Cuisine: French
Cost:
Rating:
Where?: 160, Piccadilly, London. W1J 9EB.
Closest station(s): Green Park, Piccadilly, Leicester Square.
Telephone: 0207 499 6996
Website: www.thewolseley.com
Having been to The Wolseley a number of times I still can’t quite decide what to make of it. My problem relates to what it is; for the prices you would almost expect a fine dining restaurant, however it could also fall into the café or brasserie sections too.
Though a few years ago The Wolseley was the place to go in London it is not, I have come to learn, a fine dining restaurant; it is a grand café and at ticking boxes for a grand café it excels. Having opened at 7 for breakfast it then moves onto a lunch service, then an afternoon tea service followed finally by dinner that stops serving at midnight –a long and tiring day for anyone.
This elegant former car showroom and bank is a beautiful setting for all of your meals. For breakfast it can be highly recommended, certainly cheaper than most of the local hotels but offering an excellent and appetising selection of grub to give you a kick start in the morning.
Afternoon tea again is spot on; a tasty tea without the prices and pomp that come with the effort made just moments away in the Ritz and other hotels. We then come to lunch & dinner. If looking for somewhere to pop into whilst out shopping at lunchtime and you are craving a classic, i.e steak tartare, duck confit or calf’s liver and you want to enjoy it in a pleasant environment, to be cooked well, served quickly and washed down with a decent glass of wine then The Wolseley is excellent; as it would also be pre or post-theatre. At £19.50 for calves lives and £18.95 for the seven hour lamb, whilst well-cooked it may be more than many want to spend at lunchtime.
What I would not recommend is going to the Wolseley under the impression that it is a fine dining restaurant; it is not set up to provide you with a drawn out relaxing meal – and the staff do little to improve this, often seeming rushed.
Helpfully, the restaurant leaves a considerable number of tables free for walk-ins; allowing this to be a refuge from shopping or other daytime activity.