No 20

British Restaurant in Soho
No 20 image
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4 / 10 from 1 review
Address
The Soho Sanctum Hotel
20 Warwick Street
Soho
London
W1B 5NF
Map
Telephone
020 7292 6102
Cuisine
British
Region
Soho
Nearest Station
Piccadilly Circus
0.23 miles

The destination Sanctum restaurant, ‘No.20’, will serve British comfort food throughout the day, with afternoon tea providing a must try treat. This 60-cover restaurant serves a modern British menu courtesy of Head Chef Gavin Austin, with menus changing seasonally.

No 20 Picture Gallery

Brunch at No.20
Brunch at No.20
No.20 Bar
No.20 Bar
No.20 Main Restaurant
No.20 Main Restaurant

All In London Review

a place to meet for convenience rather than quality

The Sanctum Soho Hotel is located just off The Regents Street end of Beak Street, and is in the process of launching its brand new 2011 summer breakfast menu.

The Hotel is something of a surprise given its savvy location and clear desire to emanate a demeanor of sophistication. On entering the restaurant, the effect of the furnishings s somewhat gaudy: plush beige booths clashing with crushed red velvet sofas, and dim lighting for an early morning. With the bar at one end and some somulent jazz playing in the background, the atmosphere has an evening predisposition that sits rather heavily at breakfast time.

It’s possibly the delicate frame of mind an early morning creates, but breakfast can be the thing that makes or breaks a day. When considering the scope available to this meal, it seems a shame that the Sanctum Soho Hotel fails to muster more than the token requirements.

There’s a fruit platter on offer. This consists of strawberries, watermelon, pineapple and a small handful of grapes. The idea is good, but the sourcing leaves a lot to be desired. These are no fresh seasonal items bursting with flavour and succulence. The fruit has about as much taste as the watery punnet mixes offered in supermarket snack shelves, and slips down almost unnoticed.

With the fruit arrives a basket of 5 small pastries. These are at least warm and varied. There’s a chocolate one, two small jam roles, an almond one and a plain croissant. However, there is nothing outstanding about them. And again the quality is that you’d associate with supermarket produce. It would be nice to have something to make it stand out, even some jam for the plain croissant would be a start.

The full English breakfast is again a little dull. It comprises 2 eggs, 1 sausage, 1 rasher of bacon, 2 hash browns, a tomato, a mushroom and a black pudding. There’s no toast, and it’s all quite dry and uninspiring. It may fill you up, but it certainly won’t set your mouth watering.

What do manage a flourish are the eggs benedict. These are superb, and have been presented with a certain dash of style. The muffins are buttery, as is the hollandaise sauce, that although slightly depleted in lemon is nonetheless delicious. There’s masses of it too, and the poaching is perfect.

The coffee, however, is a miserable affair. There is no hint of the rich flavour of freshly ground good quality beans you desire in the early morning. The lattes arrived late and tepid with a bitter twang and rank after taste. Everyone makes a bad latte once in a while, but these are suggestive of a diminutive brand of bean, or, at the very least, a broken steamer.

This place is decidedly average, given its position and price range. It’s a place to meet for convenience rather than quality. The breakfast will fill you up, and the menu is varied, but it’s not going to impress. If you go, stick to the eggs benedict and order orange juice instead of coffee.

Reviewed by Directionless
Published on Jun 14, 2011


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