British Food Fortnight Wraps Up

The phrase ‘hidden gem’ is becoming ever more irrelevant in the internet age. By the time you think you have found somewhere fantastic but obscure to eat, drink or spend time with friends, the secret is actually already out.

The bar with free table football or the Spanish joint that does the best enchilladas have already been outed on web pages or blog postings or gathered up into concise guides to London life. There is also the other side to the problem that in a time of mass information, not many establishments want to have the cloak of anonymity. It is all very well having the chic quality of elusiveness but empty covers do not pay well.

Thus more and more places are turning to food as a way of broadening their appeal. These are places such as art galleries – locations which are aiming to broaden the draw of people it would normally attract. This is how I find myself in the Florence Hall of the Royal Institute of British Architects. It is a magnificent space with light flooding in and a vintage feel to the place. It is very easy to imagine Mad Men‘s Don Draper settling down into one of the sofas that encompass the round tables, setting himself for one of his three-hour lunches.

However, modern times do not allow for such extravagances and the venue has created a special menu in conjunction with British Food Fortnight that only takes 45 minutes to get through.

I persued this option whilst my companion went a la carte. I started with the rare breed pork beignets with surrey mixed leaf salad and cider dressing whilst my companion went with the chicken liver pâté with spiced pear chutney. I was impressed with the beignets, which were crisp as well as being very flavoursome. I didn’t need to ask my companion what he thought of his pât, as he sat back with a contented smile after scraping the last he could from the pot.

For main, my companion went for the mushroom risotto whilst I had the roast duck breast. The duck breast was reasonable, a little gamey but no more than that. My companion was effusive about his risotto, exclaiming that the mushrooms were unlike any he had before and praising the rice for giving him enough to bite into.

Finishing off, I went with the spartan apple crumble whilst my companion plumped for the chocolate pudding. Both of these dishes were well put together and provided an excellent finish to what was a delightful meal. The menu is also very good value with the British Food Fortnight menu only costing £28.50 for three courses. It’s not really possible to say that the restaurant at the Royal Institute of British Architects is a hidden gem, more like somewhere you would never expect them to serve good food.

The Young’s British Food Fortnight finishes on Sunday 3 October at:

The Royal Institute of British Architects
66 Portland Place
Marylebone
W1B 1AD

Tel: 020 7580 5533

Opening hours: 12 – 3pm, Monday to Friday