November 22nd, 2008
Not wanting to travel to far last night given we were both tired, we booked ourselves into Bistro 51 at the Crowne Plaza on Buckingham Gate, London. The place was quiet as we arrived around 7.30pm. The maitre’d showed us to our table with a walk I hadn’t seen for some time! Browsing the menus, I noticed there seemed to be more staff than customers, but it was early so I wasn’t too worried. I went for the Spinach and Potato Soup while Paul went for Chicken Satay starter. For mains, I opted for a salad (I haven’t eaten very healthily this week) with a Rib Eye Steak, while Paul went for Carbonara. We chose a French Red to accompany our meal. My soup was very nice and very green, which meant is must have been good for me. It could have done with been a little hotter, but with the basket of fresh bread went down a treat. Paul’s being a Thai connoisseur, was not impressed with the chicken satay. The chicken hadn’t been satay’d and the peanut sauce reminded him of Sun Pat Smooth.
At this point I should say the service was excellent. The staff being attentive and very friendly. When I needed to visit the loo, the maitre’d took me there!
Back to the meal, my rib eye steak was a bit of a disappointment. Little by way of taste and nothing like the steak we get back in Yorkshire. The peppercorn sauce was a cold, lifeless tasteless affair which I reckon was made up of brown gravy granules and bit of pepper. Paul’s carbonara was nothing special either, but overall we were content because we hadn’t walked too far. Deserts were a bit of a disappointment to Paul as well. (He is used to being disappointed). The creme brulee had split! My Apple Pie and Custard though was very good.
The bill came to a little over £115 which for the ingredients used was expensive, but the surroundings were very nice and as I said earlier, the staff gave excellent service!
Pryordurkin rating. 3 stars.
Posted in Food and Drink