What do I need to know about Rivea?
When it was first opened by Alain Ducasse, Rivea came in for a lot of attention from the press because while in essence it's fine dining and in swanky Knightsbridge, the waiters here dress down in Converse sneakers and many of the tables are without tablecloths <faints>.
Where is it?
It's at the Bulgari hotel in Knightsbridge and although it's been described as a basement restaurant, we'd call it more of a sunken restaurant, being accessed directly down from the hotel bar, so you get all the buzz of the bar through the open circular staircase.
Where should I meet friends for a drink first?
If you have the funds or an expense account, the upstairs bar is obviously pretty handy, but we've got a soft spot for Bar Boulud down the road, which should be better if you're on a budget.
And where should I sit?
Not perhaps where we did on a central table where we felt a little too close to the waiters whooshing past. There are some large tables under the stairs which looked fun and had a better view of the action.
So the food - it's a taste of St Tropez, right?
It's inspired by Mediterranean cuisine but apparently adapted for a London audience, so with less of an emphasis on fish as you'd find in their Cote d'Azur restaurant.
Our meal kicked off with a palette of colours - teeny pots of dips, we tasted aubergine, celery, beetroot - served with breadsticks. From here we were encouraged to order two starters a piece, one pasta course each and a main per person. Of these, the ones that stood out were the socca, a chickpea crêpe cone stuffed with raw vegetables and salad (£8), a punchy aubergine caviar (£6) which you could scoop up with fried slices of it and a pretty dish of prawns and lobster en gelée (£13).
We weren't wowed by the pasta courses but our mains of roast duckling with figs (£16) and beef fillet with girolles (£21) were beautifully cooked - and served at a size which meant that were easily going to make it through to dessert. Although we were persuaded by our enthusiastic waiter to also order the socca panisse from the small bites menu and were glad we did - those fried chickpea 'chips' were the business.
Normally a chocolate and raspberry palet (£7) would have been our go-to dessert but surprisingly the selection of three British goats cheeses (£8) served up with fruity crackers was the one that won our heart.
It's also worth mentioning that the set lunch menu of two starters, one main and dessert at £35 seems like pretty good value for this part of town.
What about drink?
If you're a fan of rose then this would be a great place to come with loads of great Provencal ones to choose from - this would be perfect for extending the Indian summer (or wishing away a wintry London day). Of the wines we tried, our aperitif of Charles Heidsieck Rose was a hit of sunshine in a glass while the Meursault Les Clous (£17) was lipsmackingly delicious, but needed to be at that price for a glass.
Overall thoughts:
For some reason we thought that this hotel restaurant would be a pretty quiet, sedate affair rather than the busy (and buzzing) place it turned out to be on a Thursday night. It's serving up something quite different to most other London restaurants right now and we found that refreshing. Our one reservation was the service - we're all for a more informal style of service, but not when it means having to flag down staff. At these prices, the waiter can wear sneakers, but they will need to be a little more on the ball.
Rivea London is at Bulgari Hotel & Residences, 171 Knightsbridge, London SW7 1DW
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Rivea. Prices were correct at the time of writing.
