Chris's review of Tom's Kitchen

Having a Christmas Party feels somewhat like a fatted calf being taken for slaughter. The drums and yelps of the waiting staff can be heard as you trot up the stairs to await the inevitable.

This year we held our party in the private room at Tom's Kitchen. Like Golding's flies, the staff are pulled between an impulse to serve beautiful food and maximising returns for their masters whilst under dark thunder clouds of possible abandonment.

The dining room itself is glorious, supplemented with a travel inspired ante room. The food is great, though somewhat limited due probably to the numbers involved. As the evening wound down we remaining guests retired to the ante room for a game of Charades.

As we left the staff stood by, hats and coats buttoned tightly to keep out the forthcoming cold, the banker drums could still be heard, beating into the winter's night.