London/Paris trip, 3Jan - Bibendum for dinner

We had our hair done at a salon near the hotel, and as you can see from the pics, I looked pretty spiffy. I'd been looking for a cigar terrace (no cigar lounges in London), one of them I found closed at 9pm (residential area), but one at the Montague Hotel didn't have a closing time, so I'd emailed/called the contact person with no results. So, I called the concierge at the hotel and when I asked how late the terrace was open, he was a bit shocked at the question and he replied "well past midnight, of course." Of course. That sorted out the after-dinner stogie. Dinner at Bibendum was at 7, so we took the tube down there and I took a few pics of the exterior. Bibendum is in the old Michelin building, where they had a garage (get your new tires!), sold tour guides and so on. The building has been restored and it looks amazing. Lots of Michelin/Bibendum stuff (Bibendum is the name of the Michelin Man, which comes from the phrase "Nunc est bibendum"- "Now is the time for drinking", which refers to the fact that Michelin tyres can drink up road hazards) which made me, as a Michelin tour guide collector very giddy. Had a drink in the oyster bar before heading up to dinner. The wine and champagne glasses had Bibendum and "Nunc est bibendum" engraved on them, the plates had it and so on (I even asked if I could buy a champagne glass, but was turned down. No, I didn't steal one, probably should have!) Service was impeccable and the food was out of this world. Noreen had a fancy ravioli appetizer which she really dug and a lobster bisque that was great, if a bit earthy because of the truffles. I had a consommé of beef (think fancy beef soup) that was divine. Noreen had hake fish for dinner and I had a filet au poivre (pepper corn sauce) that was the best steak I've ever had. No dessert. The tab for dinner wasn't bad, £150, including our drinks. We took a taxi to the hotel with the cigar terrace and we got a bit of a tour of London, including Buckingham because the traffic going straight there was a mess. At the bar, I had a £35 Montecristo and a glass of 18 yr old Glencechie. Taxi back to our hotel and that was the night.