Barny’s Place for City Sarnies

I was excited about Barny’s Place, a reasonably-priced, healthy fast-food restaurant managed by the eponymous Barny, who has been inspired by food stalls in Thailand and Mexico to bring fresh hot and cold foodstuffs to harried City folk at a pace usually reserved for processed cardboard marinated in grease.

You see like Martin Luther King, I have a dream. I have a dream that one day wily street rats and BlackBerried capitalists will lunch together in the same value for money health spot judging it not for the colour of its scheme but for the content of its menu. So it was with dreams of culinary social justice that I headed for Houndsditch near Liverpool Street.

I stopped firstly (and wrongly) at the only other outlet of the company: a kiosk in Broadgate Circle. Here, two friendly Aussies pointed me in the direction of the main restaurant. Five minutes later I stepped into a very modern space lined with black tables in Wagamama-esque pews and an open plan kitchen where a contingent of staff bobbed about efficiently.

Before ordering food, we had a pleasant lemonade (with a sprig of mint) and chinwag session with Barny – the one with the place and furthermore the son of theatre director, Tom Stoppard. It turns out that Tom is a keen condiment user and has a specifically ordained ‘condiment fridge’ at home. He occasionally pops down to his son’s establishment where he orders the grilled chicken sandwich.

It was going well but but sadly, oh how sadly, the triumph of taste over time was not as soaring as I had hoped. The fayre, which changes daily, was on this occasion divided into a salad bar – which was the highlight of the meal – and a choice of hot sandwiches including smug combinations like Portobello mushroom with tofu as well as ye classic staples like Dad’s favourite, grilled chicken. In addition there was a fish bisque soup and sautéed potatoes that you could get with one of seven different toppings.

The menu sounded so plausible, so sustaining and flavourful, and with our meals delivered in five minutes flat, Barny’s Place delivered on the speedy service promise. The sandwiches were fine, warming and nice but beneath the piquant Japanese sauce the potatoes were undercooked causing a double dose of stomach aches for me and my friend. The salad was lovely however, playing to my weaknesses which are glistening butternut squash and rocket with goat’s cheese and beetroot.

The major problem with Barny’s Place is it hypes itself up too much. It is a nice alternative to the cold sandwich line provided by countless shops but it is neither cheap (it’s not expensive either just bog standard middle-of-the-road) nor excessively tasty. Rather than market his Place as a pioneer of the healthy fast food industry, the amiable Barny might do better to concentrate on developing one aspect of his menu, after all it’s goods rather than gimmicks that leave the best aftertaste.

Barny’s Place main restaurant is open 7.30am – 3pm; The Kiosk is open 7.30am – 2.30pm.

Barny’s Place
Corner of Stone House
85 Houndsditch
EC3A 7AU