The London Diaries: Finding My Way to the Savoy Grill
Watching Gordon Ramsay my whole life, I never thought I’d actually eat at one of his restaurants. The US and UK are so far (and expensive). But finally, in my thirties, the dream came true.
I was in London for a week with my fiancé and our best friend. The trip took two years of planning and saving, and, of course, one of my bucket list items was to eat at a Ramsay restaurant.
And not just any restaurant – the Savoy Grill.
Go big or go home, right? (My bank account definitely wanted me to go home.)
The Savoy Hotel
The Savoy Hotel
Before you can talk about the restaurant, you have to talk about the building. The Savoy Hotel has stood on the Strand since 1889, and its history reads like a Victorian fever dream. It was built by Richard D’Oyly Carte, an impresario best known for bringing Gilbert and Sullivan operas to the stage, who wanted a hotel to match the drama happening next door at his Savoy Theatre. He hired César Ritz as general manager and Auguste Escoffier as head chef, and together, the three of them basically invented what we now think of as luxury hospitality.
The building itself contains some oddities worth knowing. Savoy Court is the only road in the UK where vehicles drive on the right. This deliberate design choice allowed carriages to drop guests off at the theatre and hotel entrances. Even the name predates the hotel by over 600 years, tracing back to a medieval palace built by Count Peter of Savoy in 1240.
The Savoy Grill sits within all of that history. Classic elegance, dark wood panelling, white tablecloths. The kind of room that makes you sit up a little straighter.
The Path to the Savoy Grill
The Path to the Savoy Grill
So, the thing about a trip to London as a Ramsay fan is that it becomes a kind of restaurant pilgrimage, whether you plan it that way or not.
During the week, we walked past Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay in Mayfair, the Asian-inspired small plates spot styled after 1930s Tokyo kissas and Shanghai drinking dens. Right next door was Gordon Ramsay Bar & Grill, which apparently does some of London’s best steaks. We also stumbled across a Street Burger in Charing Cross Road.
And then, almost inevitably, we walked past a Jamie’s Italian in Leicester Square. It was kind of funny, knowing that Street Burger and Jamie Oliver’s restaurant were so close, given the rivalry between the chefs. They spent the better part of ten years trading public insults. However, that’s apparently over now. In a recent interview, Oliver told The Times that they’re friends and that all of this is behind them. Proof, perhaps, that time heals all things, including the egos of celebrity chefs.
Anyway. The Savoy Grill.
Arriving at the Savoy Grill
Arriving at the Savoy Grill
We arrived on the Friday afternoon, slightly overdressed compared to our general holiday wardrobe and (arguably) slightly underdressed relative to the room. Our friend was so nervous about lunch, convinced something was going to go wrong. Which it didn’t, not really. I mean, we laughed about it afterwards.
It started how you would expect from a fine dining establishment: Coats were taken at the door, and we were shown to our table.
The prix fixe lunch menu was running. Two courses for £57, three for £64, Monday to Friday until 5:45pm. We went with two courses each: a main and a dessert.
Now, if you’re going to the Savoy Grill, there is really only one main you should be ordering. The Beef Wellington. Yes, it carries a supplement (£26 per person, on top of the set menu price). Yes, that’s a lot of money for a main course. Order it anyway.
Our friend and I had the Wellington (interestingly, for very different reasons. I obviously got it because it’s Ramsay’s signature dish. Our friend got it because he’s a British history buff and the dish is named after the first Duke of Wellington). My fiancé went with the pan-fried sea bream because someone at the table needed to show restraint. (Also, regular readers know he’s vegetarian but will sometimes make an exception for fish.)
For dessert, we had the lime crémeux: mango and passionfruit compote with coconut sorbet.
Getting to the Good stuff (the Food)
Getting to the Good stuff (the Food)
I tried my best not to have high expectations, because no one wants them dashed, right?
But there was no need to worry. The Wellington arrived perfectly formed with its golden pastry. The moment you cut into it, you understand what all the television demonstrations were actually building toward. There it is: the thin layer of duxelles, the prosciutto, the beef. Ordered medium, it was pink all the way through. Not patchily pink – uniformly, precisely pink. Soft. Tender. The kind of texture that makes you put your fork down for a moment just to acknowledge what you’re eating. Even my fiancé asked for the tiniest bite because, well, how could you not?
The red wine jus alongside it was rich without being heavy. The shallot purée cut through everything with just enough sweetness.
The sea bream was just as beautifully cooked – crispy skin, flaky flesh, the warm tartar sauce doing exactly what it should. Though, as a long-time vegetarian, it was the side of spinach that blew my fiancé’s socks off. He could not stop talking about it throughout lunch and recounted it to everyone who asked afterwards. I think that’s adorable.
The crémeux looked pretty as a picture with a soft, creamy set lime top with coconut shavings. Then your spoon hits the centre, and there it is: a hidden pocket of mango. The coconut sorbet alongside it was clean and cold and exactly what you needed after the richness of everything that came before.
The Big Question: Was It Worth It?
The Big Question: Was It Worth It?
Yes. Unequivocally.
Look, the Savoy Grill isn’t an everyday lunch. Between the supplement on the Wellington, the sides, and the drinks, your bill will remind you of this fact. This is where we had our little oops I mentioned earlier. We budgeted for this and set money aside, but the bill turned out to be a few more pounds than we thought.
In itself, that’s not an issue because I just had to transfer extra money on my international card. Annoyingly, the restaurant has very poor signal and I couldn’t connect to the Wi-Fi (after trying four times). So, I got up and went out to the foyer to find a signal. I did the transfer and waited a few minutes for the money to clear. Our friend also transferred extra pounds to help. Everything sorted, I go back in and pay. As we left, our friend confessed he thought I had cut and run!
Reflecting on the Savoy Grill
Reflecting on the Savoy Grill
Two years of planning and saving for a week in London, and this was the meal we talked about for the rest of the trip. Our friend, who’d spent the entire morning convinced something was going to go wrong, left practically floating (the apparent zero faith he has in me aside). My fiancé is still talking about that spinach. And me? I finally got to eat the dish I’ve watched Gordon Ramsay make on television more times than I can count, and it was exactly as good as I’d always imagined.
As I’ve said, that’s the risk of bucket list moments. Sometimes they disappoint. Sometimes the reality can’t match the version you’ve built up in your head over years of watching and waiting.
This wasn’t one of those times.
The Savoy Grill lives up to every bit of its reputation. If you ever find yourself in London with a special occasion to mark (or just a very convincing argument to make to your bank account), book the table. Get the Wellington. Stay for dessert.
You won’t regret it.
