Restaurant Review: Benugo Bar and Kitchen, BFI, London

delicious cocktails

Restaurant name: Benugo Bar and Kitchen
Location: Inside the British Film Institute, Southbank, London (you don't have to be visiting the BFI or pay anything to enter)
Description: Cocktail bar-meets-restaurant-meets cosy drawing room
Reason for visit: Quick dinner before seeing Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear in Othello at the nearby National Theatre.

I ate: We didn't have long so decided on the bar snack menu; I had some lamb and harissa sausage rolls and some fries. The sausage rolls were delicious
My companion ate: Aubergine bake of some sort which she said was very nice
The food was: Really tasty, and filling even though it was only meant as a snack. The cocktails are to die for.

Bookshelves on the wall of the drawing room

The atmosphere/service was: Great service but best of all was the drawing room. There's a main seating area inside the BFI, then a smaller seating area next to that, then my friend who had been here before took us up a few steps next to a bookcase I hadn't even noticed, and we were inside the drawing room. It has armchairs and side tables, walls lined with books and a small bar - it's a really intimate, cosy area.
Price range/value for money: The cocktails were quite expensive but no more so than any other bars in the area, and the bar food was reasonable.
Would I recommend it: Yes, the drawing room in particular - it would be a lovely place to go on a date.