Finding myself alone on Marylebone High Street, having just been quoted £200 plus VAT for the mending of my badly frayed suit trousers, and with my stomach rumbling for food I thought that I deserved what I like to term ‘a light lunch’, ignoring the many fashionable chains and choosing to head to Bonne Bouche.
Not wanting to draw attention to the fact that I was eating alone, I quickly made for the back of the restaurant – which seems to be somewhat of a recurring theme in these reviews – and sat down at a nice quiet table for four.
Within seconds of putting my coat on the back of the chair the waitress, one of three that would eventually end up serving me, was over to take my drinks order, which after toying with the idea of a coke, decided that if I am forced to eat alone then at least I shall look English about it, and duly ordered a pot of English breakfast tea.
The menu was typical of so many West London cafés and as a distinguished connoisseur of such eateries, I ordered the Bonne Bouche Club Sandwich at a cool £6.95, which sees an egg added to the traditional combination of bacon, lettuce, tomato and chicken. An excellent addition if ever I did see one.
If the pot of tea arrived in two minutes then the food must definitely have arrived within five, and the bill following soon after that, in this expertly run establishment. Black pepper was offered and fittingly accepted before things got ‘a bit saucy’ in the form of a good healthy dose of Heinz tomato sauce to suitably cover the French fries.
All the sandwiches come with chips and a side salad, which included raw carrot, cucumber and mozzarella in a light French dressing, to go with the fries and go against my English tea, of which I was now on my second teacup.
The sandwiches were skilfully held together by the help of a cocktail stick and were far too big to eat whole leaving me with an instant dilemma, do I cut them and run the risk of valuable filling escaping out of the side or do I eat them in stages? Choosing the latter, I went through the layers one by one, noting the egg to be the winning filling.
Apart from the chicken mayo tasting as though it had come straight out of a drum marked ‘chicken mayo’, which it probably had the meal was faultless, and needless to say was cleared away as I was still chewing the last mouthful. Quickly finishing my second and final cup of tea, I paid the £8.45 bill and made my exit.
By now the place was filling up with what appeared to be regulars given the banter coming from the counter and adjoining kitchen, leaving me to wonder if one day perhaps even I could be held in the same regard. On the basis of this sitting I would certainly be happy to go back, so who knows!
Apart from the chicken mayo tasting as though it had come straight out of a drum marked ‘chicken mayo’, which it probably had the meal was faultless, and needless to say was cleared away as I was still chewing the last mouthful. Quickly finishing my second and final cup of tea, I paid the £8.45 bill and made my exit.
By now the place was filling up with what appeared to be regulars given the banter coming from the counter and adjoining kitchen, leaving me to wonder if one day perhaps even I could be held in the same regard. On the basis of this sitting I would certainly be happy to go back, so who knows!
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