The Game Bird at The Stafford London

The Stafford hotel in St James’s has replaced the fussy and flouncy Lyttelton restaurant with something that very few London five-stars offer any more: a dining room serving traditional British food. Despite a very attractive re-style involving cherry-red leather, turquoise velvet and floral fabrics, The Game Bird feels less like a restaurant and more like a hotel lounge, but the food is well worth a visit from non-guests. Traditional is the way to go, such as the gently flavoured oak-smoked salmon, carved from a trolley. We also enjoyed a duo of sweet and savoury puddings: steak with rich gravy in a pliable suet crust, with a Lyle’s golden syrup sponge doused in custard to finish – the pistachio soufflé, dolloped with white chocolate ice cream, is a good shout too. Lighter options are every bit as good, from dressed crab piled with sweet, white meat, to an equally sweet jumble of thornback ray with brown shrimp, beurre noisette, grilled leek and red wine sauce. The most fun is to be had with the chicken Kiev however, loaded with so much garlic butter that it comes with a bib to tie around one’s neck. Prices are what you’d expect from a luxury hotel in St James’s, though a three-course Sunday roast for £40 is a local bargain – spend your saved pennies on the rather less kindly priced wine list, with its regal collection of Bordeaux and Burgundy stored in a 380-year-old cellar.