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Bonham’s little restaurant, open at lunch-time (and now also one evening a week), is a refreshing change from the now typical over-priced Mayfair openings aimed at separating rich foreigners from their money. I have written previously about the lovely wine list here, which not only has good growers but is fairly priced, something as rare as hen’s teeth in central London. An example from the excellent wine list was the gorgeous 2008 Francoise Buisson Mersault Charmes at £90 which is hard to find but is barely more than that price retail if you can track in down. Nibbles today comprised gougeres with well-made choux pastry and plenty of cheese flavour, along with squid ink crisps with yoghurt, dill and trout roe. Sourdough bread here is made from scratch n the kitchen and has excellent texture (16/20). A courgette flower was steamed and stuffed with crab, flavourful bull’s heart tomato and crab and basil bisque foam. This was a light, refreshing summer dish (16/20). Challans duck was accompanied by slow-cooked confit of the duck leg, along with baby beetroot, cherry and almond puree, with endive providing a useful bitter flavour balance (15/20). Raspberry “millefeuille” came with tuiles rather than puff pastry, alongside crème Chantilly, balsamic vinegar and elderflower sorbet. The fruit had good flavour and the dish had a nice balance of flavours (15/20). The bill came to £119 a head, but that was with plenty of good wine. A typical price per head with modest wine would be £65, which is very fair given the high standard of ingredients and culinary skill on display. |
Further reviews: 13th Nov 2018 | 06th Jul 2017 | 09th Feb 2016 | 06th Nov 2015 | 29th Jul 2015 | 09th Jul 2015 | 20th May 2015 | 16th Feb 2015
Alex Davids
The kitchen at Bonhams is unable or unwilling to deal with a non-dairy diet. I had booked for a supper club meal there on 5 November and when my guest informed them on the morning that he required a dairy-free meal, the restaurant responded that they need 24 hours’ notice. Fair enough. Having discussed this on the phone with them (my guest has an intolerance to dairy fats, which he can take in very small proportions, so it is simpler to inform the restaurant ‘no dairy’) we agreed to cancel the booking and they made a booking for us on 14 January noting the requirement. On 29 November, I made another reservation using OpenTable for lunch for 3 people on 22 December noting that one person would require a no dairy meal. On 21 December around 16:30, the restaurant called me to say that they could not do a non-dairy meal the next day. After further discussion, I was told that, despite what I had been told earlier, they do not cater for dairy-free diets. After some discussion, we agreed to keep the booking and that both my guests would show up even in one only had a drink with us. When we got there, after some discussion we discovered that 2 of the 4 starters were in fact dairy free (and the scallops would also be if the diner avoided the veloute). Of the 4 main courses, 2 were low on dairy and, with some small explanation, my guest was able to order one and enjoy it. I find it strange that a restaurant of this quality cannot cater for such a requirement and was unwilling even to discuss with the person concerned what, if any, small adjustments could be made to existing dishes to accommodate the need. To be fair, the restaurant was willing to do so once we were actually on site and also gave us each a complementary glass of champagne and we did all enjoy the meal.