Bob Bob Ricard City

Before we even tell you about this enormous restaurant inside the City’s Leadenhall skyscraper, you need to be in the right mood. Take your humble brag, set it on fire, listen to Goldfinger at full volume, and then recite ‘I’m a winner’ in your head 50 times. Feeling good? Perfect, because there’s no point in going to Bob Bob Ricard City unless you’re to throw some cash around. Like their original spot, Bob Bob Ricard in Soho, this is a restaurant that works for many occasions, but feeling shy isn’t one of them.

photo credit: Bob Bob Cité

This menu is equivalent to driving around in a Lambo with the top down and Kanye West blaring out your speakers. Basically, picture all of the City’s luxury restaurants sat in the back corner of a casino and Bob Bob Ricard leaning over their stacked chips to say, “we see your standard steak tartare and raise you chopped Scottish rump with quail egg and 20g of Siberian sturgeon caviar. Fools.” Oh, and the lemon sorbet is served with Russian Standard Platinum vodka. It’s indulgent, bank-balance-to-the-wind food, that you might think is extravagant for the sake of it, if it wasn’t so delicious.

photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli

Like some glorious narcissist with ‘treat yo’ self’ tattooed on their shoulder, Bob Bob Ricard City doesn’t stop there. The space is impressive in a way that feels more film set tour than dinner is served. We’re not sure whether the design brief was ‘Bernie Madoff meets Orient Express’ or simply ‘wealthy magpie’s wet dream’. Either way, we’re into it. Straight out of the lift, there’s a flashy waiting area and floors so shiny you can see the reflection of your own jaw drop as you enter the bar with views of their wine vault. Then onto the dining room filled exclusively with booths in a long train-carriage formation that leads into a smaller, equally ridiculous, rouge salon dining room. Of course at every table is a ‘Press for Champagne’ button—or, as we like to think of it, the tipsy doorbell. Yes, of course they’ve put a press for champagne button on every table. Why? Because they can.

That being said, much like if you spent every day reciting your achievements in alphabetical order to co-workers, there is only so much bragging that is acceptable. That’s why this is a once in a while restaurant for special occasions and pay day date nights—otherwise you’ll end up overdosing on the sheer shine of the place. Or, you know, truffle. But you should come here. Book it for a round of birthday oysters where you end up pressing that champagne button one too many times, or for a big deal business dinner where the built-in USB ports set you off to a great start. Or, even if it feels a bit unnatural, to celebrate getting that job of your dreams. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with showing off.