Dorchester Grill Room

On this Sunday lunch there was a different menu from the evening, mostly focused around a traditional British roast Sunday lunch. Beef tartare (£28) was very prettily presented with a layer of thinly sliced radishes, and had good quality beef along with an egg yolk and oxtail jelly. It also had bolder seasoning than the last time I tried this dish here (strong 15/20).

Roast chicken (£49) was from butcher H.G. Walter and came with winter vegetables and leaves including glazed carrots, and an elaborate stuffed Yorkshire pudding with mash and a herb garnish on top. The chicken itself was cooked very carefully and had good flavour, served with a nicely rich jus made from the cooking juices. The Yorkshire pudding seemed unnecessarily over-elaborate, though simple roast potatoes on the side were very nicely made. There were also side dishes of mixed vegetables and cauliflower cheese with winter truffle (15/20).

A modern take on apple pie (£16) saw the pie combined with soft serve apple crumble ice cream was and came with an apple fritter on the side. The fritter was very good, and the main dish was fine, though I think just sticking to making a high-quality regular apple pie might have been preferable to combining all these elements (14/20).

Alternatives to the dishes that I chose included roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and a nut roast, also with Yorkshire pudding and vegetables. These went down well with my guests, though the nut roast seemed to have an awful lot of elements on the plate. My only real caveat is that there was a recurring theme of dishes being quite complicated, with more elements than were perhaps necessary.

Coffee was from Difference Coffee, their base level (but very good) Brazil Yellow Bourbon being priced at £8 a cup. The bill came to £171 per person with cocktail and wine, and service was classy. Overall, this was an excellent Sunday lunch, and the beef tartare and the roast chicken were very good dishes. The Dorchester delivers skilfully prepared dishes using nice ingredients, supported by slick service.

Further reviews: 04th Nov 2023 | 17th Dec 2021 | 10th Sep 2021 | 04th Jan 2020 | 14th Mar 2015 | 26th Mar 2011