Old Tom & English, restaurant review: Soho's latest white-hot spot
bucks the no-reservations trend in exclusive style
There they are, loitering on the pavement outside
a firmly closed, discreet door. The couple hunching over their smartphones,
glancing up at the large brass bell. It takes me back (well, apart from the phones) to late
nights in Soho and all-night hidden drinking dens that were hard to get into – and even harder
to get out of.
These two
might be in the heart of Soho, but what they're hoping to access is not a dive
bar but a restaurant. The snag is that Old Tom & English, for this is where
we meet them, is an entry-by-invitation, reservations-only place. I've snagged two seats but am told
they're likely to be at the bar – the intimation is that a week in, the place
is white-hot.
So when the doorperson lets us in, I experience an
unseemly flush of smugness. But what's this? She lets them in too and the five
of us are sardined into a ground-floor hall, all looking and feeling a bit
uncomfortable. Well, really, and after they'd made a big
thing about it being "reservations only", unlike everywhere else in
town… *Inwardly huffs, stamps foot*
Once downstairs I feel a bit more bonhomie – the
low-ceilinged rooms are a good combination of icily chic and cosy. Marble
panelling and accessories, mid-century chairs and cabinets and 1960s art all
tick the cool box, while comfortable sofas and supremely flattering lighting
welcome me in.
The décor should be no surprise: the designer is Lee
Broom, who has a keen eye for beautiful detail and whose products – from
cut-crystal lightbulbs to chairs trimmed in neon – are desirable statement
pieces (I go home wondering how I can get the circular marble fireplace from
Old Tom in my home). He's been well briefed by brother and
sister owners Maria and Costas Constantinou – also owners of the Arts Theatre
Club elsewhere in Soho – who are in evidence when I visit, beetling about
making sure everyone's happy.
I certainly am. I'd gone in expecting
"fashion" and it remained that way until I taste the
first dish (small
plates, natch). Nibbles include popcorn cockles and there's crispy fish skin,
and kale. As Chandler Bing might have said, if he wore a Play by Commes des
Garçons top and Norse Project jeans, "Could this place be any more 2014?"
But it's the
standards on this British-themed menu that stand out. Triple-cooked chips with
a pot of heavy mayonnaise might be the best I've had anywhere, any year.
Pan-fried king scallops with black pudding and a courgette purée seizes back a
dish from MasterChef shame, and crispy pig cheek with cider apple and fennel is
a joyous cylinder of crunch with very, very melty meat inside. The sauce is piquant and lovely.
Smoked wood pigeon with beetroot, pine nuts and
samphire is my least favourite, as the plate has a watery pool of blood-like
liquid (sauce it ain't) and the flavours don't marry. Egg and mushroom on Melba
toast is fab, though (even if it is a lie – the toast is on top!). It comes
with an earthy Jerusalem artichoke purée and a hefty blob of butter spiked with
Marmite. If that's not a plate to send a hangover on its way, I don't
know what is.
I wend past
sexy little alcoves, where guests are guzzling cocktails, to the loo. The
ladies is lit like… actually, it's not lit. The cubicle has one bulb, I'm
guessing 20 watt. Surely some mistake? Especially from Broom, for whom lighting
is everything. Perhaps this is part of a theme. Those alcoves at Old Tom, I
learn, are named after famous prostitutes and madams ("tom" being a
bygone term for prostitute. Ugh); an "homage to the old Soho". Not as
sexy as I'd thought, then.
After that harrumph, I must report that the
puddings are wonderful. A flourless salted-chocolate cake is neither too fudgy
nor crumbly, just potent; and two little lemon-and-thyme doughnuts with
chocolate sauce and a frill of fluffy cream float down the gullet with ease.
Dishes range from £4 for chips to £11 for lamb
rump and it's recommended to have six between two, plus
puddings. You could get away with four and a cocktail if, like most here,
you're alighting as part of a night out like a brightly coloured butterfly. We,
and the doorstep couple, are here as restaurant punters. Open at night only,
this place makes us all feel welcome and so it is with few reservations (groan)
that I recommend it.
Light
green: opinion of the reviewer
Yellow:
description of the physical surroundings
Red:
how waiters and waitresses comport
Under
line of light blue: explanation of the menu
Green:
price range
Pink:
description of what the reviewer orderd
Light
blue: description of facilities
Blue:
Recommendation
