Well what a lovely time I had at the Dean Street Dining Room last night. I have to say that I was very impressed; much more than I was with my visit to the Hand and Flowers in Marlow a few weekends ago. Sure, the food isn't quite to the same gastronomic level, but it’s not meant to be. What worked was that simple things were done very well.

Old fashioned British classic food with a modern touch.

The lamb sweetbreads on the onion tart with a runny poached egg was a hit on a table of hard-to-please French. The guinea fowl terrine was very yummy too, but the surprising star was the smoked eel kedgeree. Think perfectly cooked rice with a bit of bite, a rich buttery sauce and then this delicate smoked eel coming through; hats off to that.

Again with mains, simple things well done. My calves’ liver, bacon, caramelised onions and rich sauce was very tasty. The shared porterhouse steak and a couple of rib-eyes were gobbled down with pleasure too. Even something that I have perfected at home (in my humble opinion), a slow-cooked cheek of beef was right up to standard, and really well off-set by the best tasting neeps.

Our main waitress was a cheerful Australian girl supported by a band of others who just did things in the background without you knowing. She thoughtfully found that our wine (a very luxurious Cotes Nuits St Georges) was down to the last few bottles, so asked if we would like to set the others aside; a simple and thoughtful touch. Our table was kept in perfect order throughout the service.

The Dining Room itself is tastefully decorated and made me think of a Victorian country coaching inn. Nice silverware, linen, candle holder, sauce boats etc; subtly lit, warm and inviting. Also, some of the nicest toilets I have seen in London in a wee while. Hand and Flowers, with your dingy loo and dusty plastic plants – take note. This is more what a 2 star loo should look like.

The only drawback that I can think of is that because this place is so popular, the bar is as… More