Strand dining rooms

A fantastic surprise call from an elegant friend on an impromptu two day visit to London led to a last minute booking in The Strand Dining Rooms. Not without classic Duck and Thyme trials of course; we had originally booked a table at Tredwell's but said friend couldn't make it at that time so I changed our reservation and sent a note out to all the attendants... Somehow I missed the guest of honour and guess who turned up at Tredwell's...? Hailing all the way from Singapore and I managed to send her to the wrong restaurant...such is a day in my life.

Profuse apologies later, we started catching up and the poor waiter had to return three times to get us to finally order: both the specials of the day, beef Wellington and silver mullet, and seafood crumble off the menu. The waiter was great, with strong recommendations and with his iPad, extremely conscientious with one's intolerances, a nod here, a discreet shake there, our silent communication as to what one could and couldn't eat. He was even well prepared for dessert-time trials; a rarity for me as waiters usually act as if the main course would have cured me of all my intolerances and I could now eat whatever I desired for dessert.

The silver mullet was tailored specifically for me and it was very good (save for scales, tsk tsk). Stuffed with carrots and almonds, the fish was tasty and cooked just right. I tried the inside of the beef Wellington (to my peril..) and that was cooked to absolute perfection. The wine - I had a sip and wasn't sufficiently enticed to more.

The star of the show, as good as the Wellington was, remains the witty guest of honour and the ensuing gales of laughter. Perhaps company influences the taste of food, but The Strand Dining Rooms is definitely approved, even if based just on the professionalism of our waiter, biased or unbiased as that may be.