A New York Inspired Brunch at Laurent at Hotel Cafe Royal

I was invited to review brunch at Hotel Café Royal and our food and drink was complimentary. I was not paid to attend and was not under contractual obligation to write this blog post or create content on any platform. 

Regular readers will know that I’m a big fan of Hotel Cafe Royal on Regent Street, most recently checking out the afternoon tea at the gorgeous Oscar Wilde lounge earlier in the year. But it was last year in July (when our Oscar was just a twinkle in the eye) that I first tried the restaurant Laurent. Back then the restaurant was brand new – but I already knew I was fan of the food of Executive Chef Laurent Tourondel having tried his cuisine in Miami a few years ago. 
Actually it was these incredible popovers that engaged the gastronomic memory of dining on his food at LT Steak & Seafood in our hotel, The Betsy. These popovers are so good that they remained in my memory five years later when we tried them again. The best way to describe them is kind of like a Yorkshire pudding but they’re topped with Gouda, Cheddar and black pepper … of course they’re exceptionally calorific and even more so when smothered in butter. The chef was born in France but has restaurants around the world; in the States he also has New York and Charlotte restaurants and then branches in San Juan and Hong Kong.

Today we were checking out the latest offering at Laurent, the New York-inspired brunch! Diners have the option of bottomless Bloody Marys with one course from the brunch section and one pastry dish for £49 or the same food option but with bottomless Veuve Clicquot champagne for £85. Mr S and I are responsible parents now (!)so we didn’t go particularly bottomless – I stuck with a Virgin Mary and Mr S tried the signature cocktail. At Laurent ingredients are the best of British, there’s even British wasabi, English mustard and Dorset vodka in the Bloody Mary.



Before beginning the brunch we decided to start with some sushi, fresh from the restaurant’s sushi counter: spicy tuna with avocado, sriracha, puffed rice along with spicy and crispy prawn sushi with chilli-lime mayo, avocado, grapefruit, sesame and a fresh platter of sashimi.

Mr S ordered salt beef and poached eggs in steamed buns which I personally found a little fatty. I wasn’t overly keen on my baked eggs caponata with spicy Soppressata, tomato, aubergine, I think there were grapes in it which was a slightly odd combination. Again British ingredients are important and brunch dishes use Burford Brown eggs from hens on the Clarence Court farms.

When I saw this drink arrive on another table, I encouraged Mr S to order the Bloody Slutty Marie with Belvedere vodka, celery, tomato juice, horseradish, yellow onion, lemon juice and Slutty spice mix, there’s bacon and a prawn in there too!

Why stick with one dessert when you can have all three? We opted to try all the pastries on the menu which includes peach blackberry brioche, peanut butter and jam donut and cinnamon-pecan bun, my favourite being the brioche.

Though we were unsure about some of our food choices, we really loved the ambiance and the atmosphere at Laurent and I think it’s a great value deal too!

Hotel Café Royal
68 Regent Street
London
W1B 4DY UK

 

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