Hotel restaurants are slightly bizarre places. Often full of bleary-eyed, jet-lagged punters, weary business men and fraught parents with whimpering children all in search of a late night meal, you probably wouldn’t seek it out unless you were staying in the hotel itself.
So it was with low expectations that we ventured to the Lowndes Bar and Kitchen, in the newly refurbished Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in Belgravia. The hotel is situated behind Harvey Nics, on a quiet street and has a pleasant outdoor area where you can watch the great and the good slide in and out of their Lamborghinis.
There is nothing particularly startling about the restaurant itself. It’s a small room at the front of the building, befitting to the size of the hotel, with not unpleasant bench seating and slightly too-bright lighting overhead.
The food, however, was startling, but only for the sheer expense. The scallops for starters were miniscule, if well cooked, and the pate was no better than anything you could buy from the supermarket. At £10.50 and £7 respectively, it wasn’t cheap.
The staff were attentive and polite, but clearly new: the poor waitress who tried to open our bottle of rioja struggled for a good few minutes.
As for mains, the burger for £15 could have been the greatest slab of meat between two bits of bread that had ever been cooked, but it didn’t seem likely. We did try the lamb stew, which was tasty and very good with delicious sage dumplings, but it was more suited to a pub lunch than a hotel. At £21, it seemed extortionate.
Puddings were similarly unremarkable – there were no particular complaints about a sweet and sticky date and toffee pudding, and an indulgent chocolate fondant, but there were no particular plaudits either.
It’s difficult to recommend the Lowndes, not least because there are so many good restaurants in the area where you could have meal with more finesse for less money. It’s a shame, because the staff are enthusiastic and attentive and it’s a cosy venue, but if it’s going to charge Knightsbridge prices, it needs to up its game.
Two course dinner for two with a bottle of wine is around £85.
Rhiannon Bury
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