“Incredibly under-rated” as a breakfast destination, the “genteel” buttery of this posh St James’s institution is also worth seeking out for its “scrumptious” afternoon tea, or a spot of Welsh rarebit at any time of day; NB “very good lunchtime deals” – see also 1707.
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It’s easy to get misty-eyed about how shops used to be – anyone remember the Harrods subscription library? – but it’s difficult to be too critical of Fortnum & Mason’s proprietors, who ha...
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Press Reviews (4)
Lisa Markwell (6th April 2010)
11/20
A visit to one of the five dining options in the famous Piccadilly food shop disappoints the critic, who is amused to find that her presence in the “pastel palace of muted good taste” brings the average age of diners “down by about 20 years”. The critic’s main course is “at once too salty, too limp and resembles the kind of dish that fails to get a contestant through to the quarter finals of Masterchef”, and her guest's rib eye steak looks like it’s “from a Tesco value pack”. Even puddings disappoint. “[S]pend your money on Fortnum's chocolate, by all means, but you'd get a better value meal at the Pret a Manger across the road”.
Jay Rayner (25th February 2008)
Jay Rayner has a “rather nice lunch in the Fountain Restaurant at Fortnum & Mason on London's Piccadilly”, but “can't for the life of me imagine ever going back”, as this is a “casual lunch joint at wallet-torturing dinner prices”. Let’s face it, though, this is just not a Rayner sort of place, and this is one of those reviews which – we couldn’t help feeling – says more about the writer than it does about the establishment notionally being written about.
Terry Durack (10th December 2007)
15/20
The relaunch of the buttery at the famous St James’s food store “has managed to retain all the good things about being old-fashioned, while subtly inserting a crisp, fresh, witty modernity for a new generation of diners”, concludes the critic, whose raves about his “new favourite dining-room in London”.
Marina O’Loughlin (6th November 2007)
4/5 stars
The team behind the updating of Fortnum & Mason is “doing a brilliant job”, and this long-established buttery is now “one of the loveliest rooms in the capital”, says the critic. The “overwhelming flavour” of the cusine is “still solidly trad Brit”, but she’s swept away by that too.
Lisa Markwell (6th April 2010)
Jay Rayner (25th February 2008)
Terry Durack (10th December 2007)
Marina O’Loughlin (6th November 2007)
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