I enjoyed my last visit to Bills on Baker Street in July. So it was with some anticipation we headed there for dinner on a visit to London. Bills has an interesting dining environment, the different branches seem familiar, but different at the same time. The Baker Street branch appears to be smaller than other Bills I have been to.
Upon entering we were given a warm welcome, we had booked, and were shown to our table. One of the things I have found with Bills is that the menu changes quite often, so even though you may think, well I have that next time I visit, sometimes those very things disappear. So it does make, making a choice that little bit harder.
I was expecting to see the set menu we had in July, but it had changed already. It had gone up by two pounds and had lost the steak and chicken dishes we had had back then. So after reviewing what was on the set menu, we looked at the main menu.
While the rest of the table went with steak and chips, I wanted something different.
I was tempted by the chargrilled lamb rump. However having had an outstanding lamb rump in 2018 from the (now sadly closed) Cattle & Co in Euston, I knew I would have high expectations. The menu description of marinated lamb rump steaks I knew I might be disappointed. The sound of the Black & Gold Burger was quite tempting.
Chargrilled beef patty topped with cheese & truffle fondue, 24 carat gold flakes & grated black truffle. Served with rosemary salted fries.
As was the description of the Triple Truffle Shuffle Burger from the specials menu.
Topped with truffle mac & cheese, white truffle oil & dusted with freshly grated truffle. Served with rosemary fries
However I didn’t really fancy a burger, having only had one the other day in Harwell.
In the end I went with a dish I had been tempted to before on previous visits to Bills, which was the Lobster & Seafood Linguine.
Lobster, king prawn & squid in a rich tomato & chilli cream sauce with lemon oil.
The dish was nicely presented.
There was a nice lot of seafood in the pasta dish, which meant as you ate the dish you kept finding prawns, squid and lobster on your fork. Some places I have eaten this kind of dish, you get a meagre amount of seafood. I wasn’t overly impressed with the lobster, which either lacked flavour or was overpowered by the sauce. If it wasn’t there I don’t think I would have missed it, which was a pity.
I did enjoy the dish, I liked the cherry tomatoes with the pasta. Though I think it wouldn’t be something I would order again, if it was still on the menu. It didn’t blow me away.
As for the rest of the table, well they all went with chargrilled 8oz sirloin steak with rosemary fries.
They all enjoyed their dishes, but they did say I cooked a better steak.
Service was excellent, efficient and friendly.
Overall we had a really nice meal.
