With the recent closure of dining heavyweights Titanic, Neat & Oak Room, there may be a far off cry of “is this the end?” Not in a life questioning, Jim Morrison manner, rather is this the death of the West End super-restaurants?
Has the tide turned to intimate, warm venues where good vibes and simple, unfussy cuisine is king? The jury is out and the fat lady is still in the shower, but know where to go and eating in the West End’s famous names can be a rewarding, wholly satisfying experience.
Take Teatro, for example. You’ll receive your usual quota of understated glam, old money and the bold and the beautiful. Yet you’ll also receive smiling and sharp service, relaxed and refined surroundings and food to pawn your jewellery for.
Enter through a discreet entrance on one of the West End’s busiest streets (an indication of just how understated the restaurant is, achieving subtlety on a major road) and marvel at the ease with which the restaurant has separated the reception and dining areas, creating that mythical buzz for diners when they walk through to their table.
This reviewer had the rare pleasure of a drink in the private members bar courtesy of a well-connected dining companion before our meal, highly recommended on a Friday night for a detox from the weeks’ trials and tribulations.
The dining area is smaller than you may expect from a renowned London restaurant, but this is to be commended; the restaurant retains intimacy and exclusivity ably supported by the human touch service.
And then the food. It certainly kept my companion and I quiet. Salmon and sorrel fishcakes starter was pert and flavourful, the simple horseradish dressing the ideal accompaniment. My companion’s pan-fried foie gras with spiced quince was sensational, brilliantly cooked and as big as a fist. Great.
Next, we broke the rule of reviewing where you and your companion dine on different dishes, naughty, yes, but angry Alsatians couldn’t keep us from the marvellous whole roast loin of suckling pig with creamed potatoes and mustard sauce, a tremendous dish of tender pork, mash soft enough to be a pillow and the punch of a superb mustard sauce.
The menu changes weekly so by the time you read this it may have banished, but for the dessert try the mixed sorbet ices: clean, crisp and bursting with flavour, the only way to finish a powerful, top class meal.
There was only time to see Pat Cash in the men’s room and shoot an appreciative glance at the stunning female diner across the room before disappearing into the London night. How sweet an evening…