Bedford & Strand bistro and wine bar
1A Bedford Street, Covent Garden – the Strand
WC2E 9HH London

Inside Bedford & Strand

There were three of us for a quick lunch at the Bedford & Strand. It is a well-hidden basement restaurant, on Bedford street just a few metres from the corner of the Strand, not far from Charing Cross tube station. The interior is quite attractive, despite the lack of natural light, and it has well defined eating and bar areas.

We ordered lemon sole (£16), steak & chips (£18.75) and a shepherd’s pie (£11.50). As drinks, we just took a bottle of water (£2.95) as we had meetings planned for the afternoon and we are in London, not in France 😉

Lemon sole

Steak and chips

Shepherd's pie

Mine was the lemon sole, which was OK, but did not come with any accompaniments, so was a bit of a stingy lunch for its price. It tasted OK, but didn’t smell terribly appetising, which was rather a turn off. My companions reported the cottage pie to be distinctly average-poor, and the Steak/chips to be no better than OK. We ended the meal with 2 double espresso (£5.50) and a cappuccino (£3.25) – these were fine, but nothing special.
 
Cost & conclusion : The bill came to £63.75 which include the (already added) “optional” service charge of £5.80. The service was OK, but extremely slow – and there were only a handful of people in the restaurant – so I think probably more than deserved. As for the food, it’s not great and rather overpriced for the quality. The surroundings are pleasant, but that’s not a good enough reason to return.

Other restaurants I reviewed in the area: Côte restaurant, pizzeria Fire and Stone, Hazuki, Loch Fyne, Marquess of Anglesey, Terroirs, Wahaca, Zizzi and a little further: Albannach, Akasiro, Prix Fixe, Tokyo Diner.