Here it is…Balthazar comes to London, right in the middle of Covent Garden. Well, it’s been here a while now [2013] but at last we’ve been.

Jay Rayner’s review was a bit less than glowing and he’s probably right. However, restaurants are always much more than just the food – otherwise why bother with anything other than just plates of food in a canteen, or on your knee in the street? That would probably catch on in London as well…

The interior is just like the New York one – identical. We sat in almost the same seat as we did in Spring Street. You wouldn’t know the difference. Still, a right of passage now completed. The food was fine but London is expensive. Two salads, bottle of water and a half bottle of wine…£80. We walked back to the hotel to save money. So, a Paris Brasserie arrives via the prototype in New York. Everything correct and authentic, except the serving staff were a good deal more friendly and less aloof than either Paris or NYC. Though they still retained that uncanny ability to not catch your eye when you need the bill. Jay Rayner thinks he’s wasted several years of his life waiting for the bill to arrive…

Restaurant Balthazar London

The bar, which separates the restaurant from the shop

London or New York?