44-46 Cranbourne Street
WC2H 7AN
Tel: 020 7734 7807
Date of Last Visit: 29 December 2006
The Victims: K & A
The Wine Mark Up (Heath, this is for you–as a replacement to the counterbalance): Hard to tell. We bought a bottle of Pierre Sparr Pinot Noir Reserve 2004. Alsatian. Cost us £24.50. Can’t find it online elsewhere, although I can find a few Pierre Sparr whites.
The Damage: £40ish total (so £13ish each). Exact figure unknown. K paid.
The Background: I have just arrived back in the country. After the longest wait in immigration EVER (but yet the fewest questions ever–perhaps they finally trust me), I was on Heathrow Express, in a taxi, and back home in NO TIME. Seriously, it was the cheapest and fastest ride back to my flat and well, most importantly, my bed, ever.
I let myself lie about only so long (OK, but that was very long) before planning my next meal. K & A were game to meet up and I convinced them to split the difference. We were in the mood for a wine bar, and the reviews for the Cork & Bottle were fantabulous. I thought maybe Leicester Square would be fun on a holiday weekend, when London is just so empty.
The Arrival: Well, I didn’t see much of Leicester Square, so I can’t tell you if it was packed or not. Exiting the tube station was a bit of a nightmare, but lickety-split, I was at the Cork & Bottle (smack dab in the middle of it all) and I managed to snag the last No Smoking table. It was folksy inside. Home-y. Convivial. I had hopes.
The Starters: In our country, cheese and crackers are not a pudding. Heck, that sentence wouldn’t even make any sense in my country; people would look at you like you were crazy crazy. This is me trying to say that K hooked us up with some cheese and crackers (well…the crackers were actually more like a baguette) to start us off, along with some potatoes and some tomato and mozzerella salad. It was good. Only good. Nothing great. But we liked the wine!
The Mains: They were out of burgers. They were out of the day’s special (ostrich) and they were out of the famed ham and cheese pie. These had the misfortune of being our top choices. So we were kinda screwed. And so we didn’t eat.
The Service: No table service. K ran to the bar, so I couldn’t really tell you.
The Verdict: Eh. I left hungry. It may be everyone else’s favorite wine bar, but it wasn’t mine!
2 comments
Welcome back to Blighty.
Shame about the ham and cheese pie. That and the wine are the main reasons for going there apparently and the only reason I’m planning a visit.
The burgers are quite good too. But I guess you’re going to have to take my word for that…
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