Friday was our spinning class Christmas meal we started off at the very nice Soshu before heading off to Bam Bou. Due to a couple illneses and other excuses there was only actually 3 of us instead of the 7 booked in but we were still determined to have a good time. Our table wasn't ready when we arrived so we were sent up to the bar which was packed. We got a table up there but no one had cleared the previous revellers glasses so my first impressions weren't great. However after about 10 minutes more staff turned up in the bar cleared the tables and were very helpfull. We were halfway through our drink when they came to tell us the table was ready.
We were led down into a nice room with a spacious table. Bambou occupies an old tall thin Georgian house so you eat in different rooms which is a nice touch. There were plenty of staff on hand and the group of 3 waiters that looked after our room were great. We ordered a selection of starters (soft shell crab, squid, chicken in lettuce leaves, huge prawn crackers). All were good the best being the soft shell crab but the squid needed more seasoning. We then had mains I had the pork skewer bun which was seriously tasty, the others went for the Tofu claypot which wasn't quite my bag but the others liked it and a fish curry which was excellent. We ordered some sides of rice and a really good Bok Choi. The portions were plentiful and the food tasty which was just what we wanted. We washed it down with a couple of bottles of the house white, a Sauvignon blanc which went perfectly with the food.
We were too full for desert but had some after dinner drinks and jasmine tea. One of our party managed to knock off a marble ornament when he sat down which landed on his head. No damage to him or the ornament but they offered us a round of drinks by apology. We thought it was really nothing to worry about so declined but they still took the teas off the bill which was a nice touch. The bill came to about £50 a head which was really very good value. The bar was open upstairs after the restaurant closed so we had one final nightcap before heading off. All in all I was very impressed with Bam Bou, it showed you can get lovely asian food and good service without paying the earth
Monday, November 30, 2009
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8