Caviar Lunch at Bob Bob Ricard

August is a cruel month for London restaurateurs. Most of their usual clientele are either picnicking outside or jetting off around the world to go on holiday. With such obstacles in the way, it is hard to find a way to draw people indoors. It takes something that bit different to attract diners to London’s eateries; something refined and epicurean but without a hefty fee.

One such experience to try out is a caviar lunch at Soho eaterie Bob Bob Ricard. It’s a restaurant I had long wanted to visit after a spate of satisfied visitors all pressed me to go. As soon as I stepped into the main dining room, I could see why people were so insistent.

The restaurant is designed around the theme of the Orient Express. Whilst there is no danger of you mistakenly thinking that you are on the way to Istanbul, the decor shows a good deal of humour and flair, including a button you can press for champagne.

The caviar lunch started with 10 grams of Black Sea caviar served up with blinis (small pancakes) and sour cream. Accompanying all of this was a shot of standard vodka served at minus 18 degrees. It all combined marvellously well, with the high quality caviar making you savour its luxurious qualities.

One slight quibble would be that given you are eating caviar in a restaurant designed around a famous railway dining car, why do they give you a plastic spoon to dish it out?

For the main course, there is a choice between truffled potato and mushroom vareniki or meat pelmeni. I plumped for the vareniki, which are stuffed dumplings. Served up with onion rings and sour cream, I found them to be extremely filling, with the sour cream providing a welcome tangy accompaniment to the potato and mushroom stuffing.

I have to say that the caviar lunch is very good value at £19.75 and even if you think that is a little pricey, there is an incentive to splash out. After all, can you put a price on being able to walk back into the office and respond to the question ‘What did you have for lunch?’ with an insouciant ‘Oh, you know, just a bit of caviar. How was your cheese sandwich?’

The caviar lunch is served throughout August until 5pm every day at:

Bob Bob Ricard
1 Upper James Street
Soho
W1F 9DF

Tel: 020 3145 1000