zoomed into the skies as in the case of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, so too when dining at Bob Bob City, which is reached by taking the yellow elevator inside the Leadenhall Building after your reservation is checked against the security guard’s list, thus enhancing the feeling of exclusivity and anticipation. Guests under 15 years old are not admitted so if you’ve reached the age when it seems like the kids have all the fun, think again…
Despite only ascending to the third floor, you are nevertheless 100 feet above ground and when the elevator doors slide open you’ll find interiors as glamorous and imaginative as anything out of a Wes Anderson movie. When it was first announced that Bob Bob Ricard in Soho were going to open a sister restaurant no one ever predicted the destination dining experience that now inhabits the building affectionately known as “The Cheesegrater” and only the most cynical could fail to be transported on glimpsing the jewel box series of rooms that make up Bob Bob City.
Described by Interior Design magazine as “part cruise ship casino, part retro-futuristic diner, this restaurant is utterly out of this world, with “Press for Champagne” buttons on tables in both the bar and restaurant, along with intimate four seater booths in the Salon Bleu and Salon Rouge evoking the golden days of luxury travel. Created by Shayne Brady, the interior takes nautical chic to the next level, with inspiration from the Royal Yacht Britannia and modern day super yachts.
Uniquely, every table in the restaurant is a booth with comfortable leather banquette seating (even the shade of the leather for the seats was bespoke), something which creates an intimate dining experience no matter how busy the restaurant, while the three private dining rooms accommodating up to 18 are modelled on the opulent dining saloons belonging to the Royal Yacht. The rosewood marquetry and mirror-polish steel trim dazzles throughout, so too the 24 chandeliers by royal warrant holder Dernier & Hamlyn, No wonder it’s estimated to have cost around £25 million. Food with lashings of fantasy, surely only Bob Bob Ricard founder Leonid Shutov, the Willy Wonka of the London restaurant scene, could dream up a restaurant so entirely beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.
Described as a Bistro-de-Luxe, this is hedonistic dining at its most unapologetic and whimsical, with a British, Russian and French-inspired menu sporting only the finest things in life, from caviar and oysters to black truffles and chateaubriand. A card on the table showcases Bob Bob Ricard’s impressive Armagnac selection with prices rising to £888 for a glass of 1888 Baron de Sigognac should you have had a particularly good day on the stock market. If you didn’t have a good day there’s always the express lunch menu, while Bob Bob Ricard caused a sensation a decade ago by capping the mark-up on fine wine at £75, however expensive the bottle. This price policy remains in place, offering the best value fine wine and champagne in London and luring the connoisseur away from their old Mayfair haunts.
Begin any dining experience at Bob Bob with an indulgent dégustation of three caviars; a tasting (20g or 30g) of Siberian, Oscietra and Amurski caviars served with crème fraîche and blinis or cucumber slices if you have a gluten allergy like me. If caviar isn’t your thing, half a dozen Jersey Rock oysters served straight up with lemon and tabasco will do just as well. If wheat wasn’t off the menu I would have been tempted to order the beef Wellington the diners next to us were swooning over, or one of Bob Bob’s extravagant pies, for the fact that the truffle and champagne humble pie and the chicken champagne pie are both prepared with Bollinger sounds like something not even a Royal Yacht banquet would serve up in these ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ days of political correctness.
When it comes to service, it’s such a slick and attentive affair that the ‘Press for Champagne’ button proved entirely redundant, another reason to love this restaurant. I can see why some might be scornful of an establishment trading on their interiors and not, so you might think, the quality of the food and I’d be in agreement were it not for the fact that the cuisine on offer holds its own against the spectacular backdrop. Each and every plate that arrived at our booth not only featured the highest quality ingredients but were each flawlessly prepared; a salmon tartare with capers, dill and trout roe followed by a main course of pan-seared hake with marinated mussels, fennel, sea vegetables and an impeccable fish velouté that was nothing short of divine, so too husband’s French onion soup followed by chateaubriand accompanied by the best black truffle mash potato I’ve ever tasted – it certainly wasn’t short on truffle.
We concluded with the Black Forest dessert featuring a rich Valrhona chocolate mousse and sponge finished with Chantilly cream and an intense Morello cherry sorbet – one of those desserts you fancy sharing with your other half, but after one bite wish that you had to yourself. No restaurant could trade entirely on their interiors and certainly not when the audience happens to be the most discerning kind of diner. Yes, the reason people initially dine at Bob Bob City may well be to post about it on socials, but ever after they return for the food, as comforting as it is luxurious. As George Bernard Shaw observed, “There is no sincerer love than the love of food” and I defy anyone not to want to return to Bob Bob City for the kind of culinary blow-out that does you good once in a while. Whenever I want to feel that much closer to food heaven I’ll take the elevator to the 3rd floor.
Bob Bob Ricard City, Level 3, 122 Leadenhall Street, City of London EC3V 4AB. Open for lunch and dinner. Closed Sundays and Mondays. For more information and reservations please visit the website.
Photography by Paul Winch-Furness.
