Dinner at Bob Bob Ricard

‘Press for champagne’ reads the button on the wall. No thanks, we’ll take four vodka shots at -18 degrees celsius. Either way, both scenarios are perfectly normal at Bob Bob Ricard in London.

That’s perhaps the first sign you’ve entered into an upmarket English/Russian fusion restaurant. The second is the moment you realise you can order truffle, potato and mushroom vareniki for your starter and chicken, mushroom and champagne pie as your main, with a side of mushy peas.

Bob Bob Ricard is decadent. From the moment your coat is checked behind the floor to ceiling blue velvet curtains at reception, you gain the sensation of stepping into a well crafted Gatsby-esque universe. There’s a strong emphasis placed on champagne. And gold trimming.

More blue velvet is used as partitions between each dimly-lit booth and the darkened windows facing the outside world allow you to peer out but no outsiders can look in. A secret luxurious world for only the patrons to bear witness to.

Dressed in a pale pink blazer buttoned at the waist, with a gold tie to match the trim of the dinner plates, a waiter appears, smiling and ready to take drink orders. Champagne anyone?

Exquisitely designed as the restaurant may be, the menu lets you in on a little secret: Bob Bob Ricard isn’t taking itself too seriously. How can it when one of its main players is lobster macaroni and cheese? It’s having fun and so am I.

But like a kid who’s stayed up passed bedtime, I feel a little out of place - and certain I’ll be found out. I think it’s like that for most people who peer at the lavish menu and tally their spend before placing an order. This isn’t what you would call casual dining.

With entrés starting at £9.50 and mains beginning at £19.50 (maxing out at £43.50), you’ll leave Bob Bob Ricard with a satisfied belly and a wallet lightened of at least £50. Bob Bob Ricard calls it ‘comfort food fit for a special occasion’, and special occasion dining it is.

Have something to celebrate? Put on your best dress and take up a booth at Bob Bob Ricard. And don’t forget to press for champagne.