Corner Room, 2nd Floor, Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street , London W1A 1AB
She said: Though Selfridges is my
favourite shopping spot in London I’ve never actually eaten in any of its restaurants and always
thought of department store restaurants as a pit-stop for marathon shoppers (of
which I am not one). But a quiet revolution has been taking place for a while
now with department stores sharing the same realisation as museums that it’s
worth throwing out the school-like canteen serving slop as there is money to be
made in creating dining spaces that might be destinations in themselves. So off
we went to the new Corner Room in the fashion department of Selfridges – the
first restaurant of the 2012 MasterChef joint winner Keri Moss. After
navigating the maze of fashion concessions on the second floor to find the
Corner (which turned out to be one of the last corners we looked in) a bright,
art-deco space greeted us with pale blue and blonde wood tones. The maitre-d’
was apathetic to our arrival but did his job at seating us adequately. The room
is a comfortable size and the atmosphere and furnishings are equally
comfortable and smart. The menu offers a good choice of British fare at prices
you would expect for an eatery of this kind. I do think it is cheeky when
waiters in an upmarket restaurant try to ‘up-sell’ – and my pet hate in such
restaurants charging for bread but asking if you ‘would like some bread’ when
you sit down with the implication it is complimentary (as it is 90% of the time
in restaurants of such calibre). I’m going to call this the ‘values test’ in
future – places that think they need to charge a few quid for putting some
welcome bread on the table are driven by the money not the passion. I ordered
the sea bream which came with a red pesto which was a decent portion and good
enough but the side of greens was extremely stingy. The chocolate cake was a
winner although a bit too much ice cream which then melted washing out the pure
chocolate taste of the cake. Our waiter must have previously worked in a
nightclub or had tinnitus given his volume and was so zealous I had to hold on
to my plates and drinks for fear of him whipping them away mid-meal. I’m going
to be bold and say I don’t see this place lasting if my initial observations
are anything to go by; Corner Room is aspirational which is misguided looking
at the casual tourists and shoppers at other tables; it has the feel of being a
‘business’ above all else and although the food was largely good and prices
fine (at £70 for two for two courses and coffees), the impersonal approach left
me cold.
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