There aren’t too many places in London with a Jekyll and Hyde personality, which has the feel of a central London wine bar one minute and has you feeling as though you’re eating in a family-run local bistro the next. One place that does buck the trend though is Bedford & Strand.
From the moment you step foot through Bedford & Strand’s door and head downstairs into the below-ground bar and bistro you’re transported a million miles away from the grind of life in central London. Despite being located in a prime location for either pre-theatre dining or an after-work supper Bedford & Strand’s most striking feature is its fantastic atmosphere, as it succeeds in giving its customers the impression of being in an intimate, local establishment.
The restaurant offers a simple but highly effective modern European menu, and the kitchen more than delivers on its promise of mouth-wateringly good food.
The bar options are plentiful (our recommendation if you’re looking to try something new are the house specialty cocktails) but the real star of the show is the delicious food of the restaurant.
Starters are traditional and include steak tartare with quails egg, pot of Cornish crab and chicken liver parfait, but our recommendation is a terrine of smoked duck served with bread and soured apples, which combines fantastic flavours superbly into a dish so good you’ll wish you could eat it all night.
Main courses are as lip-smacking as they are varied, with excellent meat, fish and vegetarian options to choose from. Order the cottage pie or pan-fried sardines and you won’t be disappointed, but the highlight of our visit were some sumptuous haddock fishcakes, which might just be the best we’ve had in the capital for a long time.
Address: 1a Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9HH, UK
