Sotheby's Cafe

What a delightful surprise. This beautiful restaurant is a hidden gem in the centre of London that we wouldn’t have stumbled across were it not for visiting Sotheby’s to view the Freddie Mercury exhibition. It’s currently decorated in a Freddie theme of turquoise and orange so pretty. White linen tablecloths and silver cutlery, we assumed it was purely for a lunch/dinner but my eye spotted delicious looking cakes and on enquiring we were welcomed in for a coffee and chose Freddie’s favourite cherry and almond cake to accompany it. The service from the start was relaxed, efficient and above all friendly. Our waitress Janine was the star of the show she was so cheerful and smiling and made us feel right at home. Sometimes the offhandedness of waiting staff can spoil such an experience. This was the complete opposite. From the moment she showed us to our seats we felt thoroughly spoilt. Nothing was too much trouble and we enjoyed a lovely chat. Coffee and cake were delicious and all the better for being served in white bone china and with a smile. Thanks Janine, you made our day.

Went for lunch after the Freddy Mercury Exhibition. No booking required, we were shown our table straight away. Very small restaurant, tables very close by. The decor was a lovely Japanese theme. We had mixed reviews of the food. We arrived just after the table next to us. We were provided with bread, but our neighbour had to ask for theirs. The starters were good; can't go much wrong with a prawn cocktail, therefore nothing special about that, but the crab on toast was very tasty. The lamb was beautifully cooked, but disappointingly the pork wonton was almost inedible, as it was in a sea of very salty sauce, so much so I had to soak the wontons with the bread to get rid of the sauce. Would have been better if the sauce was served separately so we can add to taste. The irony was, the waitress has asked if I wanted a spoon for the sauce!! I mentioned to the waitress at the end about the salty sauce, when asked how everything was, she said she will mention it to the chef. Also noted our neighbour had to ask for their fries twice, which eventually arrived near the end of their meal.

There are not many places where you can drop in for a light lunch and have white table cloths, or which are so refreshingly cool on a bakingly hot day. The lobster club sandwich is rightly legendary, but a sandwich felt like a heavy option in a heatwave, so I ordered what was described as a “classic Caesar salad . It wasn’t. There were some perfectly good leaves, a well cooked hard boiled egg with the yolk just slightly soft in the middle, a very good dressing and some small crispy bits which tasted like baby pork scratchings. Very nice pork scratchings, but even so… I asked about the absence of anchovies and chicken. The answer was that the chicken came in the form of crispy chicken skin (the “pork scratchings” and the anchovies were in the dressing. All very clever, but the absence of something more substantial in the bowl than a boiled egg made it feel more like a side salad than a meal. And I can boil a perfect egg myself.

Lovely exhibition of tiaras stunning! Great staff, kept things moving without being bossy. After all that spectacle, just had to eat. Amazing lobster club sandwich. Delicious sea bass. Huge chocolate marble cake bliss.

The Sothebysxrestaurant is great value. It is a coxy atmosphere and even an oasis of peace if uou are shopping in the westend. AND they have Meantime beer.