POLICY

I had lunch t’other day in the Bibendum Oyster Bar in London, day with my literary pal Kirsty Allison. 

This is Bibendum (not my picture):

This is Kirsty Allison (my picture):

We didn’t have oysters, they were a bit pricy, and they’d run out of the cheapest ones – from Maldon; although since Maldon oysters are what I buy many weekends at my local farmer’s market I’d have been a bit reluctant anyway. 

I had fish and chips and they were very good, I liked the curl, though not quite as good as Ms. A’s soup of the day which was fantastic – though I forget what was in it. Jerusalem artichoke, possibly.

The restaurant is currently run by Claude Bosi who is a very big deal – French, much travelled, lots of Michelin stars - and there are many rooms in his mansion: i.e. inside the big Bibendum building. 

He runs a tight ship – check this out from the website (and admittedly this applies to the fancy restaurant upstairs, not to the more modest the oyster bar):

“CANCELLATION POLICY: In the event that a booking is cancelled with less than 48 hours notice, a cancellation fee of £85 per person for lunch or £115 per person for dinner will be charged to the card provided at point of booking. PLEASE NOTE: In the event that the party arrive at the restaurant as a smaller group than expected, we reserve the right to charge for the missing guest(s).” 

Jeez.  I’d think this is the kind of malarkey that might make a person hesitate ever to make a reservation at said restaurant, but what do I know?

Above is a picture of me at the end of lunch with a cup of coffee, and I include it not because I particularly like to show my face (and what exactly am I doing with my face?) but because of that olive tree behind me.  There was a sign on it saying it’s for sale – though no price is given, nor any details of how you might get it home – perhaps Mr. Bosi would give you a hand loading it into the back of Subaru.  Perhaps, if the price was right.

FYI, the olive tree pictured at the top of this post is not at Bibendum, it's in my own back garden..