Inn The Park

Oliver Peyton’s all-day lakeside ‘café’ has everything going for it: a stunning location in the middle of St James’s Park; a beautiful building whose fluid organic lines and natural materials ensure it’s perfectly in tune with its setting; interiors by Habitat head honcho Tom Dixon; and a tempting, nicely varied modern English menu from chef Oliver Smith. So why didn’t the enormous barnsley lamb chop have us gambolling with delight? What let down the impressively teetering organic salmon and smoked haddock fish cake with spinach and poached egg? Both looked fantastic, and were served with panache, but the lamb lacked flavour, and the fish cake was dry and, again, missed the punchy flavours expected of such ingredients. Maybe the oft-mentioned poached egg and soldiers breakfasts, or the newly opened barbecue (available on the terrace until 9pm in summer months), pass muster, but the à la carte menu left us underwhelmed. Despite the place having one of London’s nicest settings, visited on one of those summer evenings when you feel nothing but bonhomie and largesse towards the city and its inhabitants, we left feeling disappointed.

Services

Child facilities: Babies and children welcome: children's menu; high chairs
Disabled: toilet
Outdoor tables: 23, terrace

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