REVIEW: Leicester House, Leicester Street, Soho

In case you’re a little behind with the news, the famous St John Hotel off Leicester Square is out and in its places is a new French-Vietnamese restaurant (their words not mine), Leicester House. The site seems to have been doomed from the day it first came to life and changed through more hands than it should have in the past few years. Location can’t be blamed either, because after all – it’s slap bang in the middle of central London. There is a light at the end of this dark and gloomy tunnel however, with the arrival of the new Leicester House restaurant. This transformed Georgian townhouse is looking stunning right now décor wise, I can’t get enough of its sumptuous décor, plush leather chairs and shades of crisp Farrow & Ball colours splashed across the walls. The food is just as good too – but its origins need a little homing in to help this place go further on the culinary scene.

I actually had a hard time scoring this restaurant. I just couldn’t make up my mind about it because the food just wasn’t very French-Vietnamese as the restaurant suggests, but then I thought to myself I’m not really reviewing what they tell me  – I’m critiquing the actual food no matter where it comes from. The menu is small, quality led and made for sharing here. A cocktail or two (bucket in my case) got us in the mood, while the food started to arrive and quickly put us on into a mouth-watering induced coma. A smooth liver pate was absolutely stunning – the melt in your mouth kind, with a side of refreshing slaw and epic sourdough. I do love a good bread. One of my favourite dishes here at Leicester House was these beautiful smoked ribs with kaffir lime and coriander. Every bit as smoky and lime infused as the menu suggests, with the meat literally falling off the bone the minute my teeth got anywhere near these beauties.

A side of fresh pickles was a nice enough affair, but an even better one was the seared scallops with seashore vegetables, mirin, herbs and a stunning bone broth – in fact the broth was faultless. When ordering food here at Leicester House this dish has to be first upon your list. Steamed buns were stuffed with crispy pork belly and pickled cucumber – thought while they were pleasant perhaps played it a little too safe as the flavours were rather muted for what is normally something quite potent in flavour. Give me a plate full of those gorgeous scallops and I’ll make sure I never leave this place.

Things continued with a delicious approach, going strong with the blackened squid, salt, pepper, lime, chilli and mountains of samphire. The squid was expertly cooked and very tender, heavily blackened as promised and every bit as flavoursome. All that crunchy samphire soaked up the juices from the plate, bursting in the mouth with each bite. Cod XO sauce and BBQ’d lime was another very well executed dish – perhaps the flavours were again a little more muted than I’d hoped but the flakiness of the fish was more than enough to keep me suitably satisfied. A slaw of green papaya, daikon and cashew was probably one of the best slaws I’ve eaten – but not at all similar to the variant we’re all so used too seeing everywhere these days – it’s simply just better in every way.

Desserts here at Leicester House were easily one of the highlights for me, full of temptation, calories and flavour. The beignets stuffed with vanilla cream and topped with nibbed cocoa and coconut were dare I say it – perfect. Little daintys so good they should be sold across the food markets of London, rivalling those of Breast Ahead Bakery. Even better still was the cappuccino coffee cup, filled with marscapone cream and who knows what else – either way it didn’t really matter because it didn’t stick around very long for inspection. Dessert wise I think this dish was probably one of everyone’s favourite – another one to add high on you list.

Leicester House was such a lovely find. The beauty of it was not only the food, but the décor and its location – providing a retreat from the tourist trap of Leicester Square and chaotic Chinatown, but still far enough out on the edge of Soho. This new restaurant has had mixed press since the day it opened, but mostly its come down to people instantly comparing the food here to Vietnamese-French cuisine. Go into to this restaurant and think eclectic, fusion and European – you’ll have no complaints. Go in looking for Vietnamese food and you may be a little bit disappointment. Simply put – just go for the food, you’re going to love it.

8/10