Bell Street Bistro

When I was researching places to eat on my way to Gatwick Airport, I came across Bell Street Bistro’s website and tempting sounding menu. They’re coming up to their first anniversary on Reigate’s little restaurant row of Bell Street
I was impressed by the immediate warm welcome offered by Jack, the maitre d’ on my arrival. His hospitality extended to an offer to turn the lights up when I said I was looking to read during my meal
In the end, I was a slight pain in choosing to sit on my own in the back of the restaurant, where it was a bit brighter — I didn’t want to spoil other guests’ evening by changing the lighting for everyone else there. Despite me being on my own in a totally different section of the restaurant, Ebony, my waitress was really attentive all evening. I loved the fact that she had tasted the dishes and was able to recommend her favourites. I feel in order to sell the food effectively, a minimum requirement for the servers to have tasted the dishes themselves
One advantage of sitting at the back of the restaurant was a lovely view into the open plan kitchen, where I could watch the brigade at work. I managed to have a few passing words with the chef
In common with a lot of new restaurants, BSB had a lounge area and an extensive cocktail list. Belying her youthfulness, Chelsea the mixologist has some original cocktails on the menu and she whipped me up a lovely virgin mojito
I started with the seared scallops and slow cooked pork belly with butternut squash mousseline and bisque dressing. This dish was perfect in concept and execution. The pork was meltingly unctuous and rich, which played well against the sweet scallop and silky smooth squash. The bitter leaves were a surprisingly good complement to the dish. Not a scrap was left on my plate
With Ebony’s prompting, I continued with the duo of sticky beef short ribs and braised beef cheeks, served with sauté carrots, button mushrooms, baby onions, chive mash and rich red wine jus. The contrast in textures produced by different cooking methods used on both cuts of meat made this a fun dish to eat and both were enhanced equally by the rich sauce. There was a generous amount of meat on the plate
Very bravely, the menu listed my chosen dessert as ‘Melt in the Middle Dark Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Ice Cream’. Well, the dish was exactly as the description promised — a satisfyingly gooey chocolate middle encased by moist chocolate cake. The portion size was perfect for this decadent end to my meal
I had a great meal here — fantastic food complemented by a small and dedicated staff, who were friendly and knowledgeable and made my stay an absolute pleasure