Criterion

224 Piccadilly, London

Located in Piccadilly Circus since 1874, this is a restaurant that’s managed to stand the test of time…

‘Good restaurant’ and ‘at Piccadilly Circus’ aren’t normally seen in the same sentence. When said restaurant – and Criterion is a good one – has also been running, albeit in various guises, since 1874, then it really is worth paying attention to. Which, oddly enough, is what not enough Londoners seem to do; while the crowds scuttle by in their rush to pose outside Piccadilly’s fountain or hit the Regent Street shops, on many evenings Criterion’s opulent interior remains blissfully tranquil. Like a mini-oasis at the city’s frenzied heart, within its walls, those that bother to look find a decadent escape.

The gleaming gold-gilded original ceiling is undeniably Criterion’s flashiest, and most appealing, architectural attribute, and it has seen its fair share over the years – which is befitting of a restaurant built as part of a theatre complex (the equally elaborate, neo-Byzantine Criterion Theatre still functions below). Suffragettes met here to establish the Actresses Franchise League; Bertrand Russell, Edgar Wallace and other notable intellectuals and writers of the 1920s chose it for regular lunches. Crime fans everywhere will be particularly enthused to learn that the long, gleaming bar which graces the restaurant’s front area was the very spot at which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle set the first meeting between Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

But as spectacular as the mirror-bedecked interior and the fascinating history might be, you’re here because you’re hungry, and in that regard Criterion delivers. The menu is primarily British-French, meaning you get the option of a good foie gras and chicken liver parfait with strawberry dressing or else home-smoked salmon with horseradish mousse. Isle of Mull king scallops were perfectly cooked, and served with avocado mousse, spicy chorizo and baby courgette made for a solid, tasty starter. Poached lobster claws, in a bed of vodka-spiked soup, sounded a bit odd – but in fact worked well. As for the mains, a flavourful bouillabaisse was filled with large chunks of wild salmon, cod, mussels, scallops and clams; from the grill, a rump steak was nicely seared. To finish, nothing prepares you more to re-enter the hubbub of London than the Malva pudding – dense, spiced and sweet – this is as much of a classic as the Criterion itself. AEM.