La Coupole

This venue was a low-ceilinged room on the ground floor of the hotel, but it was prettily decorated in pink, and with generous tables and spacing. Service was very good initially, with water and wine topped up carefully. However, towards the end of the meal the waiting staff all sauntered off somewhere for minutes at a time, or just huddled in the corner having a chat.

An amuse-bouche of salted cod was pleasant (15/20) though nothing as good as that at, say, Zafferanos in London.  The menu was somewhat limited. I had artichokes served with bacon, and while the artichokes themselves were pleasant enough, the bacon more like ham, with a few salad leaves (12/20). My wife tried “potatoes with fresh vegetables and prawns”, an odd notion that actually turned out to be a couple of perfectly good prawns served on a really poor waffle that would not past muster in an American breakfast bar, all covered with some diced celery and carrots - a very surreal dish (11/20).

Fillet of sea bream was better, served on a bed of asparagus and artichoke, decorated with some artichoke chips (15/20).  I had John Dory, which was cooked well enough, surrounded by a ring of shredded leeks (14/20).  A poached peach was not ripe, though my wife's chocolate sponge topped with poached apricots, and a rather metallic grapefruit sorbet, was better (14/20). Coffee was ordinary (14/20). Overall I would rate the meal at about 13/20, and again Michelin seem to have been in a ludicrously generous mood when handing out the stars. The bill came to £110 a head.