LE BRUNCH AT OLD BENGAL BAR
Last weekend I had a girls day with my best friend at one of our favourite haunts in London, Spitalfields Market. Before we hit the stalls though we did the only sensible thing a girl can and have a boozy brunch catch up. One place we hadn't been to before was Old Bengal Bar, tucked away on New Street. Amazingly it has accomplished what many, many, many bars in the area (in my humble opinion) strive for but fail - authentic, cool chic, an extensive wine & cocktail list, leaving all pretension and 'hipster' vibe at the door.
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Even more enticing was knowing that Le Bun are hosting a month long pop up there during October cleverly titled Le Brunch (see what they did there?). When I visited Riverside Feast back in July, the stand out favourite for me was le duck frites from Le Bun. Soft, pillowy brioche bun stuffed full of duck confit, their secret 'slaw and teeny tiny shoe string fries that reminded me more of those matchstick crisps we used to get when we were little (I think they were called KP Mini Chips..?) I knew I had to go and have a second helping of French/American fusion but I also knew that against my better judgement I would go down my usual route, no matter how tempting everything else sounds, of having the same as last time.
And I did despite a number of mouth-watering options on the menu. It was too tasty not to. I do acknowledge that it's always a risky move and here was an example of why. It was extremely delicious but at Riverside Feast I hadn’t known what to expect, I had a completely open mind. This time I had expectations of perfection. So though it was still a meaty, doughy, carby taste explosion sometimes the surprise element of the first experience can't be replicated. I still wolfed it down though and definitely recommend it.
Mel opted for the le bisque mac, shellfish bisque infused macaroni, seared shrimps, rouille & gruyere croutes and chervil which I tried and had the same epiphany moment as the first time I bit into a le duck; it was dreamy, creamy, rich, macaroni and very morish. I had a brief hm, how much constitutes a 'taste'? moment but I managed to stop myself at one mouthful.
Despite the sizeable garden area with large table umbrellas, we opted to sit inside within the exposed brick and mirrored walls as it was an especially cold day considering September’s Indian summer – it took the determination only a committed smoker knows to brave the biting October wind and rain that had appeared that morning.
The clientele was as eclectic as the brilliant soundtrack - think MJ at his best, Elvis, Pharrell Williams, Kate Bush as a taster; a long table filled the middle of the room with the happy chatter of friends celebrating a birthday in the group to the couple playing jenga over a large pinot to us two cackling away over Prosecco and talks of boys, shopping, politics, weddings and oft told anecdotes from years long gone. The staff were warm, attentive but not pushy and with no real sense of time (we chose a table where our backs were to the windows) we could have been lost for hours or days in our own happy chatter and prosecco filled joy.
We did eventually manage to peel ourselves off the leather sofas and over to the market where we topped the afternoon off with an Autumn stroll and Lola’s salted caramel macadamia chocolate cupcake (try saying that quickly 5 times!).
After stretching our legs and walking off some of the calories we had consumed we found these abandoned flowers. I think they were left over for people to take from the days trading on one of the florist stalls but it was fun and thought provoking to mull over various life stories and events that may have led to them being there...
Le Brunch is running every weekend 11 – 4 throughout October.
OLD BENGAL BAR
16 New Street
London
EC2M 4TR