Busby’s. Certainly for the Busy Bee.

Oxford House’s magic ruby slippers, a slinking horizontal across Paddington. The big bad wine bar engulfs three little fashion writing interns and feeds the girls silly.

Such a riot in such a quiet space; where vinyl records spin drowsily and sunken coral-red walls are plastered with pictures evidencing good times past. We settle in a corner,  the three of us cosily wrapped in an L-shaped couch. Three different wines delicately command their presence – a full-bodied red, a sparkling white and a rosé.

Apps are serious business for beautiful women. We convene on Busby’s hero dish – think akin to King Clarence’s fish-finger bao, Totti’s wood-fried bread – three orders of the potato pave, topped with a chevron of herb cream cheese and trout roe. Anticipated first bite – it crunches, it settles – warm like the aftermath of lighting a match. The potato is airy, and the herb cream cheese is folded with copious amounts of fresh dill. Like champagne, like confetti, bright orange mini spheres of trout roe pop between our teeth. It’s really a hero. The addition of a drizzle, hot honey or soy sauce caramel, would certainly make me want to be saved. Yellow fin tuna tartare with russet potato crips is our next endeavour. Diced lean fish coated in a lively dressing of (from what I could tell) capers, chives, lemon juice and a medley of other micro herbs. The portion is welcomingly excessive, I’m so happy I don’t need to scrounge to ration raw fish per chip. It’s easy to eat while catching up. I enjoy pretending to struggle with getting the small cubes onto my spoon just so two other pretty girls can help me out… shhhhhh (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵).

Keeping up with the pattern of threes, our mains arrive together in a trio. Certainly on a seafood kick, the pasta, tagliolini with prawn, orange, rosemary, pistachio and pecorino gets the first taste. Unlike its more commonly beloved counterpart spaghetti, tagliolini is more scraggly in appearance. Its softly jagged edges catch the basted buttery sauce with confidence, outdoing itself with an al-dente chew. Tender fingerlings of prawn and silvered halves of pistachio provide great variations in texture. The simmered rosemary flavour gives an excellent dimension to the dish, and the citrusy punch from the orange is exciting. Flattened on a plate, the pan-roasted sugarloaf cabbage with hot sauce butter and sourdough breadcrumbs begs to be cut. It’s actually hard to cut – I’m no longer pretending I need help from two pretty girls. It’s tender though, and the cabbage still remains to retain its natural sweetness, even if smothered with (amazingly!) spiced mounds of melted butter and masses of toasted crumbs. The carnage is wiped up with a side of frites, average in taste, with an averager aioli. Dessert arrangements are made with haste.

Busby’s freshly baked chocolate fondant. With a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, a lashing of olive oil and flakes of sea salt. It’s Day 4 for me on the Big Red™ and I’m crying in joy. Just slightly resisting the back of the spoon, melted chocolate unhurriedly oozes out. The words ‘decadent,’ ‘rich,’ and ‘indulgent’ are in recurrent use when it comes to describe chocolate focused desserts. I mean, here it’s no different – but it also kind of totally is. The chocolate is slightly bitter, a sophisticated turn to a sometimes juvenile regarded dessert, it’s bitter and it’s soul-easingly smooth. Olive oil succumbs sweetly, and surprise flakes of salt perk up the palate. It’s beyond easy to finish.

Dinner is concluded with (three) nicks of gauloises blondes and a couple more tee-hees. I love girls, I love to eat. Go to Busby’s – it’s a certain rec from me!