On a cold winter’s night in January, not long after our second wedding in London, Brad and I made the trip to Bar Boulud in the Mandarin Oriental, London. I’d read about Bar Boulud’s amazing burgers and knew this would be very relevant to my new husband’s interests.

We managed to get an early booking for dinner without too much trouble and arrived a little on the early side with the hope of sneaking a peak at the soon to open Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Not much luck on that front it did give us a chance to sample their excellent cocktail menu and beer selection. I went for a Champagne Mojito (£12.50) which combined two of my favourite drinks into one and tasted amazing whilst Brad opted for a Brewdog IPA which they had on tap. 

We were showed to our table promptly and we received excellent advice from both our waiter and the head sommelier, David Vareille. Brad was leaning towards a Cote de Rhone but I thought it would be nice to expand our wine horizons. We went for a 2006 Chianti Classico Riserva, from Poggio Bonelli in Tuscany, Italy (£63 - Available online for £22.50 from Lea & Sandeman) which was just fantastic, especially given Brad doesn’t normally like Italian wines. 

Most bloggers rave about the burgers at Bar Boulud but the real stand-outs are their sausages, which are made on premises. We opted for the trio of sausages as a starter (£29 IIRC) and we were presented with three smallish plates of sausages with accompaniments to share. Our favourite was the Boudin Blanc (Truffled White Sausage) served with mashed potato, the fine meat balanced perfectly with smooth creamy mash. The other two sausages — Beaujolaise (Pork, Mushroom, Onion, Bacon and Red Wine) with pommes lyonnaise and Saucisse Fumée Façon Morteau (Smoked Cumin-spiced Sausage) with lentil stew and pork jus — were just as flavoursome. 

Onto the main event, Brad went for the plain beef Yankee Burger with cheddar cheese (£12.75 + £1 for the cheddar cheese) while I went for the Frenchie Burger which added Confit Pork Belly to the mix and Morbier Cheese instead of Cheddar (£13.75). Both were served with Pommes Frites which were your standard American French Fry variety. Ironically enough, Brad and I should probably have swapped, I preferred the plainer version whilst he liked the spicier Frenchie but both were without fault, if a little on the small side. 

It was unfortunately at this point, despite snapping away for most of the evening, that we were told we weren’t allowed to take photos of the food. Whether they were unimpressed by Brad accidentally setting off the flash or concerned about a celebrity guest, we were told in no uncertain terms that taking photos was not permitted. I found this hard to believe given the coverage I’ve seen on other blogs and this put a bit of a downer on the excellent service we’d received until then.

Unfortunately this meant when dessert arrived, we weren’t able to snap any pictures of Brad’s Gâteau Basque (£6.00), a classic French cake with brandied cherries and vanilla ice cream or my Mint Chocolate Ice-cream (£2.75 per scoop). It’s very hard to go wrong with Mint Chocolate ice-cream but Brad found his dessert to be a little underwhelming. 

The total meal came to £172 which included the sausage platter, a burger each, desserts, pre-dinner drinks and a bottle of wine. We could have easily got away with a bill under £100 if we’d opted for a cheaper bottle of wine and skipped the drinks beforehand. If you are really watching the cash, then their £20 set menus look to be an absolute bargain. It’s worth a visit for the amazing sausages but I’d take the cheaper and more generously sized burgers at Byron. 

Bar Boulud, Mandarin Oriental
66 Knightsbridge
London SW1X 7LA
Phone: +44(0)2072013899
http://www.danielnyc.com/barbouludLondon.html