One beneficiary of the dissolution of parliament for the upcoming election are London's diners who'll get to eat inside both houses of Parliament. It's the second time for the House of Commons, since a successful trial pre-Christmas and a first for the House of Lords. As parliament empties out, the Peers’ Dining Room in being opened to members of the public for a limited period on weekdays between Tuesday 14 April and Friday 8 May 2015.
The lunchtime menu at the House of Lords is three courses for £35 and includes such dishes as:
- Pressed game terrine with baby leek and dandelion salad
- Potted confit of sea trout and crab with British spring salad and crab dressing
- Classic St. George’s mushroom vol au vent and truffled béarnaise sauce
- Slow cooked ox cheek with Irish champ mash, heritage carrots, salsa verdi and jus
- Elderflower summer pudding with clotted cream and lavender shortbread
The House of Commons Public Dining pop-up restaurant will run for a shorter period. Dinner in the riverside Members’ Dining Room will also cost £35 for three courses. Lunch dishes there are definitely more in the modern tradition than the House of Lords and include:
- London cure smoked salmon with horseradish cream, lemon gel, sumac sea salt
- Lightly poached fillet of halibut with lemon verbena, pommes anna, baby fennel, sea buckthorn, golden raisins and verjus butter sauce
- Lancashire cheese with quince doughnuts, pickled celery, Cointreau kumquats and cinnamon ice cream
One thing to bear in mind, if you're thinking of booking - photography is strictly forbidden, so no instagramming pics of your food while you eat.
Lunch at the Peers' Dining Room will be served from 12pm to 2.30pm between Tuesday 14 April and Friday 8 May 2015 (except weekends and public holidays). Advance booking is essential and reservations can be made for a maximum of 10 guests here. As you might expect, airport style security searches will be the norm and they're asking diners to arrive at least 20 minutes prior to the booking time.
Lunch at the Members' Dining Room will run midweek only on 31 March-1 April; 8-9 April and 28-29 April 2015. Book your table here.
Thanks to The Steeple Times for the tip off.
