Colourful and contemporary: The interior of Brumus restaurant at the Haymarket Hotel

Georgian splendour: The Haymarket Hotel from Suffolk Place

Tucked on the corner of Haymarket and Suffolk Place in St James, I am ashamed to admit I have never noticed the Haymarket Hotel, despite having walked past countless times over the year. The hotel is a lovely, white Georgian building situated next to the Theatre Royal Haymarket with its banners and show lights, which in retrospect probably distracted me so I didn’t notice the hotel.

When booking a restaurant for my sister’s birthday this week, I went to TopTable, as I often do. I always looks for a combination of good reviews from other diners and a meal deal, so as a family we end up at a high-quality restaurant with more moderate prices. I was immediately sold on Brumus’s good reviews and the brilliant £19.95 three course and Prosecco deal they currently have on.

The building is very easy to find and we ended up entering through the hotel reception on Suffolk Place – which is chic, glamorous and full of contemporary artwork. The restaurant itself has a very unique interior with cerise and magenta walls, metal umbrella-style lamps and comfortable chairs with different dog motifs on the back. Immediately upon arrival, we were greeted by the friendly staff who took our coats and put them in a vintage wardrobe by the front door – a nice touch. With the background music and setting, I found the restaurant had the right amount of luxury and style, but without the pretension you get in other hotel restaurants.

Delicious: Halloumi and peach salad with rocket to start (left)
and vegetable parcels with spinach (right)

Quirky: The lighting consisted of metal umbrella ‘chandeliers’ which gave a cosy, candlelight feel to the restaurant

Three of our party opted for the TopTable deal, but the remaining two decided to order straight off the à la carte menu, which I would describe as Anglo-Italian. For starters, I ordered a grilled halloumi and peach salad with rocket and sherry vinaigrette. I love salads which include fruit and rarely find them on menus. The combination of halloumi, rocket and the peach were delicious. I ate the lot pretty quickly and could have easily ordered another one, it was so good. For main course, I was torn between the rock cod and braised fennel or the vegetable parcel with goat’s cheese, spinach and red petter sauce, eventually plumping for the latter. It was a good decision, the vegetables inside the parcel were cooked to perfection and melted in the mouth, the pastry was exactly the right consistency you’d expect from a pie and spinach is always a winner in my eyes. Pudding aside, because that’s always a bit naughty, I felt like I’d eaten a really healthy meal, that also tasted delicious. The dessert was a raspberry and blackberry mille-feuille – a sort of fruit and cream sandwich between a pastry wafer, topped with raspberry coulis, which was also delicious.

Overall, the Brumus had it all – I loved the design and setting, the service was friendly and excellent, the food was delicious and at £19.95 for the three-course, albeit limited choice menu, it was very good value for that standard of restaurant. I’ll definitely be going back. There is also a bar next door which looked tempting, but I will have to save that until another time.

• Brumus is located at the Haymarket Hotel, 1 Suffolk Place, St James, SW1Y 4HX. Nearest stations: Piccadilly Circus or Charing Cross. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For more information, visit their website.

And to finish: Raspberry and blackberry mille-feuille with raspberry coulis

For contents of all Metro Girl’s bar and restaurant reviews, visit our reviews page.