2-4 Rufus Street
N1 6PE
Tel: 020 7729 5252
Date of Last Visit: Friday, December 17th
The Victims: Rutton, Richard, Jose, Jimena, Cesar, Aroma, Tony, Michael, Yusef
The Damage: 30 gbp Christmas menu, plus lots of wine + bottled water = 50 gbp a person
It was our 2nd "annual" Christmas dinner. (I am loathe to call any fairly new event an "annual" event lest I jinx it and should it never occur again.) Last year around this time, Al and Louise booked about 30 people into a restaurant over by Waterloo somewhere whose name escapes me and everyone else. (And although I remember the food being good, I for some reason did not immortalize it within this blog.) They were fantastic organizers and planned all this out a month or so in advance.
This year, the job fell to Rutton and me. We were a bit lax in organizing, but even leaving things to the last minute, we were super pleased with the turnout. (Although finding a place that would take 12+ people the week before Christmas was a pain in the proverbial arse.)
Cru was fantastically friendly and helpful on the phone throughout the entire booking and confirming process. When I arrived at the restaurant, they greeted me like an old friend. (Note to all: I’d never been to Cru in my entire life.) They put up with the fact that everyone but me, Cesar, and Jimena arrived between 8:15 and 8:30, even though our booking was at 8. In short, from a customer service perspective, they were wonderful.
From a food perspective, they were good. Just good. Not outstanding. I had my last foie gras for the next twelve months as my starter (yes, I’ve sworn off foie gras in 2006). Jose enjoyed my starter tremendously. (I am not holding this against him…it was a good way of weening myself off the stuff.) For my main, I went with the turkey and stuffing and cranberries, given that it was the holidays and all. There was enough turkey to feed a small country, but just a tiny dollop of stuffing…someone in the kitchen needs to learn about margins. And definitely not enough gravy. But good, just the same. For dessert, almost everyone at the table ordered the chocolate souffle like cupcake with the vanilla ice cream. It was sinfully delicious.
At the end of the meal, I announced that I kinda felt that Cru was okay, but nothing to write home about–foodwise. This was met with consternation…the table in general all loved their food (note that I was the only person who ordered the turkey). So I will leave it to you to decide.
One thing we noticed on the way out–we were seated all the way in the back–the front room was really lively and the decor was very cool–they’ve built the wine vault into the middle of the restaurant. At 11 pm on a Friday, they had a great crowd up front.
Afterwards, we headed into Hoxton Square for some cocktails but someone had to get up at 6 a.m. Saturday morning to catch a flight to the States, so wisely sent herself home.
The Verdict: I guess I’d go again, seeing as how everyone really seemed to like their food and all.
