Lindsay House

Food

The degustation menu sounded interesting, but I wasn’t in the mood to indulge. Instead, we opted for the Pre-Theatre menu, with 2 choices for each course. Easy, one of each please.

• French Onion Soup with Croque Monsieur - beautiful. Intense caramelised onion flavour , with a lovely cheese toast.
• Ballotine of Hake wrapped in ham, Herb Gnocchi and Spinach Puree - beautifully cooked fish, with the ham adding saltiness.
• Warm Chocolate Fondant with Candied Lime and Mascarpone Sorbet - well executed dark chocolate, with the sorbet bringing it above the ordinary
• Smoked Salmon Terrine, Fennel Salad and Dry Bread - I thought this would be boring, but the creamy sauce really tied the salmon together, and the fennel salad was delicate and added balance.
• Rump of Lamb, Black Olive Herb Crust and White Bean Chorizo Stew - melt in the mouth lamb with a separate pot for the chorizo stew, with the beans absorbing the flavour of the chorizo
• Cardamom Brulee with Warm Clementine Soup - I love this dish. The brulee was nicely flavoured with cardamom which did not overpower, while the Clementine was sweet and refreshing

These were excellent. So good that I am considering coming back to try the degustation….maybe when they have a sale. They were nice enough to give us some petit fours after the meal, even though we didn’t order coffee. They were…..

Rating - 9

Atmosphere

The location is very central, yet the restaurant is situated in a conservatively decorated Victorian terrace house with several pokey rooms. It reminds me of Clos Maggiore actually. We were seated in the upstairs dining room. As we were quite early, the room was relatively empty, but I imagined when it was full the noise would be quite loud, as the tables, although spacious, were quite close together.

Rating - 1.5

Service

We were told that because we were ordering the pre-theatre menu, we would need to vacate the table by 8:45pm (we arrived at 7pm)…this would be a rush for some people, but we were quite happy to be in and out – and that also had to mean that food would be served promptly. In fact, the meal was very nicely paced, we didn’t feel rushed at any stage, and we got out of there by 8:30pm, and could even get home to enjoy some time out. In terms of the wait staff…most were above average, with one or two of them who seem to be a bit below the high standard that has been set.

Rating - 4

C-factor

For food of this quality, definitely worth it. The pre-theatre menu worked out to be £25 for 3 courses.

Rating - 2

Brownie Points - 16.5

Info

21 Romilly Street
London
W1D 5AF
Phone +44 (0) 20 7439 0450
Website