Restaurant name: Bea of Bloomsbury
Location: St. Paul's, London
Description: Tea shop and cafe nestled into the side of the One New Change shopping centre. There is a takeaway counter downstairs and a seating area upstairs.
Reason for visit: Lunch with a former work colleague who works nearby.
I ate: Roast chicken with some sort of potato salad in a herby dressing. Actually a really good option if you are Food Optimizing on Slimming World! Followed by cheesecake, which is not quite so Slimming World-friendly.
My companion ate: Cous cous salad with broccoli - he was on a pre-wedding diet!
The food was: Nice but fairly safe - my chicken was quite plain. They don't have a huge amount of choices at lunchtime but there are different types of meal on offer - sandwiches, salads, pasta, soup - but only a couple of flavours of each. The cakes are to die for though - Bea's is the inventor of the townie, a cross between a tart and a brownie! They also do afternoon tea here, which I would like to try.
The atmosphere/service was: Friendly staff, who brought our food up to our table when we found seats upstairs.
Price range/value for money: Actually not that cheap, I can't remember how much I paid for my meal but I was a bit surprised, I guess chicken and potatoes are quite substantial though and we were in the middle of London (and a pretty expensive shopping centre). On the other hand, it's worth noting that there are free jugs of tap water and glasses in an easy location to help yourself to if you don't want to buy a drink.
Would I recommend it? Yes, it's a nice place, the cakes are great and I'd like to try the afternoon tea.