A 6:30 rendezvous at Bond Street, we were promptly whisked off into an oasis of sophistication. The mood - delightfully chic. The lighting - perfectly dimmed. The soundtrack - a symphony of conversations, each more outlandishly privileged than the last.
The evening opened with the fanfare of cocktails: a trusty tequila soda for yours truly, and a vino for my lady. Unsurprisingly, no plot twists here. The wine was up to par and the Casamigos soda played its part admirably.
In our quest for culinary excitement, we beckoned forth the crunchy tuna and tuna pizza. The former, alas, was an Icarus of an appetizer, reaching for a perfect crispy zenith but ultimately plunging into the realm of the overfried. The tuna pizza, however, danced delightfully on the tongue. Thin slices of big eye tuna, elegantly draped on a crisp cracker with a slathering of what appeared to be crème fraîche. Yet, the symphony was slightly off-key due to the unexpected room temperature of the tuna. One would hope for a cooler sensation, no?
The culinary roller coaster continued. My request for the Amaebi spot prawn was met with disappointment as the familiar fried heads were absent. The sushi, too, seemed to have taken a siesta before reaching our table, as they were all disconcertingly lukewarm. While their texture met expectations, the flavor appeared to have been left in the fridge.
Our choice of a $78 bottle of Junmai Ginjo sake was another hiccup on our journey - despite the premium price tag, no pre-purchase tasting was permitted. An eccentric rule, but we rolled with it.
When the curtain fell on our $300+ meal, we left with lighter wallets, heightened spirits, but surprisingly, rumbling stomachs. The scorecard? Service: 4/10. Food: 6.5/10. Ambience: a resounding 10/10. Was the gastronomical experience worth the price tag? Unfortunately, not by a long shot.
We decided to jazz up our dishes with the $10 fresh wasabi. What appeared at our table, however, was a veritable mountain of the stuff. To our surprise, we found ourselves charged for two of these spicy behemoths - a presumptuous twist by our server, given that we'd only asked for one.
However, the silver lining of the evening was the colorful chatter throughout the dining room - the highlight being a declaration of astonishment at someone's audacity to buy a "cheap" silver Love band from Cartier. What a horror! The wearer of said comment was decked out in what suspiciously looked like parentally-sponsored Cartier trinkets. But hey, who am I to judge
Thankfully, this was a short-lived hiccup, and the extra charge was promptly vanquished from our bill. Nevertheless, it did add an extra pinch of wasabi to an already mixed bag of an evening.
So, there you have it, Bond Street - a place where the ambience outshines the food and the conversations are, quite simply, priceless. read more