Located in Westminster, Caxton Grill is the flagship restaurant at the glamorous St. Ermin’s Hotel and is looked after by head chef Alex Boyd who hailed from The Mansion House, cooking regularly for the British Royal Family. I’ve visited this restaurant once recently when Adam Handling was in the kitchens and whilst it was great then, it’s still just as good now. Focusing on fresh, locally sourced produce where possible – most of which coming from the hotels very own rooftop garden!
We started our evening with a nice glass of chilled Champagne and some rather lovely breads. Freshly baked olive and thickly sliced rosemary bread. All served with some deliciously whipped herb butter.
First dish out from the kitchen and one of my absolute favourites here was this beautiful, glossy cured seabass with lemon purée, cucumber, kohlrabi & parsley. It was so fresh, zesty, full of textures and it looked like a work of art on the plate with all that vivid parsley oil and creamy dollops of lemon purée.
One dish I always love to order on a menu (even if it means I’m doubling up on beef for starter and main) is some quality beef carpaccio. Here they use a fillet cut, resulting in some juicy slivers and topped with artichoke, garlic & anchovy dressing, pickled onion & garden leaves (from the roof). It could have been a touch bigger portion wise if being extra picky, but the flavour was excellent and that beef was stunning.
Star dish here at Caxton Grill was this piece of Cornish whole lemon sole. Size wise it was very generous, as was the flavour and the precise cooking of it on the grill. Finished with nothing but a touch of butter, this dish is all about the fish and it was a beautiful piece. A bargain priced at just £24 too. Pair it with a side of the tomato & basil salad with tomatoes sourced from their roof garden.
I’ve had so many bad pieces of steak recently that my obsession with ordering it in just about every restaurant has come to a halt. Though I’m so glad we decided to change that on this occasion because I honestly thought this piece of 35-day dry-aged British Aberdeen Angus rib-eye was stunning. You could tell it was of the finest quality, excellently sourced, tender all the way through and with a lovely smokey streak from the grill running all the way through it.
For dessert, we tucked into two. First was the lemon parfait with saffron ice cream, orange and rose which being mostly frozen – we tucked into quickly. A very nice dish, but for me there was just a touch too much citrus and sugar on the plate. Better and actually stunning was the cream cheese mousse with raspberry ice cream, basil and oats. Lots of textures, lots of colours and incredibly satisfying. The perfect way to end our meal.
Juicy steaks, expertly cooked fish, decadent desserts and a roof garden to source as many fresh ingredients as possible – there’s a lot to love here at Caxton Grill. Perhaps the restaurant itself could do with a little refresh in the next year or so, but as hotel restaurants go – it’s a very solid offering and I’m already itching to come back and stay for the full St. Ermin’s Hotel experience. Would we come back? Absolutely!
For any dessert fans (like me) then you’ll be glad to know that for one evening on Thursday 19th September, the St Ermin’s Hotel will be offering a 7-course pop-up dessert menu with matched cocktails or wines, starting from just £40 per person. You can find out more HERE. If you can’t make it, keep an eye on the hotels website and social media as this ever popular pop-up will no doubt be coming back soon!
NB: My meal was complimentary. All views are as always, my own. My views are not influenced by anyone other than my own palate and slightly poor eyesight.
