Bleeding Heart Bistro — Restaurant in London

A very disappointing experience at Bleeding Heart Bistro on Friday evening. Booked well in advance for a very special birthday celebration. Welcomed effusively, but then fell into a Bermudan Triangle where we felt completely invisible and ignored. Very long gaps between anyone ever noting we were due for another course. Bland girl (trainee?) unable to engage. No apparent experienced supervision. Only enthusiasm was to foist more wine from the very pricey list (everything over £45 and upwards) and pour it rapidly. When we subsequently requested the wine list, nobody returned to take the order! Food was very good from the set menu choices, however, and the chef was doing his job well. Can’t say the same about the ladies on the restaurant floor! Nearly didn’t agree to pay the discretionary service charge - first time we have ever seriously considered this anywhere. Reluctantly paid it. My wife let them know our degree of disappointment - because of the absolutely dysfunctional lack of service attention - in a cool-headed and eloquent critique as we left. A nominal apology was voiced….. Headed off to Bleeding Heart Tavern on the corner to conclude our celebration more positively where we had an absolutely brilliant experience, with a delicious and competitively priced NZ white wine. Cheerful welcome, sustained attention, immediate quality service and Happy Birthday sung twice led by the BHT team. These guys did a lot to redeem the Bleeding Heart label....

Had reserved the bistro for a casual after-show dinner. This was booked on-line and the restaurant called the day before to re-confirm. We arrived at the restaurant at 21.45 as per our reservation. They couldn't find any trace of it, didn't believe we actually had a reservation (we had to show the opentable confirmation to convince them!!!) and had already closed their kitchen. The waitress was on top of it extremely slow and unhelpful, suggesting we could stay "if we wanted to" but only to a very limited choice. We went not so far away to Polpo instead and had a great time.

My issue is that it is the second time they botched one of my reservations. In a prior experience, I had booked at the restaurant only to get a call the day of the reservation to be told the restaurant was actually full. They suggested to transfer the reservation to the bistro instead which I politely declined as this was for a special occasion. That time, we went to the Club Gascon... also in the neighbourhood. Excellent!

In short, it seems that Bleeding Heart has a hard time managing bookings... and frustrated clients. I am sometimes wondering whether they realise the choice clients have in the Farringdon/Smithfields area. Too bad as the restaurant is quite nice when you manage to get your table. While they sort out their staff and system's issues, my recommendation... go to Polpo or the...

First things first, the Bleeding Heart Bistro is not the same as the Bleeding Heart Bar & Grill though they do sit just across the yard from each other. It’s amazing how many reviews here are written for the wrong venue… just make sure you know which venue you are actually going to/making a reservation for.

The food was fantastic, with service friendly and welcoming; though the wait between our starter and mains was a full 50 minutes, which is a bit long to go on a bowl of soup. Not a place for a quick dinner, though in true French style I think they really want you to relax and enjoy the culinary experience so I wouldn’t hold it against them.

Automatic points for the ancient yard location, lending a real olde London flavour to the atmosphere. They trade off the gruesome “history” of Bleeding Heart Yard on the front of the menu, though (spoiler!) Elizabeth Hatton is recorded as dying of natural causes. The actual “victim” in this very yard was a different Lady Hatton from a story published around 1837 involving a pact with the devil…

Bleeding Heart Yard also features in Charles Dickens’s Little Dorrit as the home of the Plornish family. Imagine sitting here reading the novel over a glass of wine. Heating outdoor seating available in addition to the rustic wooden interior.

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