Review of 'Wiltons'

Wiltons (est 1742) is a small, elegant restaurant located a short distance from the Ritz, one street south of Piccadilly. It offers fine dining traditional British options focused around seafood and game. Service is wonderful and the interior is warm and welcoming. I visited for an early Christmas dinner the other day with three others. The entire restaurant is quite small seating perhaps 100 at a stretch. We were in a room to the right of the main room which is dominated by the bar near the entrance.

Interior

The menu is simply laid out with options that are both simple but very luxurious. There is a set menu with 2 courses for £35 or 3 for £45 but we instead chose from the a la carte to be able to sample more of the menu. There is also a “carving trolley” option after 7 pm which has different options each day of the week (“Rack of free range Blythburgh pork, crackling and apple sauce” on Tuesdays, when we visited). The seafood options were found in “Oysters”, “Caviar”, “Crustacea & Molluscs”, “Smoked Fish”, and “Fish & Shellfish” sections while others included “Meat & Game”, “Omelettes” and “Vegetarian” as well as the obligatory “Appetizers” and “Desserts”. The drink menu is, as you might example, quite exhaustive and includes reasonable non-alcoholic options (not only soft drinks but non alcoholic cocktails if you want something a bit different).

For myself, I started with the “Cold or warm potted shrimps” (£14) which I requested served cold. The shrimps in their butter were firm and full of flavour served with delicious toast.

Potted Shrimps

My main was the “Roasted pheasant with sprouts and bacon” which was slightly disappointing with the rather small portion size but the pheasant was full of flavour, perfectly cooked (pink) and tender.

Pheasant

My dessert was my favourite part of my meal: “70% Amedei chocolate fondant, peanut and caramel” (£12). A delicious mix of salty and sweet with a truly indulgent chocolate fondant that had only the thinnest firm exterior with the interior oozing gently out over the plate after diving in. The peanuts and caramel perfectly balanced the incredible richness of the chocolate.

Chocolate Fondant

If you visit, be sure to have a look around the place particularly the wonderful toilets in the basement with (in the gents) it's original “Harry the Lobster” cartoons (the mascot of the restaurant).

Harry the Lobster

It was about £100 for each of us with the bill arriving already including a 12.5% service charge, which for three courses including only a couple of drinks, was a bit pricey but not unbelievable. We could have saved more money by using the set menu (three choices per course) but much preferred being able to chose from the full menu instead…The staff were wonderfully friendly though they did miss a bottle of menu from our eventual bill (but graciously added it when it was pointed out!).

Was it spectacular? No. Was it good tasting? Absolutely. Was it find dining? Undoubtedly.

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2019-12-17


Cuisine: American/British

Address: 55 Jermyn St, St. James's, London SW1Y 6LX ENGLAND

Public Transport: TUBE Piccadilly Circus TUBE Green Park

Location: London (England) - Piccadilly Circus

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Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7629 9955

URL: https://wiltons.co.uk/