When we set out to the Arch London hotel to review the election éclairs – a very topical take on the hotel’s bar snacks which had been creating something of a stir in London’s bar circles – we didn’t expect to find a hidden gem of a bar and restaurant that we’re slightly loath to tell anyone about.
Opened at the tail-end of last year, this hotel is the brainchild of the family behind the utterly different Sopwell House and Five Lakes – two out-of-town hotels better known for their spas and golf courses. That they came up with the lovely Arch London, created out six Georgian townhouses, is a bit of a surprise, but more of a shock still is the quality of the bar and restaurant.
We began the evening with cocktails from a monthly list created by the bartender sat HUNter 486 – the hotel bar which has been shortlisted for the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards 2010. A series of interconnecting rooms, this could quickly become a Hot Dinners favourite, if it happened to be our end of town (a pox on those who live or work in the vicinity of Marble Arch!). The Tom Dixon chairs are lovely to look at, but better to sit in and there are two great booths which are cocooned from the rest of the world with a sheer voile curtain – great for romantic, particularly illicit, drinks.
We began with the standard list of sweet and savoury éclairs including foie gras and sauternes (our favourite by a London mile), crab and crème fraiche followed by chocolate and green tea, coconut and kaffir lime leaf and wild strawberry and Veuve Cliquot.
Then came a tray of election éclairs with a savoury and sweet choice for each party indicated by a rice paper image of Cameron, Clegg and Brown penned by Stephen Lee who does the caricatures for The Week newspaper. Cameron’s were Cheese & Pear Éclair made with Black Sticks stilton and william pear and a sweet éclair of blueberry and coconut. Brown’s were sun-dried tomato with goats cheese and rose with raspberry & champagne jelly. Clegg’s were yellow fin tuna with coriander & chilli and grapefruit & champagne. Voting on the eclairs alone, we were torn between Clegg and Cameron.
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Now after all that, and two brilliantly strong cocktails, you might be thinking that Hot Dinners called it a night – but you’d be wrong. Summoned by the division bell – in the form of maitre d’ Vess – we were persuaded into the hotel’s restaurant The Kitchen to try more of head chef Shane Pearson's, previously of The Electric, food. And thank goodness we did – because our burger was a stand-out success, memorably good and better than several we’ve had at notable London restaurants recently. We also managed to fit in a plate of fabulous chocolates – including a whiskey truffle made with something smokey like Laphroig – before we headed off into the balmy London night.
Forget the fact that this is a hotel, The Arch London has a gem of a bar and restaurant that more people should try. Just don’t tell too many people about it.
