Bentleys Oyster Bar and Grill

Walking into Bentleys is a bit like stepping into a time warp. It’s very classic, with printed wallpaper and pictures of ducks and other shooting paraphernalia on the walls. There’s a plethora of white table cloths, silver pepper pots and starched napkins, a quiet, understated, landed-gentry style hush, and the service is classic old school, though slightly less well-executed than you might expect – we waited quite a long time for menus, and then again for our order to be taken.

We arrived at 2pm to try out the set lunch, super credit-crunch value at £29.50 for three courses with a carafe of wine. We started with oysters because it seemed rude not to at a place so famous for its fish. And this is definitely where it excels. The oysters were indeed wonderful – fresh, succulent and indulgent; and for six at £9.25 with an accompanying glass of Muscadet each we were off to a good value start. Shame that the Muscadet didn’t really add anything to the oysters, but it didn’t detract from them either.

The set lunch only has two options for each course, so we had all of them to be sure. Fish is what Bentleys does best and my plus one’s starter of potted salmon and brown shrimp was indeed excellent. Melt in the mouth flavours, delicious smoky salmon and nutty shrimp, and some melba toast on the side, just in case we’d momentarily forgotten that time-gone-by feeling. However my chicken liver parfait was rather disappointing, so rich and sweet tasting that the delicious liver flavour was lost.

It was more of the same for the main course – with an excellent cod fillet on a bed of tomatoes which was succulent and tasty and a world away from soggy fish fingers; this was cod like it was meant to be. The other option – rib of beef and beef bourginone (sic) was not only spelt wrong, but also very mediocre. The beef was burnt on the edges, dense, fatty and pretty tasteless – a huge disappointment after the wonderful fish. It’s clear really that, at least here, you can’t do two things at once. Fish they can do, meat – they can’t.

We then enjoyed some nice Irish cheese with soda bread from an ancient family recipe, and a delicious, rich dessert of rhubarb and lemon creaminess.

Overall the meal, except the meat, was great, and excellent value for money. It’s not really a romantic place, and it’s certainly not hip – a menu with chicken liver parfait, cod, and shrimp on it is clearly harking back to a time when I was still a toddler – but this doesn’t detract from the restaurant’s success as a lovely, classic place to eat fish, and a perfect option to impress your grandparents when they come for a mid-week visit.

Bentleys Oyster Bar and Grill
11-15 Swallow Street
Mayfair W1B 4DG

Tel: 020 7734 4756