Despite the abundance in restaurants in the area, finding a quiet, intimate place for dinner around London’s bustling Piccadilly can prove to be quite a challenge. Cue The Domino Restaurant at Hotel Café Royal – a modern British fine dining experience that’s one not to be missed.
Mr Husband and I were looking for a discreet table on our date night and were recommended to visit The Club at Café Royal. As we entered through the grand heavy doors, we were both immediately struck with the hotel’s splendid décor. Following a recent refurbishment overseen by dynamic design team March & White, the property is majestically dressed with a breath-taking interior design. Hotel Café Royal is seeped in so much history and so the building has been beautifully restored with timeless modernity yet still manages to retain its yesteryear features, charm and character.
We walked on through the main lobby filled with fresh white flowers, right through to a small but very swish lift that sent us up to the first floor. We soon entered The Domino Room – a formal fine dining space, dressed in rich and soft creamy buttery tones with shimmers of gilt inspired by Napoleonic-era Paris. Coupled with classic white tablecloths, plush couches, carpeting and soft lamp lighting, the space looks and feels lavish and bright and at the same time, utterly exclusively and private – also fantastic for entertaining a larger group of guests.
The Domino Restaurant serves up a great British menu orchestrated by Executive Chef Andrew Turner using as much seasonal produce as possible sourced from the British Isles. Whilst sipping on a chilled glass of champagne, we decided to choose from the a la carte menu, although the tasting menu sounded seriously tempting.
To start, we were delighted with an inventive amuse-bouche: a mini terracotta garden pot filled with a deliciously creamy and smoky aubergine dip topped with a broccoli crumble and cleverly planted with pickled radish and carrot with some crisp bread thins to whet our appetites.
We noticed that our entire menu showcased the same level of uniqueness and satisfied us on both flavour and satiety. To start, Mr Husband sampled a very fresh yellowfin tuna tartare with pickled mouli dressed with ginger and crispy onions, while I tried the Celtic bay scallop ceviche with miso sweet potato, citrus avocado salsa and crunchy cazette nuts. To follow, I enjoyed a plate of Atlantic sea bass with grilled fennel, ratatouille and black garlic dressing and Mr Husband tucked into the fillet of Angus beef with oxtail, choi sum and a sweet and sour Hong Kong sauce. To finish up, we decide to share two desserts: Valrhona chocolate mousse with blackberry and meringue and a deconstructed tiramisu with crunchy sugary layers filled with cream and sponge squares soaked in amaretto.
We can’t wait to visit The Club and all that Hotel Café Royal has to offer again.
www.clubcaferoyal.com
Click an image below to see the Hotel Café Royal in more detail
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