The Chant of the Barbie Dolls

As a post "Messiah" performance treat, many moons ago, I was trying to book a table for 4 at 10pm on the last Friday before Xmas at a nice restaurant and not having any joy at all. Until, that is, I tried Bibendum, and got the reservation I wanted. Pre service indications were good - I got a phone call on the day confirming the reservation and when I said we might be a little late as we had to come from a performance, they assured me there was no problem. As it happens we arrived punctually, but were kept waiting for 10 minutes before being seated, for which the management were profusely apologetic and offered us some champagne on the house as we eventually sat down. Which was a nice and appreciated touch so we were happy.

The surroundings were wonderful - amazing art deco posters, terrific stained glass Michelin man windows, and really comfortable relaxed seating, and a pleasant buzz about the dining room. We had our orders for food and wine taken promptly by unobtrusive staff, which was again appreciated as we were pretty deep in conversation at this point. One universal quibble was, as with, it seems, all Conran restaurants, the menu is ridiculously hard to read and understand, written as it is in some semi-undecipherable hieroglyphics. The prices are staggeringly clear, though, and could cause the faint hearted some palpitations, so be warned this is an expensive restaurant. Plenty of bread, crisps (highly unusual in my experience) and some very tasty olives were proffered as starter nibbles.

I had goujons of plaice to start with a coriander vinegar, as did one other person, and the other starters were a half dozen oysters and a plate of mussels. The oysters with shallot vinegar were probably the best bet of the starters, although somewhat pricey (at about £18), and got necked without being offered around. In fact, most of the starters ranged between £10-25, and there was quite a good selection. The mussels were pronounced to be an unenthusiastic "ok", and the plaice goujons were actually very good - deep fried but not at all fatty, although I found them and the vinegar a little bland.

The main course selection did provide some challenging dishes - of these our foursome were generally quite unadventurous - two of us went for the peppered fillet steak (expensive at about £25, and that did not include any sides). One of us went for haddock and chips, which, enormous and tasty though it was, was left unfinished. The real gastronaut amongst us though went for kidneys and black pudding on a bed of cabbage with gravy. Having tasted a bit I was extremely sorry I didn't go for it myself - it was utterly delicious, and even though my steak was a perfectly cooked mouth wateringly thick piece of excellent meat, with an rich intense meaty jus, it was as nought in comparison with the chocolately offal textures and flavours. Sides of boiled potatoes and spinach were good, but expensive additions to the main dish.

Dessert for me was a superb crème brulee, although there was still a little un-bruleed sugar around the edges if I were being picky. Coffee followed. The whole thing including service came to more that £200 for 4, including an excellent bottle of South African red. Our bill took a very long time to obtain though, because of some faulty machinery - we ended up paying with one of those old fashioned manual card impression swipers, and received a Bibendum Michelin man ash tray for all our troubles.

Given the surroundings, the quality of the food, wine list and particularly our experience of the service, that's really not that bad as we've often unwittingly ended up paying a lot more for a lot worse in London. This may lack the theatre crowd and occasional famous thespian that the other Conran we've been to might sport (The Almeida in Islington), but we found the service better, and the quality a notch or two above it's Islington cousin, if a little more formal.