From the second you’re welcomed in to the French, any pretence you may have about being intimidated by the huge crystal chandelier adorned room are put at ease by the friendly northern welcome, a theme that will form the core of the evening. The service throughout was spot on: relaxed but incredibly on it, at times you don’t even realise they’re there. It’s a huge departure from white tablecloth silver service and military brigades of straight-back servers of some of the fancier hotel restaurants. Great playlist, loads of Talking Heads and somehow quiet enough you can have conversations without raising your voice but buzzy enough to not feel stale. It all feels relaxed whilst feeling incredibly special, really hard to get that balance right.
That said, the elegance runs through a seriously stunning menu, a menu that starts with a ‘northern welcome’ of bread and butter served with an onion broth I could have chugged by the gallon. The 12 course menu runs like clockwork, with that ‘northern’ element being key to its charm. Standouts are the crab and tomato tart, a tartare on beef dripping toast, a woodland mushroom and yeast foam, the theatre of the cheese course served table-side, and the magnificent tipsy cake. This is a real snarl at those ‘you’d need a takeaway when you get home after 12 little courses’, we basically rolled out of there. Everything is full of surprises, table-side service and a little extra touch, but none of it feels over-the-top or hack whatsoever. The servers are proud of the food and it shows.
Both the wine pairing and the drinks pairing are so well thought out, with two lovely sommeliers who with their bafflingly detailed knowledge make everything simple to understand. The sake with the tart and umeshu whisky pairings are outrageous.
As we sipped our tea and cake, the hotel fire alarm went off. We felt so terrible for the staff but their professionalism and friendliness remained unmoved and the way it was handled was really great, given it was 11pm on a Saturday.
Quite amazed this place still doesn’t have a *, I’ve no doubt they’ll get one but it’s miles ahead of some places elsewhere that do and it remains the best in class, and one of the finest meals of 2025.
Nb: there’s no service charge on the bill, you need to ask to add a tip!
