Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's

This plush and peachy dining room is a soft, feminine contrast to the reflective, art deco and marble crispness found in the public areas of Claridge’s: a hotel that has remained an icon of the London hospitality industry since 1898. Staggeringly beautiful and opulent flower displays and rose petal-strewn tables laid for tea set the tone. Diners – well-heeled ladies who lunch, betrothed couples, business folk and families – continue past all this and into the main restaurant, possibly Gordon Ramsay’s most relaxed venue in the capital. In the Ramsay manner to which we have become accustomed, expect an abundance of smartly uniformed staff, who in this instance looked the part more convincingly than they played it (our three-course meal took nearly three hours to serve). Take heed of the little tricks they have for increasing your spend and cutting their costs. You are asked to order dessert at the same time as starter and main course, for example, which means that a two-course meal isn’t really an option; and the set lunch has fewer complimentary frills and nibbles attached. Nevertheless, food will be of the highest quality from start to finish, and you’ll not begrudge a penny spent on the likes of chilled celery consommé poured over crab meat and a savoury granita, which melted into a delicious kind of grown-up slush puppy; or fat, fresh pea tortellini with mint sauce and tender shreds of slow-cooked pork knuckle. Fanciful presentation and real culinary skill also shone through mains of baby spring chicken roasted golden and served with tender young vegetables, and fantastic lemon sole with sweet-tart capers, tenderstem broccoli and lemon butter sauce.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008

Services:

Booking: Booking essential
Child facilities: Babies and children welcome: high chairs
Disabled: toilet
Dress code: smart; jacket preferred; no jeans or trainers
Function room: Separate rooms for parties, seating 6, 10, 12 and 24

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