B & K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant Revisited

Mixed hors d'oeuvres.

We have already eaten the fried fish ball and some of the chicken liver. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Rye bread. B and K salt beef far and restaurant. Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Salt beef sandwich, chips, ketchup. Water with lemon.
Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
Where to eat which is friendly and fast and you are not expected to order a big meal? And reliable food which is filling for people who have literally starved all day.

(Don't ask why somebody was starving. Something to do with - no don't go there. Don't ask.)

Finally, open Sunday, early evening.

Answer
B and K. B and K is the answer to everything. How many stars?

✡✡✡✡
For my own interest, I shall give a plus or star for every good point.
✪
I must add, or rather deduct, a minus for each bad point. Or deduct a star for every missing item for the picky customer.

Picky Customers
The picky customer is not me, it's my starving relative. Okay, I admit it, two different picky customers. We both think that we are normal and the other person is picky. (Picky, in case any English speaking non British country reader is puzzled, is British slang for pernickety or fussy.)

Summary

Friendly, fast, filling, open Sunday evening, reasonably priced. You can get away with a sandwich for under ten pounds. Five stars. Almost everything. Not the answer to somebody who wants no pickled food. Back to four stars. I'll explain the pickle problem in a minute. 

Starter
I thought the starter of mixed hors d'oevre was cold and therefore fast and huge and enough for everyone. Yes, it was cold and fast and a large portion.

They brought two small plates. Yes, full marks for the plates. Back up to five stars.

Small plates, big platefuls
Why do they use such small plates? Is it to make the food seem bigger? No, I think I asked some time ago and if I remember rightly, which nobody ever does, it's something to do with the dishwashing.

Spills
Anyone small plates are a real nuisance for customers, well, at least one customer, me. I spent the whole time trying to take food off the plate with a knife and fork in scissor action. I used a spoon as a kind of mini dustbin. Back down to four stars.

I started wishing I had three hands. God, nature, whoever - bad design, only two hands. Those Hindu gods with several arms which much better suited to eating a buffet or a piled up small plate.

I was trying not to push food onto the relatively dirty table. The relativity was in my mind. The table looked clean but surely a plate is cleaner than a table?

Deciding that shifting food about on a plate in the middle of the table at arm's length was a recipe for disaster, I moved the plate as near myself as I could, near the edge of the table in front of myself. Despite the generous provision of a white napkin under the knife and fork originally (good touch that) now on my lap, I managed to get dripping coleslaw sauce down the front of my dress.

Stains
I know there's no a moment to lose with stains. Before nipping out of the back door to the toilet I tried to remove the stain by dousing with water from my water glass. The water had come up with a slice of lemon. Good again.

Bills
Ask for an itemised bill. Then you can see what you have ordered, what you have paid, and whether a tip is included.

Desserts And Take Away Food
Americans say take out. The Brits say take away.  After the filling dessert and main course we were full. We had half our main course packed up to take away. Plus a portion of lokshen pudding.

Chocolate cake or lokshen pudding? You choose. B and K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant, Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Lokshen, Yiddish, translates into noodle for the Americans, pasta for the Italians.

Photo of Strudel and Cheesecake to take away or eat in at B & K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant, Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

The Chat

We chatted about the history of B & K, which first opened in 1967 in Edgware. The Edgware branch is still there. However, changes of name and ownership make it more complicated than that simple sentence. You can see more of the history on their website.

B & K SALT BEEF Bar and Restaurant, 11 Lanson House, Whitchurch Lane, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 6LN. Tel: 020 8952 8204.

B & K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant, 353 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Pinner, Middlesex, HA.

Tel 01923 518 693.

www.bksaltbeefbar.com/history

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.