45 Jermyn St. — Restaurant in London

45 Jermyn St. is a classy, yet modern restaurant in central London not far from Piccadilly Circus. The food menu is great, presentation and flavours flawless and the wine and cocktail lists justify a visit in their own right. Service is friendly and attentive. I would eat and drink again at 45 Jermyn St. any day.

The restaurant 45 Jermyn St. appears to be pretty new. The interior is beautifully designed, with a white ceiling and a dark wooden floor. The tables are dark brown with pastel kind of light red chairs and sofas. A little bit of light green, glass and gold completes the colour palette.

Besides the look, I also liked the sound of 45 Jermyn St. - fine jazz music that did not distract, but still provided a good soundtrack for a delicious dinner.

The wine list looks great. Knowing Albariño, I decided to try something different and went for the Brolettino, Cà dei Frati, Lombardy from 2013. A very nice Italian white, maybe a bit fruitier than what I usually prefer, but very pleasant and good in combination with the food.

After starting off with some warm bread and nicely salted butter, I continued with the North Yorkshire Game Consommé with Pearl Barley. The waiter poured the hot consommé into the soup plate right at my table, which added a bit of theatre and intensified the gamy smells of an otherwise simple dish. The soup was full of beautiful, strong game flavours, the pearl barley and carrots added something chewy to the clear broth.

As main, I ordered the Swinton Estate Red Leg Partridge with Fried Polenta and Jerusalem Artichokes with a side of chipped potatoes - French fries, really. The plate looked beautiful and the partridge tasted excellent and lovely buttery. The mild fried polenta added a nice crunchy texture and was a perfect supplement to emphasise and balance the meaty partridge taste.

The French fries were golden and crispy, just like they should be. I thought they were perhaps a bit too salty, but that might just be my palate. Anyway, I added some freshly ground pepper, using the pepper mill on the table. The little silver mill was so heavy, that I thought for a moment it must be carved out of a massive silver block. Like the branded steak knife, I think details like this is where you can probably see that in Fortum & Mason an experienced brand with attention to detail is behind this restaurant.

Overall, I think my main was an accomplished and very delightful dish.

Luckily, I left enough space for dessert, so I looked through the sweet treats and once again went with the recommendation of my waiter and selected the Dark Chocolate Mousse with Mint Ice Cream. The Apple Tarte Tatin also sounded tempting, and I think I should definitely come back to try one of their "floats". Often, I find chocolate mousse at restaurants too smooth and dense. Not at 45 Jermyn St. - here the chocolate mousse is rich and light and airy at the same time, exactly how I like it most. The crispy little things worked well, and while I was not sure about the mint ice cream at first, it turned out great. The mint ice cream could even have been a bit more and stronger to cut through the dark chocolate.

I was in a good mood and seized the opportunity to check out their drinks menu. The No. 5 syrup made of Strawberry, Neroli & Orange Blossom, Acid, Soda, recommended to be combined with Hepple Gin sounded great. I must admit, I never came across "Rickies" before, so I was excited to see what it would be exactly. The drink was served in two parts, the syrup soda mix separately from the gin shot, so I could taste both independently, before mixing it together myself. I liked the concept and the drink tasted fabulously refreshing.

The service was as good as everything else, always helpful and constantly topping up my water before I could even ask for it. I am happy that I stumbled across 45 Jermyn St. and can only recommend it to anyone who likes good wine and good food. And also...

Stopped in for drinks after a day of sightseeing, and what a colossal disaster it turned out to be. The maître d' and the bar staff, if you can even call them that, greeted us with the warmth of an arctic blizzard, eyeing us as if we were the latest exhibit in a museum of oddities due to our choice of touring clothes. Our attempt to indulge in a semblance of luxury involved ordering a modestly-priced bottle of Champagne, but lo and behold, they decided to play a cruel game of wine roulette and handed us the cheapest swill available. Just when we thought they couldn't stoop any lower, they managed to bungle our order again, as if incompetence was their only true talent.

Opting for a valiant attempt at salvaging the evening, we ignored their glaring failures and attempted to enjoy ourselves. However, fate had other plans, as an innocent glass toppled over, spilling its contents. Did the staff come to our aid? Did they offer a simple napkin, a token of basic decency? Of course not. We were left to fend for ourselves, grappling with the mess as if we were some sort of amusement for their twisted pleasure.

The notion of receiving any additional service or even a mere suggestion of sustenance was clearly beyond their comprehension. Our pleas for attention fell on deaf ears, and the prospect of nourishment was as elusive as their concept of hospitality. When we finally had enough of this torturous ordeal and requested our bill, they had the audacity to confront us with a sneering inquiry about whether we would be deigning to split it. Apparently, the idea that we might both have the means to cover our expenses was a concept too radical for their small minds.

For seasoned travelers who have wandered the globe, this deplorable treatment was nothing short of a travesty. While we may not be swimming in billions, we certainly aren't scrounging for pennies either. Our decision is unanimous: we shall never darken their doorstep again. Moreover, we pledge to go out of our way to passionately dissuade anyone we encounter from subjecting themselves to such an abysmal encounter. To be subjected to such abhorrent behavior from those tasked with serving is an affront beyond words. Our libation loyalty now belongs solely to the Savoy, where at least the notion of...

We arrived for our much anticipated Saturday evening dinner at 45 Jermyn Street, to be told that BOTH of the signature main course dishes (being the spaghetti with lobster AND the beef Wellington) were unavailable due to demand earlier in the evening.

My starter of oysters were fresh and enjoyable (but arrived with dry toast and no butter). The crabmeat starter of my wife was nicely prepared and tasted fresh.. We had been asked whether we wanted some bread when we first arrived and we both said “yes” only to wait over 25 minutes, when we asked for an update and were then informed that the bread has “run out” and a new loaf was being baked for us (hence the delay!). When it arrived (after we had finished our starters)it was brought without butter and so we had to ask for this, only to be brought a pathetically small portion of butter (as though it was being rationed!).

My wife ordered a rib eye steak for her main course to be done “medium”, but it came defiantly “rare”. The floor manager knocked it off the bill, as he properly told us he would - but that is obviously not the point.

My fish main course of hake and mussels in a buttery champagne source was very pleasant.

We’d been told that the “mingle” champagne cocktails were “very enjoyable and popular”. We thought they were dreadful and tasted like the iron supplement medicine called “Metatone”. So perhaps they did us some good! But really not pleasant at all during a meal!

We shared an apricot honey and lemon soufflé which was lovely and succeeded in taking away the lingering taste of the mingle cocktails!

We’d been very much looking forward to our dinner at 45 Jermyn Street - but we were sadly disappointed.

We even witnessed one of the bar staff accidentally tipping a drink over a lady customer for which he profusely apologised - but, after she had left with her party, we heard loud “banter” between the bar staff exchanging “war stories” of previous incidents of customers being drenched! We also witnessed our waiter engaging in arm wrestling, at the bar counter, with one of the bar staff. We were deeply unimpressed by all of this, paid our hefty bill and left to go...