BILL'S, COVENT GARDEN

I don't review a lot of chain restaurants on my blog, as I don't really eat at a lot of chain restaurants. I live near Chiswick which is full of chains that I never go to, but there's one that stands out from the rest and which has tempted me in before - Bill's. Bill's started life as a greengrocer in one of my favourite villages in Sussex, Lewes. The greengrocer grew to include a café, the café became a restaurant, and now there are over 60 branches of Bill's restaurants across the UK, from Exeter to Glasgow and most places in between, with 18 branches in London. I was invited to the Covent Garden branch to try the new summer cocktail and food menu. Despite their huge growth, Bill's ethos is still the same - to serve really good food at good prices, in gorgeous spaces, to loyal customers.

Our dinner at Bill's in Covent Garden was on a hot, hot night, and we were sitting at a long, cool table in the upstairs area near the kitchen. We kicked things off with cocktails - a fruity and refreshing raspberry and rosehip collins for me - rosehip gin, raspberry and pink grapefruit cordial, lemon, Bill's pink lemonade and fresh raspberries; and the bramble mojito for the boy, made with white rum, blackberry puree, mint and lime. Both cost less than £6 which is pretty amazing value for a cocktail in the middle of Covent Garden!

 

While we perused the menu we tucked in to some delicious, smoky bread with tatziki and hummus.

 
And another cocktail, just for good measure. This one was the Bill's Pink Spritz, and my favourite of the evening - a mixture of London dry gin, rhubarb cordial, cochi rossa (pink vermouth), pink grapefruit and Bill's pink lemonade. So pink, and so yummy.

 
I have to say that for me the starters were the winner food-wise. The boy had the crispy lemon squid with smoked chipotle mayonnaise, apart from he had it without the chipotle mayo because of his chilli aversion. The batter was thin and crisp and the squid inside perfectly cooked.

 
I chose the heirloom tomato and basil bruschetta which consisted of toasted campagne bread (with the same wonderful smokiness as the bread we had with the dips), basil and garlic heirloom tomatoes, that had been turned into a pesto like puree and spread on the bread, avocado and baby mozzarella. A true taste of summer and a dish that got food envy looks from all my dining companions. It was so full of flavour and a great start to the meal.

 

For mains I had the slowed cooked ribs with BBQ sauce, creamy slaw and skin on fries. Well executed, the meat fell off the bone and was great with the coleslaw on the side, which had retained it's crunch and wasn't overly sauced. The boy had the steak, blue, which was also perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious.

 

We left happy and full, after an evening of fab food and great company. Bill's is a lovely restaurant chain, serving affordable, good, seasonal food, and really great value cocktails. To find your nearest branch, check out their website here.