VQ Bloomsbury London Review
VQ Bloomsbury
24 Hour Cafe & Diner
@ 111A Great Russell Street, London
Review by Christine Charlesworth
VQ Bloomsbury opened only two months ago and is an off-shoot from the first, well known, VQ restaurant which opened over 18 years ago on the Fulham Road, Chelsea. Although VQ Bloomsbury has a menu almost the same as VQ Chelsea, alcohol is restricted to the hours of 8am until 2am. General Manager, Elise Sanz has moved from Fulham Road to run this new restaurant, which is a much larger venue.
I visited VQ on Monday 25November for a pre-theatre meal with my husband. Our impression of the restaurant was very good. It is warm, spacious and modern-looking with good lighting, contemporary decor with the bar/drinks area in front of the large window at the front, separated from the dining area by a red metal open-worked screen acting as a semi partition. There were quite a number of newspapers available for the use of customers and seating in the restaurant is either in booths at the side, or tables and bench-seating down the centre. Music was not too loud and seemed to be mainly 50’s jazz and early pop although I understand they do have much louder music later at night.
On our arrival we were greeted by Q (this was her name) who showed us to a spacious table and offered us aperitifs, which we declined in favour of a jug of iced water. This was brought to our table, immediately, with the menus.
The menu headings ranged from 24 hour breakfast, omelettes, burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches to salads and pasta and a selection of 7 side dishes. There was also a list of starters, main dishes and puddings and a very comprehensive wine list from Europe, New Zealand, South Africa and Chile.
We chose one smoked salmon & organic rye bread and one crispy prawn wraps with sweet chilli sauce as our starters, which we shared. Our main dish choices were Chicken Milanese with tomato & rocket, and the grilled, marinated lamb with vegetable couscous, harissa & tzatziki. We had jelly & vanilla ice cream and crème brulee cheesecake for pudding. Our choice of wine was the Spanish White Nuviana Veranza Chardonnay which, although classed as the ‘house wine’ had a deliciously mellow flavour.
The food was excellent, beautifully presented and cooked to perfection. Portions are a good size and, as the staff brought us sharing plates, we were both able to sample all the choices and were in agreement about the quality. The prawn wraps were a meal in themselves as was the smoked salmon. The chicken Milanese was lightly coated, was in two, large, very tasty portions and the dressing on the rocket was excellent. However, we would definitely visit again just to have the grilled marinated lamb, which was superb.
The staff were all very friendly and attentive. As it was early on a Monday evening the restaurant did not have many covers, but it does get extremely busy at weekends and after the theatres come out. Toilets in the ladies were a little small with a step inside each toilet area which may make it a little difficult for some people as you have to negotiate getting behind the door, which is almost touching the toilet, plus taking care not to trip on the step.
I would certainly recommend this restaurant and will use it again when I am next in that area of London.
Rating: 5/5 
For more information, to view menus or book a table visit www.vq24hours.com.
