Just a few minutes walk from the madness of Oxford Street is the Hyatt Churchill which you may or may not know also happens to be the location for one of London's top Italian restaurants Locanda Locatelli. Well, the hotel also has a rather nice bar with a terrace and when they invited Hot Dinners down to try their summer pop up crustacean bar, it didn't take much to persuade us.
Having spent the last few weeks sweltering in London, it was pretty irritating to have the summer dip out for a day on our trip there, but this sheltered spot just off Portman Square stays pretty warm whatever the weather. The brutalist 1970s exterior doesn't do justice to the luxe interior and even if the weather didn't play ball we would have been pretty happy just perched up at the bar.
The pop-up seafood terrace is open this summer for lunch from Monday to Saturday serving up seafood paired with a range of rosé champagnes, wines and summer cocktails. We kicked off lunch with a few glasses of Bollinger Brut Rosé (£23) which came with complimentary Sicilian olives and warm, light cheese gougeres. The half dozen creamy rock oysters (£2.50 each) were super fresh and served on a bed of ice and samphire.
Our favourite dish was the Scottish Lobster Cocktail (£15) - generous chunks of lobster mixed up with avocado, cherry tomatoes and lettuce. But we also enjoyed the dressed Devon crab and caviar with buckweat blinis (£16) which went pretty perfectly with the glass of super-pale Domaine Ott (£19) that our barman Oliver said everyone loves to order here because it reminds them of summer holidays in the South of France.
"It's all so fresh AND low-carb," observed our lunch guest, pointing out that champagne is pretty low-cal too. The perfect kind of spot then for anyone wanting to fit into the outfit they've just bought or are intending to try on. We reckon it'll make a nice treat towards the end of the working week or a great place to escape the crowds if you've been shopping on Oxford Street.
The Seafood & Rosé menu is available from 12-3pm from Monday to Saturday at The Churchill Bar at the Hyatt Regency London - The Churchill, 30 Portman Square, London W1H 7BH. It'll run until the end of summer, so probably until early September.
Hot Dinners were invited to lunch at The Churchill Bar.
