It's a London Life

Gor blimey, an old boozer, with great food, in the middle of Mayfair? You wouldn't Adam an' Eve it, guv'nor! I needed somewhere in town to have a smallish (10-12 people) surprise birthday dinner where there was good food, good atmosphere, but no poncey pretensiousness (so any Gordon Ramsey place was out for this evening), and just a frisson of celebrity endorsement for desert. And somewhere we hadn't been to before ... So I spoke to a couple of geezers, got on the blower, and rang 'The Punchbowl', in Farm Street, in London's Mayfair. And got their biggest table straightaway. Sorted! And how was it? Well, you find it down a backpassage (oo-er), through the ubiquitous smokers outside, and enter via a small, packed (always I Imagine?) bar, hoping correctly that the space at the back is the dining room. It's reasonably dark in that old dark-wood, yellow-tinged-walled pub fashion, that seems to have gone out of fashion, but is still warm & friendly, whi...