Apsleys
Above: Aspleys
When The Lanesborough closed its Conservatory restaurant for refurbishments, we thought it would emerge as a real ‘destination dining room’. With Alain Ducasse ensconced at The Dorchester and Richard Corrigan rumoured to be opening at The Grosvenor, it seems the big hotels are falling over themselves to secure top chefs for their restaurants.
As it turns out, they’ve gone for a more modest choice, employing the talented, but not so well known Nick Bell, who previously worked under Georgio Locatelli at Zafferano. But, even so, this new restaurant retains the lofty pricing policy that kept the Conservatory off the beaten track in the first place.
This is a shame, for although the new Italian menu is full of tasty treats, there’s not much on there that an accomplished cook couldn’t rustle up at home, given the right ingredients. Smoked tuna, for instance, is served in wafer-thin slices atop a dill-scented salad of fennel and orange that’s little more than an assembly job.
What you’re paying for here, of course, is the grand (now rather over-furnished) surrounds and famously accommodating Lanesborough service, but these aren’t exactly all-appealing either. We love the old-school glamour of the liveried staff and live piano music, but it does all seem rather over the top when served up alongside plates of rustic wild boar pasta, no matter if these are £17.50 a pop.
The bright conservatory setting has always made a great spot for lunch and, with frequently changing regional menus priced at £24 for three courses, this remains a good option. And, when you’re not paying upwards of £30 for a main (the price of our sea bass at dinner), you might feel more inclined to splash the cash in the new focal-point ‘wine rooms’, which offer top-of-the-range bins by the glass.
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