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Review of new Rockwell at Trafalgar Hotel.
Our grilled asparagus starter at Rockwell was light and delicious
With all the new London hotels popping up, it’s only natural that the older ones try and keep up. In the last month we’ve seen new restaurants open at MyHotel Chelsea, Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel and Radisson Edwardian Mercer Street, with several others giving their food offerings a revamp.
The latest London hotel to get a “nip tuck” is the Rockwell in the Trafalgar Hotel, also home to Vista – one of the best rooftop bars in London.
The restaurant is located in the basement of the hotel, which can often be a tricky space to work with; but The Trafalgar seem to have got it just right. The new interiors have brought the space back to life with bright lime leather armchairs, black velvet chairs and soft lighting.
The menu celebrates the hotel’s past by using a selection of the most popular dishes over the last decade (the hotel is 10 years old this year – one of a number of London hotels celebrating birthdays). We started with tomato soup which was thick and tasty, served with a basket of warm bread. Another starter of grilled asparagus with hallumi cheese, rocket and balsamic was perfectly presented and a great light option (pic above).
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Truffle Galore - Three Cheese and Truffle Ravioli
For mains the pork chop with sauteed apple and black pudding came with three lovely mini-apples on the side. Another main of three cheese and truffle ravioli served in a butter sauce (the most expensive at £21 - but as you can see in the photo above there was a fairly large amount of truffle shavings) was a rich, hearty and calorific dish.
We finished with a orange creme brulee and brandy snap unusually served set in a large dessert dish. Service was efficient and friendly and the house wine was good value too. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal.
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The drinks list has also been given a face-lift and now includes the calorie content of each item with a list of “The Sinful”, ”The Saintly” and ‘The Wickedly Good’. We’d recommend enjoying cocktails in the Rockwell Bar pre or post dinner when it is more relaxed, with soft music and a hip crowd.
This is definitely one hotel which has got better with time.
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Photo credits: Jules (LHI blogger).
Disclosure: Jules was a guest of The Rockwell.
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