This time, we find ourselves off Holborn, deep in lawyer-land, at the Bleeding Heart. Of the several properties they own, a friend and I ended up at the Tavern, a place whose proud boast is that it's motto in the 18th century was "drunk for a penny and dead drunk for two pence". Well with an reputation like that to support, why wouldn't you go there? So we did.
Despite being subterranean, the atmosphere was welcoming and brightly lit. And despite being billed as a French restaurant the menu is actually unrelentingly British. I had prawns and avocado to start (and you have to have been brought up in the UK in the 60s & 70s to know what a cliche that is) with fish pie to follow.
Fish pie was great. Large portion, big chunks of fish, hot, tasty and colourful: weapons grade comfort food, in short. Prawns and avocado was exactly as per that description, the prawns though being covered in something a notch above what would have been, 35 years ago, at least, a tasteless and oddly hued cream concoction. Frankly, though, unless you want to try it for the kitsch value, pick something else. It all seemed good. (And no, they didn't charge extra for the bloody bread in this place. A-men.)
My one regret was that I couldn't manage pudding. That apple and rhubarb crumble was calling out to me, but alas I was too stuffed to hear by that stage.
About 40 quid for two people including a couple of drinks. Good food, good value, good choice. Definitely one for the winter.
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