http://www.blackandbluerestaurants.com/#/the-archduke

The quest continues, this time at a jazz bar/restaurant in the shadows of Waterloo station. Surely, we were due a win? Due an unexpected bonanzna of Caesar salad perfection?

We settled in, ordered, and tried not to get too anxious about what awaited. When it was delivered to the table, initial signs were promising. A good-sized portion. Well assembled. Dressing evenly applied. Clearly someone back in that kitchen cared about how their Caesar salad looked. Clearly someone had got our memo, (a fan of the blog, perhaps?).

The proof is in the tasting though, and it’s there the inevitable flaws were found.

In the pro column, we can put well-seasoned bacon and chicken, and decent croutons.

But the con column is no deserted wasteland. In it, we find a pretty underwhelming dressing; plentiful and wet, but lacking any punch. And there were no anchovies either. For my anchovy-hating Caesar salad companion, that’s no problemo. But for me, it’s a big miss. More to the point, it reveals this salad for what it is; a Caesar for the mass market. Sure, they put a bit of care into it, but they didn’t love it, didn’t nurture it, didn’t ensure it stayed true to the Caesar salad gods.

All in all, enough pros for a decent, if unspectacular score.

7/10

The quest goes on.