Less than top Marcus

Banquette: a sea of beige

The final chapter in the gripping tale of Marcus Wareing's Busy Year was the opening of BANQUETTE at The Savoy where earlier Wareing had been responsible for the culinary rebirth of The Grill.

Banquette, which replaces a seafood bar and restaurant that was called Upstairs (wistful signs pointing towards it were still hanging), was described in the publicity as a diner. The word had made me assume that American food would be served, perhaps even truly American food as a cheeky riposte to Gordon Ramsay's Boxwood Cafe in The Berkeley. I was wrong.


The main theme is British retro, as can be surmised from dishes like fish pie, Cumberland sausages with onion gravy, shepherd's pie, chicken Kiev, steak-and-kidney pudding and, for afters, rice pudding and bread-and-butter pudding.

Seeing these old troupers offered at relatively reasonable prices soon made me forget about the American implications of the word diner. I hadn't had chicken Kiev in a restaurant for I don't know how long and Reg never says no to steak-and-kidney pudding, a dish he has perfected cooking at home.

We were seated at a small table by the window, in pole position to watch comings and goings at the front entrance of the hotel. A cold draught made us ask if we could change to sit side-by-side on the more comfortable banquette on the other side of the corridor-like room.

The decoration of Banquette, dominated by the colour beige, aims to celebrate the Art-Deco glory of the original parts of the hotel, but manages to be just timid and dull.

Chefs hurrying through, seemingly on important errands to elsewhere, didn't contribute to a relaxed atmosphere, although the waiting staff are genial, anxious to please. Easy-listening jazz is played. I thought it was generous on someone's part to select Putting on the Ritz.

Had I been wearing a silk shirt, I dare say the chicken Kiev would have spouted its garlic butter more forcefully. The package was crisply cooked, although not seemingly based on a superior bird. Grilled tomatoes just sufficed as garnish (side orders at £3 for potatoes, salad or green vegetables quickly inflate the prices). The steak-and-kidney pudding was a sorry sight, wearing a thin, slippery grey coat. Had plain rather than self-raising flour been used for the suet crust?

Best dishes of the meal were a wonderful bosky field mushroom soup and a classic crème caramel.

Any hope that Banquette offers some sort of a bargain in grand hotel eating is dashed by the wine list. It has been composed according to the law that all bottles in hotels must be marked up until nearly out of sight. You could, I suppose, make do with a Tequila Manhattan Martini at £10.50 with, maybe, a suckling-pig-and horseradish-cream sandwich at £7.50.

Banquette
Strand, WC2 0ET

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