I’m sometimes invited to events that remind me exactly how lucky I am to be one of the commentators on London’s cultural landscape, and so it was last night when I got a invitation to join about forty other London bloggers and food writers at a special Blogger Outreach dinner laid on for us by Guoman Hotels at the Cumberland Hotel, their venue at the heart of the West End which sits above Marble Arch station.
Our evening started off with champagne and canapes in the Cumberland Hotel’s modern Patrón bar (named for the exclusive tequila brand) before we were whisked off to the classy Brasserie for our meal – I’m not well-qualified to comment on the specifics of each dish but suffice it to say that it was by far the best food I’ve had in the last six months or so. The unusual combinations of textures and flavours chosen by the chef were amazing – here’s the menu that we sampled along with some photographs that show exactly how much effort went into each dish:
Pear, Roquefort and chicory salad with candied walnuts, port and walnut dressing
Jerusalem artichoke, caramelised shallot and parsley risotto with seared scallops, orange and red wine fish jus
Roast fillet of beef, chicken & truffle mousse, confit potato, wild mushroom and purple sprouting brocolli fricassée and a bittersweet port wine jus
Bramble plate of blackcurrant bavarois with blackcurrant jelly, blackberry sorbet, sugared pistachio nut and berry fool
Given the number of expensive tourist traps that you’ll find in the immediate vicinity of Marble Arch, the offering at the Cumberland’s Brasserie is surprisingly good value for money – their two-course lunch & pre-theatre menu is just £15 a head, and if you’re up for some romance next week then you’ll be surprised to hear that their Valentine’s dinner, available from 14 to 16 January (and which will offer a similar menu to the one that we sampled on Wednesday evening) is a very reasonable £39 per person and even includes a glass of champagne on arrival.
We also took the opportunity to take a look around the Cumberland Hotel’s other public areas, coming across the lobby which contains a rather special artwork – a trio of sculptures by artist Sean Henry (you can see two of his other works, Standing Man and Walking Man, down in Paddington Basin). Elsewhere in the hotel you’ll find their other restaurant, W1, and two other bars – the Carbon Bar and the Kua Lounge & Bar. There’s even a private dining room tucked away in one corner of the hotel if you want a really exclusive experience.
The Cumberland Hotel has just over one thousand rooms in all, priced to suit every budget – from their guest rooms through executive rooms all the way to the five Cumberland Apartments, which offer an exclusive home away from home experience. Then there’s the hotel’s signature suite – the Jimi Hendrix. This room, decorated in a funky ’60s style, is the last hotel room that Hendrix stayed in before meeting his untimely death a few days later in Notting Hill. Guests staying in the suite have great views over Hyde Park, and there’s no need to worry because I have it on good authority that the Cumberland has no ghosts to disturb your sleep if you choose this psychedelic suite for your stay.
If you’re interested in what other people who attended last night had to say about the whole thing, just do a search on Twitter for #TheBrasserie, the hashtag which we were using…
About Pete Stean
