Céleste, Lanesborough Hotel, London

Céleste is an amazing room with soft blue and classical detailing (think a Wedgewood plate, expanded to room size), set inside the impressive Lanesborough Hotel, (check out The Withdrawing Room as you pass by).

The food is exceptional, classically French and can be quite accessible in price if you choose the set lunch option (Menu of the Day) which includes three courses (with a cheese option amongst the desserts if that matters to you) and a generous 'three bite' amuse-bouche (ours was a witty take on fish and chips).  We had mackerel with a wasabi sauce, pigs head (a sort of pork fish-cake), cabbage wrapped farce of game, day boat cod, and hazelnut and fudge themed desserts. 

We paid £38 per head with a free glass of champagne which is ludicrously good value. Frankly the five course tasting menu looks cheap at £85 based on the value we experienced. Regular main dishes are from £34-48 each. We also had a bottle of Alice, by Pierre Bories, a winemaker in Corbiéres. This is a blend of Grenache and old-vine Carignan, that worked well across all courses with a range of fish and game. I'm rather into Grenache at the moment as an alternative in situations where ordinarily I'd have gone for a Merlot. I know they don't taste the same but they seem to fill the same accessible and adaptable slot when making a wine cover a range of foods. (The wine pairing for the menu du jour is very fairly priced it that's your thing).  The wine list is wide and while there are bottles for four figures there are quite a few wines in the 35-60 range, especially in the reds. A quick check suggests wine mark up is about 300% on retail on those lower end bottles so probably even higher on wholesale prices. Mark up on the more expensive wines not quite as bad.

The service was attentive without ever being pushy and all the wait staff paid attention to us not just one waiter. I much prefer that style, which is becoming a little more common. Service is automatically added to the bill. 

London has a lot of high end French cooking these days but this is at the top of the class alongside Ducasse and Darroze. It is described as "conceptualised" by Chef Eric Frechon, and his protégé from Epicure in Paris, Florian Favario has been installed in the dining room as Executive Chef. As far as I can tell this is as close to an Epicure in London as you might want (or that we are going to get). 

Holds one Michelin star today, which it very clearly deserves (the chef's hold five between them). Overall very impressive and I'll certainly go again.