On 14th February 2020 Mr A and I returned to Bibendum for a lunch before my clinic appointment at the nearby Royal Marsden Hospital, as we often do.  I was glad to see the restaurant wasn’t making a silly fuss over ‘Valentine’s Day’, but less glad to see that Claude Bosi wasn’t in the kitchen (on holiday), because I had something to discuss with him.  It was my first visit to Bibendum since restaurant manager Enrico moved on, so I took the earliest opportunity to congratulate his replacement, Dorianne, on her promotion.  There were lots of new faces amongst the servers too – just a reflection of staff turnover in this business, Dorianne told me.  She also said there were a few changes on the menu since my last visit, so I decided to take notes for a blog update. Despite eating at Bibendum relatively often, it’s seven months since I shared my experiences online.

We ordered Champagne aperitifs; Heidsieck Brut Reserve for me (£17) and Heidseik Brut Rose f(£20) or Mr A, for refreshment and also so we had a drink to go with the canapés Bibendum always serves.  The canapés were different to my last few visits, but equally delicious.  The highlight was a sphere of foie gras coated in beetroot powder and decorated with beautiful tiny flowers.  Very pleasing to the eye and the palate. 10/10

The traditional baby olive tree with faux olive spherifiction surprise was conspicuous by its absence. Dorianne told me this was just because it was winter, and the little trees are ‘dormant’, so hopefully we’ll see them back again later in the year.

Next we were served Bibendum’s ‘traditional’ amuse bouche of a white eggshell containing some sort of surprise; today it was Jerusalem artichoke with a coconut foam and smoked vanilla.  The smoky vanilla and artichoke were lovely. 9/10

The restaurant menus have changed a bit, with some regular favourites missing – but they’re normally included in the daily ‘specials’, like the Tripe and Cuttlefish gratin I chose for my main course.  At lunchtime you can eat a la carte (£115 for 3 courses, £85 for two),  set lunch at £65 for 3 courses, or tasting menus at £125 (menu surprise) and £185. Doriane mentioned that in the evenings only the tasting menus are available.

We dined A la Carte, but my foie gras, oyster and caviar starter attracted a £15 supplement.  This was a price worth paying for a generously thick tranche of liver, roasted to perfection, chives and a duck broth with a hint of kelp. To the side of the liver was a semi-circle of oyster tartare, topped with Daurenki caviar.  This tasted sensational (oyster tartare is so much easier and nicer to eat than a whole oyster from its shell!) but when I spoke to Head Chef Francesco he said it was “just seasoning”.  For me this was a great dish 10/10

As I mentioned above, my main course was Claude Bosi’s famous tripe and cuttlefish gratin, which I’ve always enjoyed as a very good ‘rustic’ meal, based as it was on his mother’s recipe.  But now it’s been elevated to very fine dining levels.  The dish is now served on a plate, rather than in the heavy gratin dish it was cooked in – though a waiter did come out to show us the cooking dish, before returning to the kitchen to have the food plated.  Looking pretty on a white plate, the circle of gratin is now topped with a lovely display of herbs and flowers, rather than them being on a side plate. Chef Francesco told me this was to encourage diners to eat the salad with the gratin, rather than leave it as a palate cleanser.  A pig’s ear cake is still served on a side plate. I found today’s cake to be perfect; lacking any of the greasiness I’d sometimes encountered before.  This dish is really good in both taste and presentation, I think the kitchen has done a superb job of elevating a rustic French country meal into a beautiful, refined restaurant meal.  And Francesco and the brigade can cook it with expertise – Claude Bosi used to insist on making this dish personally 10/10

We skipped dessert to make sure I got to hospital on time, and just ordered double espresso, which came with some very good chocolates.

We had a lovely lunch at Bibendum once again.  The tweaks to the menus are all welcome, the food was terrific, and the staff are still wonderfully skilled as well as warm and friendly (shout out to Dorianne and to sommelier Elio!).  My total bill for two people was £425.50, of which over £190 was booze.

Overall 10/10