Its been a while since us three girls, Sandra, Pauline and I, had a catch up all together. Finally we were able to nab an evening when all three of us were available. Our first choice for dinner (Pho) was unavailable by reservation so we cruised my website of the year, toptable, for another venue and landed on Bowler Bar and Grill. We have actually been here before having sampled a gorgeous mint aero martini before moving on to another restaurant so we weren’t unfamiliar with the place but none of us had ever eaten here. If you’re looking for it the place is actually not that well placed – its tucked away on a small side street down some stairs. The first time we came here we missed it about three times!

Presenting British food with a twist Bowler Bar and Grill is sells itself as a “vibrant restaurant and bar”
in the heart of Chelsea. From our experience it doesn’t get vibrant until at least after eight pm when the diners start to come in and fill the tables. Having said that there is a noticeable buzz around the small bar area generally around 6.30 but it makes a strange contrast to the nearly empty dining room at that time. In either case it was definitely quite busy when we left at about 9pm tonight.

Bearing in mind this venue is in Chelsea I’m surprised that the a la carte prices are not actually Chelsea-ish – fairly reasonable for the area. Tonight we went one step further and took advantage of a current deal where we could have 2 courses for £9.95 or 3 courses for £12.95. An absolute bargain.

I was quite happy with my choices in the:
– curried parsnip soup and fresh bread as a starter. A surprisingly tasty combination that worked well and the bread was perfectly warmed – light and crusty on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Actually Sandra commented that the soup was like drinking korma! It was certainly tasty and had a bit of a zing to it.
– poached salmon with tarragon cream, fresh herbs & pureed potato as my main. This dish was nice though admittedly nothing adventurous or I didn’t see the spin.
– the apple and rhubarb crumble for dessert (I couldn’t resist) was perfect and I was pleased they allowed us to substitute ice cream for the custard. Interestingly our waitress was saying that the rhubarb was black rhubarb but as she was not an english speaking native I’m not sure if that was a little lost in translation.

Overall I was quite pleased with our meal and the service we received was outstanding. It was friendly, efficient and in fact just the right level. Our waitress in particular was a star – she was super friendly and surprisingly very perceptive and responsive – even when it started to get quite a bit busier. The only disappointment of the night was that we didn’t really get to experience what the Bowler Bar and Grill’s specialty – meat! Next time it’ll be steak I think!