Bluebird London Hit With Two Zero Star Reviews Today

It’s a bad day for Bluebird London. The pricey British import from London’s “restaurant king” was hit with not one, but two scathing reviews today, one from the Times and one from Eater’s critic Ryan Sutton.

Pete Wells of the Times drops a bomb on virtually everything he finds at D&D London’s upscale restaurant located inside the Time Warner Center mall — from hosts who check reservations without making eye contact to its confusing menus to the “limp” shrimp tempura disguised as “crispy shrimp.” Meanwhile, Eater critic Ryan Sutton calls the restaurant “soulless” and “overpriced,” naming it one of the worst new additions to NYC dining in 2018.

Bluebird may be busy in both London and New York, but here, dishes like yellowfin tuna poke are served on a “damp heap” of “unseasoned” quinoa; and beef tartare (seasoned with ketchup) comes with “undercooked” potato chips, Wells writes. And the “soggy” fish and chips convince Wells that the British food the restaurant is known for is just as poor. He writes:

Because you are in an English restaurant, you will be curious about the English food. Because you are in Bluebird London, you will regret this. A prawn and monkfish curry is presented on a thali with mango chutney, basmati rice and paratha, which run the gamut from unnecessarily sweet to ridiculously sweet. The fish half of fish and chips is golden and crisp on the ends but pale and soggy in the middle. At least the minted peas that come with it are crunchy.

Wells does find a few “likable” pastries, like cheese straws that are “puffy” and “warm,” he writes. But other than that, the critic finds food that fails to impress, likening the restaurant to the “mess back home” that is Brexit. Zero stars.

• What If Brexit Were a Restaurant? [NYT]
• Bluebird Is Mall Dining at Its Worst [Eater]