Honestly, I didn't know the Baby Grand was a thing until last week. That's a pretty embarrassing confession to make, but thanks to Leanne R I now know about it, and I really quite like it (love may even come in time!).
And then I couldn't find it either. I really didn't know where it was but thankfully Leanne told me it faces Charing Cross station so that narrowed it down to just four sides to explore. I found it on the second - win. If you go to Charing Cross Station from Elmbank Crescent, you will see the Baby Grand from the road to the west side of the station.
The Baby Grand is a lot more classy than I expected - something you'd seen in Law & Order with the detectives sipping drinks at the bar, rather than a run down restaurant clinging onto its former beauty. There's a restaurant seating area at the back which is where we had lunch, and more casual dining at the front. The menu is simple: two courses for £9 with dishes like chicken liver parfait, salt and pepper squid, haddock and chips and sandwiches. I was going to just get a main until Leanne told me about the Monte Cristo sandwich (£8.25 with skinny fries). It's made from French toast. A French toast sandwich?! Who's ever heard of such a thing?! Then it's filled with roast chicken, ham and cheese. Oh my days. I had to have it in my face, immediately.
It didn't take long to arrive and was just as ridiculous as it sounds. Cheesy, oozy and kind of stodgy, but not in a bad way. In a delicious, carby way. I love chicken and ham together and the filling was perfect, fresh, lovely and tasty. I actually couldn't eat it all (I had just had soup for brunch) but I made sure I ate as much of the filling as I could. The skinny fries were also excellent but they didn't get much of a look in over the sandwich.
Service was super friendly and welcoming, and I chatted to the waitress on my way out about the fact I'd never been in. I really want to head back one night when there's music on (it's a piano bar, after all) and really soak up some of those NY vibes. read more