Bumbles, 16 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0QP, 020 7828 2903, http://www.bumbles1950.com
So I was a critic of this place before I walked through the door. I’m not sure if the location and exterior could have made me any more sceptical, but the set menu (3 courses for £10) really tipped the balance and so I entered with a sigh.
The interior is simple and nothing to write about, the service was a little slow initially though consistently friendly.
This is all I could find negative and I wanted to get it out of the way before I gush for the next three paragraphs about the food.
We almost all opted for the inspiring options on the 3 for £20 menu. How can you have fish and chips when snails & garlic risotto is an option? Also not to mention that the desserts included in that option alone seemed to be worth the menu price.
My starter of poached quails egg with pesto, tomato sorbet, cheese (Wensleydale?) and rocket, was a beautiful taste of summer. I found the tomato sorbet with a bitter overtone of balsamic inspiring and will be attempting this at home shortly.
Our tomato soup amuse bouche was a very cleanly and well executed example of good tomato soup, with a great texture and loads of flavour. By the time my plate of Garlic Risotto with Snails and Ham arrived I was excited, and rightfully so, it was lovely, creamy, deeply seasoned with an amazing green colour. The de-shelled snails we lovely and more the better for the absence of effort required.
For dessert we were torn; cheese or a trio of ices. I agreed with one of our eating companions to share the both, as to avoid any unnecessary hardship. The trio of ices was simply beautiful, a sweet but tart fragrant raspberry sorbet, a creamy blue cheese ice cream, with an amazing blue aftertaste) that kept me going back for more, both served in lovely miniature handmade sugar covered cones. Though the best third was the Gin & Tonic Slush Puppie, clearly made with Sloe Gin (the beautiful pink/purple hue) and served in a shot glass was the perfect marriage of the 5 and 25 year old Becky. To finish we had three/four lovely cheeses, though my mind was still with dessert, so I sadly almost completely neglected the marmite cheddar, blue cheese, and camembert.
About 2 thirds of a bottle of very tasty house red, 4 courses, wonderful presentation of a birthday cake we brought with us and it all came in under £30. I can honestly say it’s been a long time since I had so much of such quality for so little.
9/10 Definitely a new regular and James to thank…
This is all I could find negative and I wanted to get it out of the way before I gush for the next three paragraohs about the food.
Becky B's Blog 