Philip Gwyn's review of Great Queen Street

I don't usually bother reviewing restaurants, but Great Queen Street (like Anchor & Hope) is one of my favourites, and it seems to be getting a lot of stick lately, so I thought I'd redress the balance a bit… Yes, the service is more intently expert than overtly welcoming (there's one lumpy young waitress who really ought to be taken to one side and given lessons…); yes the chairs aren't super-ergonomic. But other than that, and in the most important areas — food, drink, atmosphere, pricing — it's bloody marvellous. My wife and I had a fairly hurried post-theatre meal last night, and everything was terrific, with memorably distinct flavours — a walnut and radish salad, sharply dressed; a sumptously buttery pumpkin and porcini bake; a fine white Rioja; a nutty almond and orange tart; and a divine white chocolate ‘pudding’ which was more of a heavenly dollop of cream whipped into sultry stardom. I've never come out with anything other than wonderful flavours and a very full feeling of total contentment from either restaurant. The best winter's sustenance in the centre of London, by my reckoning.