The Times
Jay Rayner had only good things to say about the more relaxed upstairs neighbour of the classic Grand Divan dining room at Jeremy King’s successfully revived Simpson’s-in-the-Strand – “think of it as Brasserie Zédel, only with a Mockney accent”.
But he warned prospective diners not to misunderstand its appeal. “The cooking isn’t astonishing. You don’t come to be wowed. You come for familiar comfort food, served with unfamiliar charm”, and for the theatrical crowd (“look, there’s Lindsay Duncan”) drawn by portraits of early-20th-century playwrights, J B Priestley, Somerset Maugham, John Galsworthy et al.
Jay returned the next morning for breakfast in the Grand Divan, a “comically expansive take on the full English” accompanied by “every condiment you could think of and a few you probably can’t”, along with a “buttery and unashamedly spiced” kedgeree. “It’s so damned civilised, a word that describes the whole of the reborn Simpson’s-in-the-Strand.”
Jay Rayner - 2026-05-10
