London - Little Bay
Winter 2008/2009
Frank's view 
Go and pay your bill
‘No Food Bill – Just pay what you think it’s worth.’
The blackboard, on the pavement outside Little Bay restaurant in London’s Farringdon Road was emphatic. The only catch was the fish on the menu. You really could walk in, have a slap up meal, and leave a penny on the table.
As it transpired, a number of people have been doing, almost, just that.
Peter Ilic, a Yugoslavian chef and restaurateur, who opened his first London restaurant 17 years ago, is repeating an experiment he first tried in his Finchley Road establishment in 1985. Then, it was apparently highly successful with people erring on the side of generosity.
For the month of February 2009, diners can decide what the food and service is worth and pay accordingly. Wine and beer are not included in the offer.
This part of London is not the city’s most salubrious. Mount Pleasant, the UK’s largest Postal Sorting Depot, is 100 metres or so away and most of the surrounding offices do not ooze affluence. But there again, with prices normally at £2.25 for a starter, and £5.25 for a main course, even McDonald’s seems expensive.
The interior of the restaurant looks as if it has been created from the contents of a skip parked at the back of the Christmas pantomime ‘Aladdin’. The ceiling is a crumple of crushed velvet and the chintzy lighting could have been picked up at a car boot sale. Gold leaf is in abundance, as are 70s tropical house plants. The front of the bar is ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, whilst the top and sides are adorned with mock Renaissance nudes. Two gold, Greek Gods watch over the tables.
This is lunchtime and the place is packed. It seems that booking is essential, as many hopeful bargain hunters are turned away.
The food, based on the normal menu prices, represents very good value.
The quality of the mussels in the ‘Moules Marinierre’ starter was excellent.
My Crab Tartlet would have been more than acceptable at its list price of £2.25.
The Oriental Duck Salad was, perhaps, a little too adventurous for the restaurant – disappointingly basic with two flat noodles and sesame oil representing the Thai factor.
My Steamed Butterfish was perfectly cooked but the Cep veloute and accompanying mushrooms were luke warm and unappealing.
Unfortunately for Peter Ilic, a number of his customers had the appearance of hobos and looked as though they were delighting upon an upmarket soup kitchen. Most seemed to be ordering burgers, washed down with tap water, and omitting the honest remuneration factor, which had worked so well in 1985.
I asked our waitress how much people were paying on average.
“Very low, very low”, she replied, which was impressively honest as I was about to settle our bill.
Peter Ilic was in the restaurant.
“How is it going?” I asked
“I am losing a lot.”
A seemingly genuine, charismatic man, he had an air of rueful disappointment.
This is, I suspect, an offer not to be repeated.
Little Bay Restaurant
171 Farringdon Road
London EC1
020 7278 1234
The blackboard, on the pavement outside Little Bay restaurant in London’s Farringdon Road was emphatic. The only catch was the fish on the menu. You really could walk in, have a slap up meal, and leave a penny on the table.
As it transpired, a number of people have been doing, almost, just that.
Peter Ilic, a Yugoslavian chef and restaurateur, who opened his first London restaurant 17 years ago, is repeating an experiment he first tried in his Finchley Road establishment in 1985. Then, it was apparently highly successful with people erring on the side of generosity.
For the month of February 2009, diners can decide what the food and service is worth and pay accordingly. Wine and beer are not included in the offer.
This part of London is not the city’s most salubrious. Mount Pleasant, the UK’s largest Postal Sorting Depot, is 100 metres or so away and most of the surrounding offices do not ooze affluence. But there again, with prices normally at £2.25 for a starter, and £5.25 for a main course, even McDonald’s seems expensive.
The interior of the restaurant looks as if it has been created from the contents of a skip parked at the back of the Christmas pantomime ‘Aladdin’. The ceiling is a crumple of crushed velvet and the chintzy lighting could have been picked up at a car boot sale. Gold leaf is in abundance, as are 70s tropical house plants. The front of the bar is ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, whilst the top and sides are adorned with mock Renaissance nudes. Two gold, Greek Gods watch over the tables.
This is lunchtime and the place is packed. It seems that booking is essential, as many hopeful bargain hunters are turned away.
The food, based on the normal menu prices, represents very good value.
The quality of the mussels in the ‘Moules Marinierre’ starter was excellent.
My Crab Tartlet would have been more than acceptable at its list price of £2.25.
The Oriental Duck Salad was, perhaps, a little too adventurous for the restaurant – disappointingly basic with two flat noodles and sesame oil representing the Thai factor.
My Steamed Butterfish was perfectly cooked but the Cep veloute and accompanying mushrooms were luke warm and unappealing.
Unfortunately for Peter Ilic, a number of his customers had the appearance of hobos and looked as though they were delighting upon an upmarket soup kitchen. Most seemed to be ordering burgers, washed down with tap water, and omitting the honest remuneration factor, which had worked so well in 1985.
I asked our waitress how much people were paying on average.
“Very low, very low”, she replied, which was impressively honest as I was about to settle our bill.
Peter Ilic was in the restaurant.
“How is it going?” I asked
“I am losing a lot.”
A seemingly genuine, charismatic man, he had an air of rueful disappointment.
This is, I suspect, an offer not to be repeated.
Little Bay Restaurant
171 Farringdon Road
London EC1
020 7278 1234
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
