Breaking news
Chef Sally Abé is to move on after four years: whither we know not at this stage.
Conrad London St. James, 22-28 Broadway, London, SW1H 0BH
Harden's says
With Sally Abé's recent arrival from the Harwood Arms, the Conrad St James's Hotel is clearly aiming to take its offering up a notch. This summer 2021 arrival is to be her main showcase within the hotel, offering an ambitious menu with classic British overtones. Did no-one tell Sally the unwritten rule that good British restaurants are just not allowed in Westminster? Perhaps she will at last break the mould! (See also The Blue Boar.)
Harden's survey result
Summary
Star chef, Sally Abé was key to the ‘girl power’ formula of this traditionally decorated dining room in a five-star hotel near St James’s Park tube – named with the nickname of Emily Wilding Davison, a leading suffragette – which she relaunched four years ago. The move was a brave effort by the hotel to put its traditionally decorated (slightly stilted) dining room on London’s culinary map and to link it with both a forward-looking approach but also the traditional British cuisine that Sally is known for. But it’s all change as of April 2025 when Abé announced her departure (for the Bull at Charlbury). Given that she was so central to its PR and approach, it’s hard to work out its destiny now that she’s stepped down, hence we’ve left it un-rated.
Summary
‘Good in parts’ is perhaps the fairest description of this comfy dining room in a five-star hotel near St James’s Park tube, which continues to put in a ‘Curate’s Egg’ performance. Recruiting ace chef, Sally Abé, a couple of years ago helped boost the profile of what was hitherto seen merely as a business venue convenient for parliamentarians from nearby Westminster. Nowadays, she presents “an interesting menu” championing British produce and recipes, resulting in “fabulous food, beautifully presented”. On the downside, service can be “variable” and “while the decor is nice, the ambience is rather soulless as the restaurant is situated in the rather cavernous bowels of a hotel”.
Summary
Sally Abé’s accomplished traditional British cuisine has rightfully succeeded in bringing media attention to this rather hotel-y chamber, in a comfortable but anonymous five-star a short walk from St James’s Park tube. (Indeed, in his September 2022 review, the FT’s Tim Hayward declared it “absolutely bloody cracking… some of the best food in town”). It still doesn’t attract the volume of reports in our annual diners’ poll we would like, but most (if not quite all) proclaim it “outstanding all round”. BREAKING NEWS: in July 2023, the restaurant closed, for the installation of a new kitchen. We’ve left it with its former rating, but apparently on re-opening in autumn 2023 it will have an amended offering. Abé commented: ‘We’ll be back all guns blazing’!
Summary
Sally Abé has equalled the “superb” standard of British cooking that she achieved at the Harwood Arms at this Westminster yearling, named for a pioneering suffragette. But while the traditional hotel dining room she was imported to revivify is an “amazingly spacious and comfy space” – and benefits from “quietly super-efficient and knowledgeable staff” – it doesn’t yet generate the volume of reports it perhaps deserves: “why was it empty? This deserves to be one of London’s most popular restaurants!”
For 35 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at The Pem?
Owner's description
From Friday 18th September, The Pem is entering a new chapter with esteemed chef Romy Gill MBE at the helm. Through her menu Neemat (meaning ‘bountiful’), Romy brings social fine dining to the heart of Westminster, with dishes designed to be ordered generously, passed around the table and enjoyed together.
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £35.00 |  |
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| Cost | Availability | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menu1 | 95.00 | Always available | 6 |
Traditional European menu
| Starter | Main | Veggies | Pudding |
|---|---|---|---|
| £20.50 | £33.50 | £0.00 | £12.00 |
| Drinks |
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|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £55.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £0.00 |
| Extras |
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|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 12.50% |
Restaurant details
The chef
Acclaimed chef, broadcaster and cookbook author Romy Gill MBE has built a distinctive career celebrating the regional flavours of India, shaped by childhood memories, travel and the women who inspired her cooking. After establishing the acclaimed Romy’s Kitchen in Thornbury, she became a familiar presence on BBC One, ITV and BBC Radio 4, while publishing three cookbooks and writing for leading international publications. Romy has also cooked at the James Beard Foundation in New York and was awarded an MBE for services to hospitality in 2016. Now, her journey enters an exciting new chapter, bringing her personal culinary voice to The Pem.
Conrad London St. James, 22-28 Broadway, London, SW1H 0BH
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Saturday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
