The Wolseley, in my opinion, is a flawless restaurant. I love the nostalgic air the place has, the never-misses-a-beat service, the old school charm, the well executed dishes and the beautiful dining room. There is something about it that puts me into a PG Wodehouse frame of mind. Amazing, given in fact this is actually a young restaurant.
Even younger, is The Wolseley version two, aka The Delaunay placed on the corner of Drury Lane and The Aldwych. Whilst the room may not be quite as grand as the original, limited perhaps by the lack of ceiling height, it is still beautiful nonetheless. The same expensive finish, glossy marble, 1920s European Kaffeehaus style. The menu is of the same mould – breakfast, all day dining and afternoon tea – classic items and nothing so exciting that it would make anyone's heart race. Given the average age of clientele - that's probably safer anyway.
My croque madame, on my first visit, arrived as though it had been measured with a ruler, and each dimension by a protractor. It is hard to mess up a croque madame, and they hadn't. Execution was as precise as its look. A crisp fried bread, with a nice ratio between the three ingredients. Egg, nice and runny, perfect to dip the sandwich into it.
Breakfast tea arrived as it does in the Wolseley. Mirror like tea pot, loose leaf tea and gorgeous china. Sachertorte, sprung up like a trampoline when my fork hit the moist cake. An excellent, if unhealthy lunch.
Brunch, five days later confirmed that Delaunay and I were meant to be. I had high anticipations, anticipations so high I already had two more brunch bookings. This was going to be the place. The place I had been looking for over the past six months, my brunch place. The one that ticked all the boxes.
When we arrived at 11.30, it was oddly quiet, part of new-restaurant syndrome I imagine. The breakfast menu, is actually very reasonably priced given the Wolseley brand - under £7.00 for pancakes. Eggs are weirdly expensive here though, £14.75 for Eggs Florentine, and I couldn't spot a full-english anywhere - which was a bit of a shame.
Food arrived quickly, and was as beautiful as ever. My companion's steak and eggs, almost completely cured her hangover. Smoked salmon with scrambled eggs, ordered by the other companion, was heavy on the smoked salmon as it should be for £13.75. My eggs florentine, merited no complaints.
The bill ran up quickly, especially with the addition of a £2 cover charge, something I find so un-neccesary and outdated, its a bit like the "no prices for women" at Le Gavroche, which may put it out of reach for the every weekend brunch. It ticks all my boxes, beautiful, no queue, papers, excellent food but its not the place I would want to be with a pounding headache or in Ugg boots.
Photo courtesy of Daily Candy
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