The Counter at The Delaunay

Spending time at the Delaunay Counter is like stepping back in time to a chocolate box pretty spot on the continent where you’d take your grandma and she’d be wearing a fox fur stole & a dramatic hat that would terrify birds & small children, looking for all the world like an escapee from the set of Wes Anderson’s latest sugared almond masterpiece. Of course, this is in fact London, it’s 2018 and the fur is strictly faux although anything goes nowadays when it comes to the millinery.

Set adjacent to the main restaurant space of the Delaunay itself, this casually charming spot has pristine tiled floors, warmly wooded walls and gleaming glass fronted cases, piled high with cakes, tortes & biscuits in a rainbow of sizes, shapes and colours, many standing tall with impressive Shard-high peaks of softly whipped cream. If you’re looking for a place to while away an hour with girlfriends having a sweet treat and a pot of tea or flute of bubbles, you’ve found it. Staff are efficient, occasionally perhaps to the point of brusqueness but always polite and service is prompt. Get there at 6pm and grab a table – arrive closer to 7pm and you may need to fight for one.

For a light supper, the choice of sandwiches, salads & small plates is good with nothing topping the £10 mark. There’s also a heavy-weight list of baked goods designed to derail the most fervent of healthy eaters. Fall off the wagon? My friend, that wagon is gonna run you over, reverse, do it again and pootle off into the distance without a backward glance.

A smoked chicken, rocket, pesto & gruyere brioche sandwich was nicely toasted and generously filled as was a chicken schnitzel bap that sat squatly on the plate like a formidable, shawled matriarch with nothing to prove. Crispy rosti with mustard & a luscious herb mayonnaise demonstrated yet again why the fried potato will always reign supreme as king of bar snacks and a plate of smoked salmon, avocado & rye was fresh, light & delicious.

It’s slim pickings trying to find a quick, tasty and affordable bite to eat in this part of town which makes the Delaunay Counter even more worthy of tucking away in your back pocket. Is it hip, modern & worthy of Z-list celebrity visits? Absolutely not. Is that the whole point and what makes me want to drape myself in costume jewellery like some sort of down-on-her-luck European heiress and become a regular there? Absolutely yes.