30 Wellington Street,
Covent Garden,
London,
WC2E 7BD
0872 148 0391
The ViewLondon Review
Traditional in style, PJ’s has a good menu and radiates more respectability than your grandmother’s spider plant. It does a good job of feeding you promptly and politely, although I don’t think it’s the place to go to linger lovingly over your food and put down roots for the evening.
PJ’s is efficient, neat and doesn’t beat about the bush. Small tables nestle against the two walls of a narrow strip of restaurant that joins opposite streets, which are lined with dark wood (effect?) panels. A T-junction of more restaurant winds round the back of the stairs and a bar provides a convenient and cheery waiting stop.
It was very busy when I went on a seemingly innocuous Tuesday evening; it is doubtless a convenient place to have dinner before the theatre, and it is comfortable and good enough to take any type of aged relative fussy about such things who might stand out rather if they were plonked on a squashy white leather cube in a fancy concept restaurant.
There is no risk of such disorientation in PJ’s. No fancy oversized daisies in improbable colours waiting to fall over and taking up space; no potentially dangerous candles but instead respectable little lamps with pleated shades, which are strangely comic. Attention to detail can be seen in the nice stiff fabric napkins, but concessions to practicality include the disposable tablecloth.
The food was good. The menu contained something for most people – Mediterranean with some extras: my party had good crab cake, a slightly measly portion of parma ham with the eponymous starter; followed by an excellent warming and flavourful beef stew, and a nicely judged tuna steak. Not to mention the salmon, which tasted good, but had a slightly floury texture, and it was accompanied by rice that could have had a bit more of its coconut taste injected.
The mango crème brulee was good, but there was no evidence of mango. The sticky toffee pudding was gooey and great, but the undoubted star of the menu was a flourless chocolate pudding which was frankly delicious; rich, moist, wonderfully scoffable. At £4.50 - £10 for starters, £10 - £13 for mains and £13 for a bottle of house red, the prices are pretty standard for the west end.
A reasonable and convenient location that will not give you any nasty shocks. And that’s no mean feat.
PJs Restaurant and Bar has been reviewed by 2 users