| Ambiance: |  (3.5 / 5) |
| Service: | (2.5 / 5) |
| Value for money: | (1.5 / 5) |
| Toilet: | (3 / 5) |
A Monday night is my ultimate school night. Drinking, eating rubbish and being lazy are completely ruled out. I am good on a Monday – diets officially start at the beginning of the week. I had every intention to continue in this fashion, but after a naughty after-work glass of wine, my stomach started rumbling. I’m not sure what it is about drinking, but it makes me hungry, and makes me lose all self control!
The Menu
After another bucket of wine, and a cocktail; not only was I slightly wobbly, I was near to eating off a colleagues plate. So, we decided to walk to Borough where a plethora of restaurants welcomed us. Settling on Black and Blue because we’d heard good things, and it looked lovely from the outside, we were sat at a round booth for 7.
After having to ask a couple of times, we were given a heap of menus which we passed around the table ourselves, and asked for our drink order. Half way through giving the order (admittedly we were taking a while), the waitress left with me going into near paranoia about when my wine would arrive. Yes, I went from refusing to drink, to not being able to get enough of it. Slightly concerned I might be in the makings of becoming an alcoholic….
The waitress ended up coming back with the drinks we’d half ordered. The girls in the group had opted to share a bottle of Pinot Grigio, which I really didn’t enjoy. However, ploughing through, I decided to make up for it with the food. Known for its steak, I had my heart set on a rib-eye. Starting at £26 for the meat, and £3.50 for any side, I expected great things. A friend agreed to share half of her pesto and mozzarella chicken with me, so we’d get the best of both worlds. We ordered sides of creamy mash and spinach.
Chicken and Pesto Chicken
The food came within 20 minutes and looked lovely. We were given a complimentary Caesar Salad; which I thought was a nice touch, but the sides came in the smallest of pots. Cutting into my steak, I was immediately worried as I had to saw at it and I could see sinewy bits of fat throughout. However, I gave half to Vicky and received half of her rather dry looking chicken.
Ribeye Steak
As feared, both dishes tasted how they looked. The steak was fatty, over-cooked (we’d asked for medium-rare) and the chicken was dry, and under-seasoned). The mash didn’t taste of anything and the spinach looked like the blocks of spinach you can buy from the frozen section at a supermarket. All in all, it wasn’t great. We said if we hadn’t have been drinking, and were eating it sober, we probably would have complained but in this case, Black and Blue were lucky because we were ravenous and could’ve probably eaten anything.
Chocolate Fondue
Despite the failure of the main course, we persevered and ordered pudding; deciding on New York Cheesecake and Chocolate Fondant, with 6 spoons. Both looked good, however, were incredibly disappointed. My Dad would describe the ice cream accompaniment as ‘frozen margerine’ as it had that cheap, frozen taste, rather than a rich, creamy luxury ice cream.
We left Black and Blue pretty disappointed, but on a positive note – at least we know for next time!
Recommendation
For the price, quality and service, I find it hard to even give it a one star. The best thing about Black and Blue is its location; so I might return for a drink in its lovely bar.
