Hix At The Albemarle

For me, English food has always been about fish fingers, baked beans, mash and sausages. The stuff of legendary school dinners - which were extremely exotic to a seven year old child who always had to eat Vietnamese food, like bo kho or fried fish at home! I loved school dinners and by any means possible, I'd put my hands up for a trip to the canteen just for an unbeatable lunch! If I crave the simplicity of "English" food, there is always a box of fish fingers in the freezer and a tin of baked beans in the cupboard.

I was therefore delighted to be invited to eat at Hix At The Albemarle, at Browns Hotel in Mayfair, to eat real English food. Mark Hix is an award winning, celebrated (celebrity) chef, restauranteur and author of many cook books including, British Seasonal Food and British Regional Food, reflecting his interest in traditional, local and sustainable produce. He also writes a regular column on food for The Independent newspaper.

We were welcomed with champagne and a really nice bottle of wine (sorry - I forgot what they were).

Indeed it was a "proper" place to eat "proper" food whilst being very "proper."

The menu was extensive and it took us a while to digest around a round table with very formal waiters waiting for us. The dinning room at Browns is very dignified. It was a Tuesday night, so the place was rather empty and it was very quiet. The room juxtaposed with contemporary British art, including a neon light piece by Tracey Emin but there wasn't any background music which meant we felt like we had to be very grown up and behave ourselves (we do usually) and be very quiet.

As we decided and received our food, it was lovely; cooked very well and was very appetizing. I had the quail for starter and then pan fried lemon sole with mash (got to have mash). The Skinny Bib chose in season asparagus with breaded eggs and scallops, while Hungry In London had an asparagus salad and then the cod. We all shared the apple crumble with custard and a plate of cheese (which were stalked and squashed together quite unusually) and biscuits and a fine bottle of dessert wine.

We met a happy, giggly old English gentleman outside Browns after dinner who said he'd been eating there since 1982! He lives in Jersey and visits especially for the food - because it is "reliable English food." And I can imagine he'd be the grandfather of a lover whom I'd had to meet for dinner and charm him with my orient origins and be a little greedy over the vanilla custard. 

Thank you to The Communications Store who invited us. We did not pay for this lovely meal.

Hix At The Albemarle

Browns Hotel 

33 Albemarle Street

London, W1S 4BP

www.thealbemarlerestaurant.com/

For a full review of the food/ restaurant visit Hungry In London here