Review: Bubba Gump Shrimp Co in London for Forrest Gump family fun

It’s not often I have a go at answering Forrest Gump trivia questions. In fact, I’m not sure if it’s happened more than once.

But when we visited the relaxed American restaurant Bubba Gump Shrimp Co by Piccadilly Circus I wished I’d watched the movie more recently. We had been invited to try the fun restaurant, part of a chain I was familiar with from holidaying in the US, and the waiter had a go at asking Big Girl, Baby Boy and me about facts from the film.

I can’t say the three of us excelled at the quiz, and the children were soon to run around instead. It was the type of restaurant where this seemed to be acceptable, however, and the waiters were smiling despite Baby Boy wobbling around and pulling on empty bar stools.

The family-friendly restaurant had a separate kids menu, and the children’s meals were served in a cardboard version of Forrest Gump’s boat. The menu was as expected from an American restaurant and the kids had fish and chips while I had a burger with fries. For me the restaurant was more about the feeling that we were back in Monterey, California where I last went to Bubba Gump as opposed to the food.

The DIY ice cream for kids, however, was a true winner, and I loved that the ice cream was presented in a bowl with sprinkles and chocolates for the children to add on their own. The cool ice cream was our favourite at Bubba Gump, and I was also impressed the restaurant was busy straight after school when we had a table for an early dinner at 3.45pm.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co also features its own shop with Bubba Gump merchandise like T-shirts, tableware, signs and more, and I think local Forrest Gump fans will appreciate the London restaurant, the only Bubba Gump restaurant in Europe, as it is a fun place to visit for families!