Hotel / Restaurant ReviewThe Goring Hotel

By Henry Hopwood Phillips

Henry Hopwood Phillips goes to see if The Goring retains its reputation for excellence under its new chef, Shay Cooper...

It’s quite clear why the royals have loved the Goring ever since it frst opened in 1910.

Like royalty, it’s still a family-run business and like the royals it’s very British on the outside and German on the in.

Launched by a Saxon, Otto Goring, and designed by John Evelyn Trollope, the hotel with its exaggerated symmetry and central projection is a good example of Edwardian baroque; it’s also a very good example of what to do to keep your fve stars for over a century.

It’s a four minute skateboard from Buckingham Palace, so it’s necessarily become a bit of a local for every Windsor from the Queen Mother to the Duchess of Cambridge.

The dining room is an ensemble of whites, golds and beiges in the grand dining tradition. Each plush fabric on display, from the tablecloths to the curtains, could easily buffet the impact of a German shell (don’t mention the war).

It’s all the work of Viscount Linley, the Queen’s nephew, who tarted the place up a few years ago. And it is all in good taste.

The only parts that jar are the Swarovski chandeliers that resemble the lights garden centres lasso around their sheds to bully them into the Christmas spirit.

I choose the Oeufs Drumkilbo to start because, according to the waiter, the Queen’s Mother said I should.

It’s a mélange of seafood and boiled egg, bounded by a tumbler and topped with gelée. It looks like the garden of a goldfsh bowl might if you left it by a window in this heat for too long.

Fortunately for this socially-mobile prawn cocktail, it is a delicious jumble. Tempted by the trolley theatre (only club-land and Simpsons-in-The-Strand really indulge in the silver domes any more) doing the rounds, I decide against the beef wellington, rounding in on the roast Cornish cod, broad beans, cockles, asparagus, and Iberico ham instead.

This is a master class in getting the fnest ingredients and making them do the running. The meat leaves a happy memory imprinted on a fsh whose size belies its favour.

The service begins in a semi-intrusive manner (reducing my conversation to a comedy of staccato notes) but hits a perfect rhythm as the room flls up.

As the glasses fll, the atmosphere becomes noticeably more relaxed too. So laissez-faire in fact that one can perhaps imagine (in the mind’s eye of course) Jeremy Goring, the current owner, dancing on tabletops in a moment of wild abandon.

Talking of drink, we plump for a 2006 Margaux by Chateau Rauzan-Segla. The producers have had a mixed history, rocketing to fame in nineteenth century before plummeting in the 1970s.

Now in the safe hands of Chanel, it’s restoring itself to preeminence. This bottle is nowhere near as good as the legendary 2005 but still bursts with intense red currant fruits on a base of darker earthier notes. At £80 this is a steal too.

I am not a dessert man. And not even this John Bull riot of crumbles, cheeses, puddings and custard can tempt me.

Instead I cleanse the palate with a splodge of lemon sorbet and let a single shot of espresso do the rest. Dark, rich and nutty, I leave remembering why the Goring never throws away the culinary rule book: because it is the rulebook – and like most rulebooks, it is there for a reason.

Built by Jeremy Goring’s great-grandfather Otto in 1910, The Goring has been lovingly run by the Goring family since its inception. A visionary, Otto Goring saw great promise in a plot of land situated at the Buckingham Palace end of what today is known as Beeston

Place. After removing a public house and several cottages, the path was laid clear for the last grand hotel of the Edwardian era –The Goring.

Opened on the 2nd March 1910 this historic hotel was fnally complete, along with en suite facilities and central heating in each and every bedroom – widely believed to be a world frst.

Today, The Goring remains a favourite address and hidden gem for anyone seeking out that impeccably English luxury hotel in the centre of London.

Through four generations of the Goring family, the hotel has come to deliver some of the fnest personal service in the world.

This world class guest experience is set against the elegant backdrop of the rest of the hotel. From the Linley designed Dining Room celebrating the very best of British cuisine, to the artistry of the hand-woven Gainsborough Silks which adorn the walls so gracefully, The Goring is a wonder to behold. The inside of the hotel is beautifully enhanced by The Goring Gardens – one of the largest private gardens in the capital.

The Gardens, as well as the Lounge Bar, provide guests with the perfect setting to enjoy the award-winning afternoon tea and The Goring is proud to be leading the way in restoring this wonderfully English pastime to popularity once again.

With only 69 luxurious suites and rooms, The Goring is affectionately known as a “Baby Grand”.

It is the fnest of traditional hotels in the perfect location, but with the most intimate of atmospheres and personalised attention.

The Goring 15 Beeston Place London SW1W 0JW Phone: 020 7396 9000 thegoring.com