Richard's review of Colony

A far cry from the turgid tapas bar that used to dwell here, Colony is another excellent addition to the Marylebone foodie scene and, dare I say it, better than both the Indali Lounge and Trishna, the two other rivals to the Marylebone Curry Crown.

The lounge is now all cream and dark leather, there is a lovely outside terrace and a more formal dining room out the back. The first time we came, we sat in the lounge with a cocktail and some nibbles. This persuaded us to return to try the real menu.

We sat outside, had a cocktail and ordered some food and a bottle of wine. The cocktails disappeared. The starters arrived. The wine didn't. So we asked again. The starters departed. The wine still didn't arrive. It really shouldn't take three requests to get a bottle of wine ordered at the same time as the food. Service is difficult to get right: some people like over-attentive, some like to be left alone; some people don't care if their waiter is called Brad and is here to serve you, others want to know his family history. It is, alas, all to easy to get wrong. A simple thing like bring the wine before the food (or at least with it) is not hard to understand.

This aside, the food is delicious: the fried calamari with yuzu dip was crispy and spicy; the mutton (slow cooked with a tomato gravy), was meltingly tender and richly gravied (or probably jused); and the dumpling with diced garden vegetables a far better dish then it sounds. The wine too is a good complement to the food (think semillion, viognier, riesling and chenin blanc, but oddly no gewurztraminer) and mostly at sensible prices (who pays £80+ for a chassagne montrachet to go with their ruby?). The cocktails too are lovely; a mixture of classics (proper daiquiri, mint julep) and home spun ones (try the ginger spice; definitely not a neurotic redhead, but rather a tangy long drink with a kick).

If you're a lover of the Brick Lane school of curry, you probably won't like this, instead you should try the Rajdoot or Bombay Spice. Both are opposite and both much more in the old school way of the curry and lager. If you like delicately spiced dishes, inventive cocktails and don't mind a relaxed attitude to service, then give it a try.