the salt & pepper diaries

photo | beatnic

We used to go to Andrew Edmunds a lot. It’s a place that feels like a secret, like you’re the only one lucky enough to know about it. For this reason, it’s a great place to recommend – there’s no name above the door, which adds to the ‘in-the-know’ feel – it’s also inexpensive, so as recommendations go, you deserve a decent one in return from the recipient.

Andrew Edmunds isn’t a secret at all though, but more of a Soho institution. It’s next door to the owners art gallery, which does carry his name and I was told once that ‘Andrew’ had such a great wine collection, he opened the restaurant just to share this. I’m sure this isn’t true and I’m not sure who told me, but I like the story. I’m not sure Andrew Edmund even exists!

I don’t know why we stopped going, as returning on Tuesday evening was a reminder of what a great place it is. It was full to overflowing amongst the tightly packed tables upstairs and down, guests were queuing, the room was full of noise and the handful of staff were managing everything in a stress free, laid back manner.

The food is modern European, definitely not mind-blowing in any way, but consistently good. Reservations are only ever taken a week in advance and if you do book, be sure to ask for a ground floor table. Downstairs is a little too cramped and you always leave smelling a little of fish! The restaurant is also billed as one of London’s most romantic places to dine and if its romance you want, insist on one of the window tables either to the left or right of the front door.

We ate late in the evening, starting with a rich, gamey terrine full of texture and flavour and very fresh scallops. This was followed though by the most appalling soufflé and asparagus main dish – dull and grey, with no character at all. This was the first ‘bad’ dish I’ve had there, a real exception. The cheese spread though bought back any lost favours and we left full and happy.

Andrew Edmunds will always be there, I can’t imagine it closing down, so I’m in no rush to return, but if you haven’t been, go, you’ll definitely enjoy.

View Larger Map

Andrew Edmunds
46 Lexington Street
W1F 0LW
Soho

Tel: 020 7437 5708

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 24th, 2008 at 10:05 am and is filed under Reviews, Restaurants, cafes & bars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.