Capability at Hilton Syon Park

The fine-dining restaurant of Waldorf Astoria’s spanking new hotel, set in serene Syon Park, is named after the park’s 18th-century landscaper Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. Its spacious, brown & green-toned dining room allows chef Lee Streeton to illuminate the 21st-century landscape, with an innovative British menu that highlights home-grown & home-smoked produce. Rich, powerful flavours abound in starters of Dorset snails with wild boar bacon & black pudding, & sublime, melt-in-your-mouth salmon, smoked over apple wood. Mains of chicken with razor clams, & more especially monkfish with bone marrow (in heavenly red wine gravy) continue the adventure, with very sweet puddings (Chester tart, like delicate lemon meringue pie; Trinity burnt cream with rhubarb, like crème brûlée) bring up the rear. Highly polished service, an abundant, well-chosen wine list, a candlelit terrace, a sophisticated cocktail lounge (the Peacock Alley, see review) & even a chocolate & ice cream bar provide further grounds for exploration.