I had arranged to meet a friend at Central & Co, a brasserie in Great Marlborough Street just off London’s Regent Street. I had not been there before and wasn’t sure quite where it was but much to my delight even from a distance I could see its discreet but clean-cut lettered sign.
It was a warm day and people were sitting outside having lunch; pavement to ceiling glass doors opened onto a fairly long, narrow room. Jackie was already ensconced at a table – a book and glass in front of her. A member of staff had made straight to the door to greet me as I walked through and Jackie confirmed that that had happened to her too ‘friendly and welcoming’ were her words. We were impressed.
We were impressed with the surroundings too. Very contemporary with stylish art deco lighting, mirrored walls and marble tables, yet welcoming and not intimidating; the tables casually but nicely set with tumblers, tea-towel style napkins and gleaming cutlery. There was a lively, buzzy atmosphere to the restaurant, but it was a bit noisy especially with people trying to talk over the top of the rather too loud music. Though when we asked if it could be turned down a notch, it was, and charmingly done too.
The menu is set out in categories Small Plates, Soups & Salads and Mains. Side dishes are extra, which would put the cost of the meal up by £3.50 for each dish. Small Plates start at £4.50 each; Mains from £9.50 to £17.50.
We chose a selection of Small Plates, and very good they were. The wines were delicious and an interesting wine list too – a number of them by the glass, which is what we did so we could experiment. I spotted that Central & Co offer one of my favourite aperitifs – an Aperol Spritz, next visit! Neither of us should have had dessert, but we were having a girls’ day out, so went for an Eton Mess each (we would both have preferred larger chunks of meringue that would have held their texture and crunch better against the soft cream, but it was lovely and fruity).
We played the ‘awards-out-of-10’ game. For ambience we awarded Central & Co 9/10, for wine 9/10, for food 8/10 but for welcome and service 10/10 we would have given Piotr (Peter) and Michalina an 11/10 if we could – they were just delightful, helpful, efficient and friendly, just perfect.
Toilets are downstairs as is & Co – Central’s spirit bar. The bar menu offers a fine selection of spirits, their various tastes and attributes as lovingly described as those on any vintage wine list, though, alas, all the spirits are of unnamed varieties. We would have wanted to know what we were actually drinking.
Don’t feel you have to have a meal at Central & Co; pop in for breakfast – it opens at 8am, morning coffee, or an afternoon cup of tea. We really liked it and you’ll certainly see us in there again choosing our selection of Small Plates and arguing about which glass of wine will go with them.
22 Great Marlborough St. London,W1F 7HU. Tel: 0207 437 4106. www.centralandco.com
F.T.