A modern remake at the old film theatre

10 April 2012

There was something appropriately film noir-ish about the old NFT. Lost Afternoons might be the name of the movie that invoked the lives of its devotees.

Now the film theatre has been revamped and rebranded and we must call it British Film Institute Southbank. Carpet tiles in colours that chime with the odd interior decorating decisions of the National Theatre are already curling up in places, but outside Benugo Bar and Kitchen is a wonderful floor seemingly made of squares of zinc or tin.

Benugo (tiresomely written only in lower case) is a café and deli company founded in 1998 by the now aptly named Warner brothers, Ben and Hugo. Their business is spreading through London's high streets and a Benugo is already installed at the V&A and The Museum of Childhood. These large premises are presumably the most ambitious outlet yet.

During lunch last week we saw several chefs wandering in and out of the kitchen. This seemed a good sign, suggesting, if not slow food, at least something more interesting than fast food.

The menu, printed daily, offers a section of specials and the layout suggests an easygoing attitude towards how much or how little is ordered. Customers were few last Wednesday at 2pm, so those chefs, we thought, would have time to cook conscientiously.

Bacon, free-range egg and garlic croutons salad arrived as a pile of leaves with rashers of stone-cold congealed bacon and large slices (not the cut implied by croutons) of toasted bread plus the egg which was, at least, not chalkily hard-boiled.

Even in a really busy kitchen you can cook bacon to order. Hot smoked trout fishcakes with wasabi dressing had a faint whiff of smoke in the mashed potato padding but no true flavour was present either in the patties or the so-called wasabi dressing, which was anodyne.

I was quite relieved that the advertised lemongrass hadn't noticeably infiltrated chicken liver paté, where it doesn't belong. Homemade pie of the day was said to be cod but the fish was buried under so much mashed potato as to be almost indiscernible.

Incidentally, bread and butter had been served in a cute little shiny black colander. Bright ideas and business plans are no good without follow-through and staff commitment.

Benugo Bar and Kitchen
BFI Southbank, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XT

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