Back in 1999 when the restaurants in London were a bit more grey, a bit more monolithic of menu, the most improbable of places opened just off Soho’s then equally dull Golden Square, whose only fame was as home to the household at the heart of Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities.
Bob Bob Ricard, or BBR, was the creation of Russian-born British entrepreneur and oenophile Leonid Shutov and his business partner Richard Howarth. And it was a revelation. The most astonishingly in your face, over the top art deco interior. Caviar everywhere, and luxurious versions of dishes, such as Chicken Kiev, that were then a byword for Intourist (look it up) hell or suburban dinner parties in the seventies. Here they were epic. And a button you could press for a glass of champagne. Genius. Proper restaurant critics (i.e. not me) loved it. I also loved it, but that mattered less.
More recently, BBR opened a sibling across the road – Bébé Bob – which has leant into the trend of all things chicken – think Fallow’s opening of Fowl, and the proliferation of upmarket fried chicken shops. Unsurprisingly the team have added caviar and nailed it.
As at BBR, the menu at Bébé Bob is straightforward: chicken and only chicken, for the main courses at least. And only the very best, free-range birds make the cut. Diners can choose from two varieties: either Vendée chicken from the Pays de la Loire region of western France or Landaise chicken from Gascony.
But first off there are the starters, and before even those the option of a Bébé bump. Yes is the answer. £15 gets you a scoop of Siberian caviar to suck off the back of your hand together with a shot of Levitsky small batch vodka at down at a cool -18c. An extra fiver promotes you to Oscietra caviar. We’ve occasionally seen this before, but can you tell me a better place to do it?
Starters range from an excellent Saint Marcellin cheese baked with honey with a baguette for dipping, through a top-notch albeit small prawn cocktail to a substantially more generous, and earthy potato rosti and truffle steak tartare with gerkins, capers and a confit egg yolk. All good, and all delicious, but then for the main event.
We had the Costwold chicken schnitzel which was perfectly tenderised then fried in panko breadcrumbs, then served with a huge, creamy dollop of parsley and garlic butter. This is a top notch schnitzel, but even better was the Chicken and Egg Burger which came with a properly thick, juicy, crispy perfectly cooked chicken fillet, another confit egg and then a wonderfully spicy gochujang chilli mayonnaise. Sure it will not take the skin from your mouth like whatever is the latest chicken sensation on Tik-Tok, but makes up for that by being actually delicious and something everyone I know would count themselves lucky to have for lunch.
Speaking of lunch, Bébé Bob does the most epic Sunday lunch: half a Vendée chicken with chicken dripping Yorkshire pudding, chicken fat roast potatoes and honey roasted parnsips and carrots. For £26. That has to be the best Sunday lunch offering in Soho, or maybe further. For the record there is a vegetarian option, but really? It’s a chicken restaurant..
Puddings were excellent and several come with caviar, and this summer there is an even better options due to a collaboration with cult favourite Happy Endings Ice Creamy until end of September.
The limited-edition dessert menu includes a Sour Cream Soft Serve (£15.00) topped with extra virgin olive oil and Oscietra caviar, Sour Cream Soft Serve topped with toasted hazelnuts (£9.00), Chocolate Sorbet topped with crushed honeycomb (£9.00), Profiterole filled with chocolate and sour cream soft serve (£12.00) and the Bébé Champagne Bomb (£13.00) a distinctive take on a baked alaska, complete with a Champagne parfait, blood peach bellini sorbet, shortbread and Champagne Italian meringue. To further enhance the experience, they have created the Bébé Lyan Martini and the 100 Raspberries Royale, signature cocktails conceived by internationally acclaimed bartender Mr Lyan (aka Ryan Chetiyawardana), are the perfect coupling with these indulgent desserts.
Personally, I like a dry martini with a twist, and true to form the one served here was perfect. For old times sake we went across the road to the big brother, and BBR was exactly as glamourous and tongue-in-cheek fun as it always has been and the martini was excellent and for a few hours the world was pretty much perfect.
Bébé Bob, 37 Golden Square, London W1F 9LB, United Kingdom – 020 7242 1000 – Bébé Bob
Open Monday to Saturday 12:00 to 23:30, Sundays 12:00 to 16:30
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