Review: Beach Blanket Babylon Shoreditch

A last minute Friday decision saw us go for dinner at Beach Blanket Babylon in Shoreditch.  I was quite relieved that there was a table for 2 on Friday at a reasonable time (9pm).

When we arrived we were seated at a table next to the bar, but the waitress offered us another table up in the dining area which we accepted.  As soon as we stepped in, there was such a good atmosphere, the lighting inside was dim enough to create an air of excitement for the night ahead, but light enough to see in front of you.

Menu:
8 Oz fillet of beef (my veggie days are officially over...especially during the weekends), with blue cheese polenta, honeyed turnips, watercress and red wine sauce.
Pan fried fillet of cod, puy lentils, crisp salsify and sun blushed tomato vinaigrette
With side orders of french fries and green beans.
And a lovely bottle of red.

I have to say, I was willing to like this place, I already had high expectations - BBB didn't exactly disappoint but food wise - it wasn't all that.  For that price I was expecting something to 'wow' me.  It was good but didn't make me go 'wow'.  My beef was cooked medium - and I had no complaints, it was good.  My friend's cod however came uncooked in the middle first time round which was a bit of a surprise, but to their credit they did actually re-cook the whole dish (and not just re-heated it as some restaurants do).  When the cod was served second time round, it was good.

The dish did the trick for a late dinner, but of course I couldn't resist the dessert menu.  I had the Rich chocolate torte with vanilla ice cream, and it was rich indeed - but divine.

Service was ok - the waiters were friendly and helpful enough, but not too attentive really.

However, the bar downstairs is where BBB is at its best.  Lively atmosphere, modern and a variety of music courtesy of the DJ, who moves from the dining area to the basement.  Reasonable priced drinks.  All in all a pretty good evening.  The only thing I wished was that it stayed open later than 1am!

All in all, BBB is excellent if you want a night of dancing, or having a party.  Food wise didn't quite match I'm sad to say.