The Traditional English Restaurants of London

The Montagu is the buzzy restaurant that provides the setting for eating at a wide variety of tastes in the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, one of the capital’s major hotels. Located in Portman Square the restaurant sets out to be a neighbourhood restaurant, indeed the intention to provide ‘comfort’ food is proclaimed – and why not?

A four-month renovation, completed in May 2005 has transformed the room that takes its name from Mrs Elizabeth Montagu, noted ‘bluestocking’ and socialite and her husband Edward, whose home was incorporated into the site. However there is nothing bluestocking about the food which has been described as having a ‘classical contemporary style’, with a mission to provide relaxed eating for all those whose lives bring them into contact with the hotel and its neighbourhood.

The Montagu opens at 6.30 am, so a genuine breakfast, as opposed to brunch, is most certainly an option. With last orders taken at 10.45 pm the scope is reflected in a menu that happily wends its way through a medley of European and British familiar dishes. The relaxed and friendly atmosphere is given a tremendous boost by the open plan kitchen that reaches out into the restaurant, inviting confidence and bonhomie.

Around 15 starters include such well-loved dishes as lobster bisque, home-made chicken soup with dumplings, a salad of butter lettuce with poached egg, crispy bacon and a creamy Dijon mustard dressing. Oysters from Loch Fyne or Colchester are there to work their alleged magic, and together with Cornish crab cakes, marinated cucumbers and lemon aioli or smoked Shetland salmon all help to reinforce a menu that has more than a hint of the sea about it.

At lunchtime the snack trade is at its height, with busy office workers and tourists arriving for something sustaining until the shadows lengthen, and what a joy it is to see eggs Benedict, a traditional club sandwich, or the even more traditional salt beef sandwich with English mustard and pickles, perhaps to chase away any lingering effects of over indulgence the night before.

For those with time to linger at lunch or having dinner, the choice is of course much wider. A platter of shellfish will contain what the market favours, but look for langoustines, oysters, clams, mussels and crabmeat. Poached lobster comes with Hollandaise and parsley potatoes, or try the pan–fried skate in brown butter.

If you thought that Loch Fyne means only seafood you’d be right, but Glen Fyne offers a manly pork chop in red wine jus, or a sirloin steak with herb butter and chips. Puddings are a veritable trap for the indulgent with sherry trifle, apple and cinnamon crumble, rice pudding (yes, speak nicely and they will come across with the raspberry jam), or a Bakewell tart with Devon cream. Wine comes from a list of 70 or so, New and Old World, many bottle by the glass from £4.20.

In traditional British fashion, Full English Afternoon Tea is available each afternoon between 3pm and 6pm and offers a wonderful array of delicious treats.

The Montagu is in some ways a gentleman’s club shorn of its pomposity and sepulchral silence, and replaced with jollity and laughter, a real fun place to be not least because of the quality of the food and surroundings, and providing a real lift to the area.