When I created Essen, Bob Bob Ricard (BBR) was on my bucket list. Russian cuisine was a mystery to me and with the USP of a “champagne button” a major appeal, but was it any good? Time to find out...
Ideal for:
Adding some glitz and glam to meal time
Champagne celebrations
After pay day
Ambience & Décor
Russia's bygone opulence is famous, and was hoping the BBR décor would follow suit. Decorative tiled flooring, golden fixtures and plush velvet seating made it feel posh, but a tad tacky too. Décor can be summed up as Russian mafia met Great Gatsby but it was too ostentatious for my taste. Restaurant had a sombre ambience, akin to fine dining, so conversation was easy to maintain.
Service
BBR had great service with special mention to Davide and Katherine. Both ensured the water/champagne glasses never went dry, and delivered each course with a smile. The USP is the “Press for champagne” button which brought our Bollinger. Once the button is pressed, the table lights up, and the waiter appeared in a nanosecond to take the order.
Food
I opted for 2 courses. The Bavette Steak with Truffle Sauce served with Heritage carrots (left) was the manageable portion expected for fine dining. Given bavette is a flank piece, it can be chewy when overdone, and it was in part sadly. The thyme and garlic infused did accentuate the natural flavours of the beef and was complemented well with the truffle sauce. Wanted more truffle in it though. The purée was a fantastic consistency giving much-needed sweetness, just wished there was more of it. The dish was okay without blowing me away with the vegetables on the side proving unspectacular. The truffle fries were crispy and fluffy, but wanted more truffle shavings.
I am a huge Eton Mess so was looking forward to the Eton Mess En Perle with lime meringue, strawberry sorbet, raspberry, marshmallows and cream (right). The waiter enveloped the en perle (meringue ball) in a strawberry-based cream, giving it a lovely sheen and psychedelic red-and-white pattern. Great for Instagram. A swift tap revealed a lovely textured, tangy strawberry sorbet, raspberry pieces and marshmallows. Whilst not as good as Aqua Shard, it was still one of the best iterations I have had.
BBR brought a toned-down Russian elegance to match the London fine dining scene blueprint. The extravagant interior and superlative service made it a good restaurant. My gripe is that for £65 per person of 2 courses plus champagne, I wanted to be wowed more from a culinary perspective. I felt a bit short here, despite the delightful dessert. B rating.
Photos of Bob Bob Ricard and more can be found on Instagram here.
Final grade: B
Final comment: BBR’s cuisine is good but the champagne button is the star.
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