Little Bay - Farringdon

Stella (15 February 2009)

When I discovered Little Bay, I automatically thought to myself 'hey, looks good, I have to go there some day’. The ‘some day’ came sooner than I thought. I went there today. Yes, Valentine's day, with my sweetheart. We were lucky enough to catch the ‘pay how much you think the food is worth’ offer. Well, to be honest, I hated every second in the restaurant. As soon as we got there, a nice gentleman welcomed us and walked us to our table. The first impression of the place: tiny; yet cute. However, that bubble burst sooner than I thought. The place was packed; I honestly felt like a sardine in a little tin; stuffed with all the other sardines who tried to enjoy their meals. Anyway; we received the menus. I must say; the drinks were reasonably priced. We ordered the grilled vegetable tian with organic aduki beans as we are both vegetarians. Before that happened; we had to wait 10 minutes before someone even came near our table; despite the calls and hand-waves; useless ways of getting the attention of the staff. Once we got our food; another disappointment. The portion was the size of four cherry tomatoes; the vegetables were burned and the aduki beans were cold. It didn't really matter; there were only about 6 or 7 of them! Okay, I thought. It's not that bad. Boy, I was wrong.

For dessert; we ordered pistachio crème brûlée and strawberry ice cream. I personally love crème brûlée and could not wait to try it at Little Bay. A huge disappointment! We had to wait 20 minutes after we ordered to actually get the food. The sugar on the top of our crème brûlée was so burned; it was literally black! Even after taking it off; we could taste the burn. They were also very lumpy and not mixed very well as there was bright green pistachio flavouring at the bottom of the tiny pot. It took another 20 minutes before we got the bill; we ended up paying £10 for both of our meals as they were not worth more. One thing I did like though was the strawberry ice cream; it had a very nice texture. The restaurant itself looks very lovely from the outside but as soon as you come in; you see how small it actually is. The décor is beautiful; however it’s slightly over the top in some places. Tables are scraped and dirty, with no table clothes or anything. Even the walls had bits scraped off, which looked really unpleasant. The staff and the owner were being very intimidating, constantly looking around, giving people strange looks and talking to each other in rapid French. So if you have money to waste and you're not very hungry and don’t care what the place looks like; Little Bay is perfect for you. My sweetheart and I ended up going to another restaurant after our tiny meal at Little Bay.

Mark Bentley (20 February 2006)

Quite honestly amongst the best restaurants in London. The quality of Pont de la Tour or Bibendum, at a fraction of the price. Please don’t go there and eat, stay away, more chance of me getting a table. I would honestly be happy to eat there every night we go out. The passion with which the food is prepared, cooked and presented defies the logic of the prices they charge - absolutely outstanding staff, food, prices, service and quality.