We went Saturday for brunch and had reservations for 12:30 pm in the restaurant. There is also a “counter” adjacent to the restaurant for which reservations are not taken. It’s first-come, first-served, though there does tend to be a queue during peak times. At the counter you can get sandwiches, pastries, breads, coffee, smaller meals, etc.
The restaurant is a magnificent space. It’s large, airy, bustling, rich – kind of like the backdrop for a nice restaurant in a 1950s American film. Servers are pleasant, accommodating, attentive. I love that they serve brunch until 5 pm on weekends. Just the way brunch should be, in my opinion. They bring delicious mini white bread loaves to start. Ours were served warm and crusty.
We ordered the regular omelette and the omelette Arnold Bennett, vegetarian style.
The regular omelette is a 3 egg omelette served with your choice of gruyere, onion, tomato, ham, herbs, and mushrooms. Each filling is a small surcharge on top of the base. We ordered herbs and tomatoes with egg whites. The herbs were cooked throughout and added a nice flavor. The tomatoes were diced and inserted into the fold of the omelette. There weren’t many and they didn’t add much.
The omelette Arnold Bennett is their classic dish. It is a baked omelette with parmesan cheese, cream, hollandaise sauce, spices and smoked haddock. We opted for the vegetarian and they substituted tomatoes and spinach instead. The dish is rich and heavy. Good, but nothing great and not particularly flavorful other than the fact that it’s enriched by cream and cheese. The crust that’s created on top by baking the omelette is nice. I wouldn’t actively recommend it.
What I strongly dislike about this place is that they add a £2 per person charge to the bill to “keep prices stable.” While this is written at the very end of their four page menu (in fine print), I don’t appreciate the concept and this is definitely a deterrent for my return.
