Bar Boulud

About four or five times a year, I get an overwhelming craving for a burger. But being a lady of high standards, I want a burger that has real beef inside and I want to eat it in a nice restaurant on a plate. I can’t stand plastic wrapping, or themed restaurants that try to pretend they’re in America, when you can quite clearly see London buses going past the window.
Anyway, rant over, I was so happy with my burger at Bar Boulud. The texture was divine and there was just the right amount of lettuce and tomato with a delicious burger sauce. There are some more adventurous burgers on the menu, including one with foie gras inside, but I stuck to a Yankee burger with cheese and salad. Not that three bits of lettuce can be included as part of your five a day, but it probably saves some calories.
Saving calories on the main course is important as you’ll want to indulge in a dessert. I had the chocolate lava cake, and held my breath to see if molten chocolate would oooze out as I’ve had some disappointing experiences with chocolate desserts recently. Thankfully, a river of chocolate flowed over the plate and I spooned up every last drop. A raspberry sorbet cleansed the palate so I could keep going back to the chocolate.
Not only was the food divine, but the location was a plus. As it is inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge, which is just down the road from Harrods and Harvey Nichols, I expected it to be much more expensive than what it was. My Yankee Burger was just £18 though so it was cheaper than Burger and Lobster and some gastropubs. Service was excellent and the clientele were cool and civilised.
Next time I’ll go back a bit further after Christmas, so my stomach can handle a foie gras burger. It’s the poshest setting for a burger I’ve found in London so far.

One of the best meals I’ve had in my entire life! I came with my parents to celebrate my 21^st birthday after a recommendation from a friend and I cannot think of another place I would have rather been. The whole experience was nothing short of wonderful — the service is fantastic and the food is nothing short of wonderful! I would definitely recommend it — even just to grab a drink (like a champagne mojito!)

Right next to Knightsbridge tube station at the Mandarin Oriental, this is a great laid back restaurant where you can enjoy a lovely meal.
I’ve tried the coq du vin with the truffle mashed potatoes and it was delicious!
I came back with friends for burgers and we were not disappointed! The service is great as well. Highly recommend!

Bar Boulud in 3 easy steps:
1. Make a booking.
2. Get the burger.
3. Don’t fuss too much about your attire, it’s fairly casual in a nice way.

I was taken there for my birthday. Very good wine menu, mouthwatering steak and their truffle mash. Oh my god! I still dream about it! And nothing beats a surprise cake with compliments from the chef!

Just met with a business associate for lunch here, great staff, very nice and clean restaurant. I had the menu du jour. Salad as entrée and salmon. He had the beef. The table next to us had burgers, I regretted my choice with the first wiff of the burger… Now I’ll have to go back and have a burger!!!

Started out walking into this amazing restaurant, with no reservation. The hostess imediately made room for us with a given time slot of 1 hour and 30 minutes which was plenty for a quick dinner. Nicholas our server greeted us with 5 star service and advised me that all the beers are home brewed from all over Europe!
The blonde beer from Italy was amazing! Then comes the BURGER! The Yankee was to DIE FOR! this thing was almost too big I almost wanted to cut it, but I dove in and it melted in my mouth! 5 star place, 5 star service and 5 star food!

This place has a nice ambience and can be relatively quiet on week days.
I shared the Piggie and BB burgers with a friend. The BB was the best for both of us — A beef patty, with foie gras, short ribs, horseradish mayo, confit tomatoes and black onion served on a seed bun.
You can appreciate the quality of the ingredients used and they are cooked to perfection but both burgers could have done with more flavour and ‘wow’ factor. Especially for the price!

The burger seems to be what all the tables around me ordered. More casual than other Boulud restuarants. Ordered the special of the evening which turned out to be the biggest piece of meat I’ve ever had brought to the table. While it was tasty. I regretted not ordering the burger.

It is really good value for a decent French place with great location. Because they offer the choice of «petite plates», we decide to order several small plates to try as many dishes as possible instead of two or three large ones. So we end up ordering eight dishes – two real appetizers and six petite entrees. It turns out, I’d say, the petite ones are actually in good sizes (compared to those entrees served in similar high-​end French restaurants), especially the mussels!!! Among all the plates we order — scallions, prawns, sausages, pork belly, chicken oysters, mussels and crab rolled in cucumber, I really recommend pork belly, scallions and crab rolled in cucumber, the last one is creative too in the way they make it. So if you ever have he chance to be in London, find a time to try out this nice restaurant in mandarin oriental hotel near Harrods.

Clean and classy with top quality food and a suckerpunch of a 5 star customer service experience is exactly what this restaurant is all about.
Ambience/​Décor:
The way in which I can describe the ambience and décor within this restaurant would be of a subtle nature. The restaurant (in my own opinion) is in a league of its own with having the ability to be well lit, calm, peaceful and down to earth, yet also possessing the qualities of having an air of elegance, class and of high quality to it’s list of ways to describe the experience and memories it leaves with you.
Food/​Dessert:
Due to having a semi full stomach, I decided to skip the starter and head straight for the main.
For the main course, I had one of the notoriously talked about burgers, the «BB» burger which consisted of: the beef patty, foie gras, red wine braised short ribs, truffle, frisée, horseradish mayonnaise, confit tomatoes and black onion seed bun. I can honestly agree with all past reviewers about why the burger is London’s best. The beef patty, foie gras and the ribs all complimented each other. The burger had a unique and overly satisfying taste. It is of decent size, packs in a lot of ingredients, flavours and good quality beef patty with it being filling, yet won’t leave your stomach bursting with agony. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who knows about good quality burgers.
For dessert I had the ‘Coulant Au Chocolat’ which consisted of a chocolate lava cake, raspberry sorbet and vanilla milk. What a collaboration of flavours and textures. This dessert is just one of those desserts that is better tried than described. The warmth and sponge like texture of the cake with the flow of hot chocolate mixture pouring out of it is to die for. It is sweet well baked and having the raspberry sorbet on the side is definitely a plus. The raspberry gives you a wake up call and definitely shockwaves your tastebuds back into action with it cold temperature and raspberry sour kick flavour. Great portion and really closes the meal in the best way possible.
Price:
I guess there is not much to say really apart from you get what you pay for. What I can say though is if you want a meal that is like an experience then that is sure what you are paying for. On the plus side, I didn’t think the pricing was expensive at all and the food was by far definitely worth it.
Customer Service:
It is rare to receive such customer service that has you talking about it for days. The waiters & waitresses really show that they care about ensuring you get the best experience possible. The waitress who served on the day I attended was very informative about the menu, very patient and engaged in general conversation. Customer service is just one of those things tjat in order to understand, you have to experience ir yourself, but, being an active restaurant diner, I have seen my fair share of customer service and yet still, when you receive a new moment of excellent customer service it does leave you in awe.
***Non-​pretentious, chic, elegant and top quality restaurant serving top quality food with the sprinkle of excellent customer service in a modern building in the heart of London is where you need to be. Bar Bould is the restaurant where you need to be.***

Not sure this place needs too much reviewing. Basically I thought highly of their charcuterie board, bb burger and steak tartare, but I would recommend to stay away from their seafood. The fried calamari rings looked shriveled and sad and the breaded scallops were rubbery, indicative of being over cooked.
Loved the cocktails. I tried the Venezuelan old fashioned and give it 2 thumbs up.

So different than I expected. It’s tucked inside the Mandarin Oriental. We walked in knowing the food would be good, but would the experience be too snooty. It wasn’t. It’s a very cool place. Great lighting and décor. The service was top notch. They work in teams, so there’s always someone to help. We both had the burger. I had the Piggy. It was fantastic. But note, anything cooked beyond «medium» takes 20 or more minutes. The Pom frites were basic, but the cauliflower au gratin was succulent. Also can’t say enough about the French onion soup. It was perfectly balanced and flavorful. We skipped dessert, but we’re definitely intrigued. Overall, it’s a 3.5 star place, but with a more robust menu could be a 4 to 4.5.

Wow! Really good flavoursome cooking– very classic French done nicely. The set lunch menu (£19 for 3 courses) is really great value for this place and making it accessible and affordable for diners who want to try this place!

Lovely restaurant in the basement of mandarin oriental hotel. Classy yet trendy — it has that NYC French brasserie take replicated well. Good is slightly more American as well that French and I think this is what is nice about this place.
Really love their burgers, salads and crispy pork belly were definite yum! Would definitely recommend for nice but casual meals — highly recommend it!

I have never been to a French Resteraunt. So please excuse me if my review makes you want to go here and it’s not great. I thought it was absolutely delicious.
The staff make you feel so comfortable, they take your coats, pull out your chairs and are there for your every need. The décor is remarkable and the food is absolutely amazing (in my opinion), I would love to go here again anyway.
The reason I have not given this venue a 5 star rating, is due to the area (Knightsbridge) it is very pricey, well for me being a student it is anyway. For two of us, with a starter and a main course it cost us 100 pounds for the meal. However, as it was my friends birthday, he did get a small cake free! With his name on which was really sweet.
Would recommend to anyone that likes to try out different cuisines or has a taste for French food. It was a pleasure being there and I would go again if I could afford.

— the Bar Boulud is the sister restaurant to the popular New York outpost
— located at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
— reservation is highly recommended! very busy and popular
— the service staff is impeccable, from the front door staff to the barman to our waiter; very very obliging, friendly and alert staff!
— great atmosphere, nice interiors (sleek open kitchen, vaulted ceilings, red-​leather banquettes and zinc-​topped bar create a comfortable and welcoming surrounding); however, very narrow seating (this is really a minus!)
— the seasonal bistro menu includes an impressive selection of house-​made terrines and pâtés, as well as a handful of signature sausages and burgers, adding an American touch to this French inflected bistro and wine bar
— the wine list focuses on Burgundy and the Rhôné Valley, including many fine selections by the glass, as well as a wide array of draught and bottled beers
— starter: «CHARCUTERIE DE GILLES VEROT»: chef’s selection of pâtés terrines, sliced meats, hors d’oeuvres, pickles & mustards (small 16.00 GBP | large 32.00 GBP); delicious! I loved the mustard as well as the terrines very much!
— main:
«MOULES À LA CRÈME»: steamed mussels, white wine, leeks, celery, parsley, crème fraîche (16.00 GBP); extraordinary; best mussels we had for a long time
«RATATOUILLE» with goat cheese and crisp bread; loved it!
Conclusion: Expensive, however great atmosphere, delicious food, great service! Highly recommended! Only minus: seating toooooo narrow!

The burgers are legendary. And it’s why I came here.
Bar Boulud is fancy, no doubt about it. Beautiful chic atmosphere, coat check right at the door where you don’t even have to step up, they just offer to take it, beautiful lighting (not too much, not too little). It’s a spot for a very romantic dinner or a classy work lunch. I chose the later.
Of course, when your spot is located below the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, it’s easy to see it being a bit posh.
Our servers were amazingly attentive and came up right away to ask if we needed anything and then checked on us frequently (but not in an annoying kind of way.) Excellent staff here for sure.
When the menu came down, I flipped right to the burger section, as it was the reason for the season. They had four different legendary options and eventually I went with The Piggie:
«beef patty, bbq pulled pork, green chili mayonnaise bibb lettuce, red cabbage slaw, cheddar bun.» Woah and more woah. The burger comes down and it is smaller than some of the others around town but each bite is just crazy packed with flavour and kick. Seriously amazing on all levels.
Most of the burgers come in at about £12.75 without a side (and its about £4 for chips to go with), so this is never going to be a cheap burger outing. But my god was it worth it. If you’re looking for fine dining and fine burgers, this is the spot to stop.

Thanks to Andrew M for organising Burger Quest 4.0, which turned out to be one of my oddest dining experiences
Bar Boulud is the brainchild of Michelin starred New York legendary chef Daniel Boulud and has been reproduced in London from its original version in New York. Senior maitre d’ Paulo de Tarso, which eventually turned our evening into a special one, told us the origins of the London version from its humble basement beginnings at the swanky Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge
To be honest, the evening didn’t start well. The first 4 of our party of 10 Unilocalers arrived to find that they had split us up into tables of 4,4 and 2 and that they were unable to sit us close together. Having now spent an evening in the buzzing and impressively full dining rooms, I’m still not sure why our tables couldn’t be placed closer together
The other unfortunate policy at the restaurant is that no photo taking is allowed, especially of the food. At the end of the evening, we all agreed that it was a real shame that they didn’t allow us to take photos of the food, which was beautifully plated and presented. A little bizarrely, they did offer to let us return to photograph the food with professional photographers and they would set up the food professionally, which rather goes against the spontaneous joy of Unilocal.I really hope that they re-​consider this policy as I, in common with a lot of others I’m sure, have chosen to eat somewhere when we’ve seen the beautiful photos of the food
However, once Mr de Tarso worked out that we were serious foodies, he did put in a lot of time with us to share his obvious passion for the food and to make sure that we had an enjyable evening. He was the perfect host
We had some nice cocktails to sip on — my non alcoholic ‘Exotic Breeze’ was a nice combination of lychee juice, fresh berries and tonic — as we perused the menu
Very generously, Mr de Tarso sent over some complimentary charcuterie boards as he wanted us to try the terrines, which reflects Daniel Boulud’s rustic origin and style of cooking though elevating it to perfect execution and appearance. Despite it having a bistro air in the dining room, they don’t skimp on the quality of the ingredients or cooking
The many terrines and hams on the board weren’t shy on flavour, which was nice. The mustards served alongside added some lovely bite but the pickled veggies could have had a little more zing
Being Burger Quest, we all went for burgers. I had already decided beforehand on their signature BB burger which is a beef patty, foie gras, red wine braised short ribs, truffle, frisée, horseradish mayonnaise and confit tomato all on a sesame black onion seed bun, costing a reasonable £19.50 considering the top class ingredients. Yinnie C bucked the trend on our table by having the Piggie burger, which was personally recommended by Mr de Tarso
So, the BB. It was very good but just a couple of notches from perfection. The beef patty is made in-​house with a carefully measured ratio of fat to meat and this results in a wonderfully light patty. The foie gras and short ribs were nice too but as all these main filling ingredients are of the same consistency and flavour, everything just merged into an amorphous mouthful, nice though it tasted. I felt the foie gras was wasted in this mix and extracted it to be eaten separately. Similarly, the truffle was a bit lost in the meat feast. Linzi M had requested no horseradish in her burger and I did wonder if they leff it off mine as well as it did lack a little bit of different texture or a a little kick, which would have elevated it into the great division
However, Yinnie’s Piggie burger was a little star. With the addition of barbecued pulled pork and chilli mayo, it had interesting contrasts on the palate
Happily, the truffle in the truffle mash was more obvious and was my favourite side. The fries, mushroom fricasee and cauliflower cheese gratin were good fillers but not in the same class
Somehow, we found space for a dessert each. These were yummy. We had a nice range with pineapple soufflé, chocolate tart, peppermint chocolate sponge and mango with orange mousse
Mr de Tarso had a last surprise for us with a batch of mini madelaines fresh from the oven. Though we were stuffed by then, these all disappeared and I even spotted some fellow Unilocalers pouring chocolate sauce into them!
So a big thanks to Mr de Tarso for being a perfect host and making our visit special

location: outstanding. Right beside Knightsbridge tube station, 5 minute walk away to harrods.
service: impeccable
ambiance: romantic, chic, not too intimidating
food: above average
dessert: creative & tasty (mmm pear soufflé)
best of all: opens on Christmas eve!