Way back, in 2018, your reviewer and his dining comrade were privileged to eat at The Greenhouse. This was a gem of a restaurant that commanded two Michelin stars throughout its existence. Now sadly shuttered, that meal was particularly memorable owing to the quality of the cooking from a young chef named Alex Dilling. British born, but having trained in New York under Alain Ducasse and other luminaries, he seemed to be a talent to watch. It is now fitting that he fronts the recently opened new restaurant at the Hotel Café Royal. Within its first year, Dilling has again the award he deserves – two Michelin stars.
No expense has been spared on transforming the Café Royal – famous since the Victorian era – into its current iteration. Backed by the Alrov Group, this is a venue marked by class and opulence. Your reviewer would rarely journey by choice into the heart of central London on a Saturday night, but stepping into the Hotel Café Royal feels a million miles away from the buzz of Piccadilly Circus. Think of it as an oasis of calm, full of large spaces, big windows, columns and lots of marble.
On the first floor sits Alex Dilling’s restaurant, open since September 2022. It comprises just 30 covers. A similar number of staff (front of house, servers, somms and the kitchen team) are on hand to cater for guests’ every need. In contrast to the current fashion, the cooking and dining areas are separated. Our view comprised a vantage point to assess the Nash architecture of, and life on, Regent Street. My dining comrade looked into the restaurant while I had the opportunity to marvel at the venue’s range of stemware and decanters, artfully displayed on a unit in the serving area.
At Alex Dilling, it’s tasting menus or nothing. Priced at £165 or £195, contingent on whether five or seven courses are desired, this is towards the high-end of matters, even on London’s fine dining scene. Dilling is known for his love of caviar, so there’s a supplement should roe be your thing. At least a little of it topped my sea bream dish. Proceedings began with a selection of amuse-bouches. This is almost the high point of any culinary experience of this nature; a chance for the chef and his team to demonstrate their culinary artistry, rendering the power of flavour into mere mouthfuls. Typically – and in this case there was no disappointment – there is ample artistry too. A duck rillette ‘sandwich’ impressed most on this occasion.
Onto the main dishes, there was generally no let up in quality standards, although it would be fair to say that my dining comrade and I were not unequivocally wowed by every offering. Veal sweetbread (pictured bottom left) was a stand-out highlight in my selection. Luckily for your reviewer, it was the second time in a week on this cult dish. On both occasions, the delicacy of the animal matter, the gooey texture and the peppery tang lingered long after the final bite. For my vegetarian comrade, her cauliflower tart as well as her tomato and burrata composition (bottom right on the picture for the latter) wowed. However, the final savoury dish on each of our menus did fall flat, particularly in the context of prior courses. Chicken was an uninspired choice on the omnivore menu, while the vegetarian option of a vol-au-vent felt lacklustre with an over-egging (literally) of the dish.
Throughout, we were entertained by our engaging sommelier who shared his wine passion and thoughtfully paired food and drink. An Etna Rosso blend from Sicily was stand-out. It was a pity that such level of service was not omnipresent. Perhaps our standards are high, but there is work for Dilling’s team to do in some respects. Our water glasses were not topped up with any regularity, we were not offered further bread and our bread plates remained for longer than necessary. Cutlery was not always placed correctly. Small quibbles, but these things matter for Michelin-starred restaurants. Getting a taxi home at the meal’s end was a pain too. Maybe next time, the plan should be to enjoy the food, even better service and then a night at the hotel…