Review: Holborn Dining Room

Fun fact for you, the Grand Manor House Wing at the Rosewood hotel costs £25,000 a night and is so large that it has it’s own postcode. Yep, a single hotel suite, the only one in the world to have its own postcode. If that doesn’t begin to paint a picture of tonights dinner destination then I don’t know what else will.

The Rosewood is situated close to Covent Garden and is home to jewel box-style Mirror Room and buzzy modern British brasserie Holborn Dining Room. Having visited Holborn Dining Rooms just before Christmas last year it turns out it’s becoming a tradition to treat ourselves to a spot of Chef Calum Frankin’s cuisine as we round off the year.

We started off with a glass of wine and a fancy canapé or two in the Mirror Room as we awaited our slightly later weeknight booking of 8pm. We were hoping to grab a drink at the Monkey 47 Winter Lodge pre dinner but it gets busy quickly so we missed out this time around. Both venues are at the higher end of ones budget so be warned if you’re expecting something affordable.

Once we were seated at our table in the ever bustling Holborn Dining Room, we nibbled on some smashing sourdough bread and salty butter and begun glugging down some red wine.

To start we ordered two superstar dishes to share. Firstly the Scotch Egg served with caper mayo, a previous winner of the Scotch Egg Challenge. We also enjoyed a paté en croute filled with Rabbit and Bacon Terrine. Executive Chef Calum Franklin has become well-known for his old school pastry skills, for any other foodies reading this I’m sure your Instagram feed has been littered with his creations this year. To uncover the magic behind his infamous paté en croute, watch this.

For main course we both went for the Beef Wellington which was on the specials menu that evening. Priced at £27 per person I thought it was quite reasonable compared to other Beef Wellingtons available at London restaurants (I’m looking at you Bob Bob Ricard). Luckily it didn’t disappoint, the meat was perfectly medium rare cased in mushrooms, herbs and pastry. The wellington was served with a portion of crispy outside, fluffy inside roast potatoes too.

We got a side dish of Mac and cheese because, um, who can resist smoked cheddar and roast garlic mac?! In truth I could only manage a mouthful since it was already becoming a rather indulgent meal but luckily my dining partner helped clear the plates.

Unsurprisingly, we had no room for pud on this occasion but the options available were hard to resist. The Holborn Dining Room is a real delight, serving a classically British menu of seasonal and locally sourced cuisine it’s hard not to enjoy an evening spent in the vibrant bustling dining salon.