Now before I start this, I must confess that I am slightly biased, as I'm affiliated with VQ in that they're a social media client of mine. However, it is an absolutely amazing place, and I've loved them since before I started working with them. VQ (formerly Vingt Quatre) has been an institution on the Fulham Road in Chelsea for 18 years, an awesome 24 hour restaurant, they've just opened a new site in Bloomsbury just off Tottenham Court Road.
I first went to VQ at around 8am on New Years Day a couple of years ago, after having around an hours sleep from the night before, and since then I've been at least once a month since. Tuesday evening was the VQ Bloomsbury soft launch, which was basically a chance for the new staff to test the waters and practice on some guinea-pigs who would come back no matter how bad the first practice was. I took along a couple of colleagues on Launch #1, and some friends on the second launch night.
Dan had the Super Burger, which is absolutely enormous, and is VQ's specialty. As you can see from the photo above...it's pretty huge. However Dan polished it all off, and declared it 'amazing!'.
I had the normal burger, which looks pretty rubbish compared to the super burger, but it tasted good, and that's what matters. Shervon had the steak, and Amy had the club sandwich. Now, although the food was good, there were a couple of wee problems that made it a night to remember! The extractor fan wasn't working properly, so the restaurant was completely filled with smoke. That coupled with the super slow service (they were testing out the new staff), meant my eyes stung like a bitch and Dan had to get his jacket dry cleaned, but we all just laughed about it, and despite the issues we had a really great night!
The second night of the launch was much better, the staff numbers had reduced so the service was back to being speedy gonzales, and the extractor fan issue was fixed so the restaurant was smoke-free! I had a Cosmopolitan and VQ's famous Eggs Benedict, as they're known for having the 'Best Eggs Benny' in London. It really is delicious, and I highly recommend it if you're in the area! I just had the single Eggs Benny rather than the double, so I could have the Sweet Potato fries with it and a Knickerbockerglory afterwards.
The new site is brilliant, it's right behind the Dominion Theatre on Great Russell Street, and is over double the size of the Chelsea restaurant. The inside is all ultra cool and design-y, with a huge light wall, and there's also a bar where you can just have drinks and snacks if you don't want a full meal. VQ Bloomsbury is open for food 24 hours a day, and they serve alcohol from 8am-2am, it's the perfect choice for after-clubbing munchies, brunch, or dinner! They also have 50% off all food until the end of the month! Also, go follow us on Twitter ;)
