The Axis restaurant is situated inside the One Aldwych hotel in central London. The Covent Garden location is enviable, offering huge potential for eating, drinking and making merry.
We ate there on a Friday night, the Garden was busy, the restaurant was not. For a weekend, we were surprised at the lack of clientele in the place. It brought down our expectations of our meal as it drained the energy out of you as you walked in. That’s a shame because the restaurant itself is nice.
We began with a glass of Moet rose champagne, which was light and fruity with a yeasty character. We selected the a la carte menu as it looked very promising.
Starters were crab cocktail and a chicken and vegetable soup. The crab cocktail was light, creamy and had plenty of meat. The chicken and vegetable soup came with dumplings and shortbreads, which was a nice touch. Both were light, flavoursome and a great way to begin a meal.
Main course was pigeon and a sirloin steak, with sides of wilted spinach and Lyonnaise potato. The roasted wood pigeon was served with wilted baby gem lettuce, peas and asparagus and served with a madeira sauce. The pigeon was beautifully gamey and brought a real smile to my face.
The sirloin steak was of the Dedham Vale variety and was served with bone marrow, glazed mushrooms, fondant potato and a shallot jus. The steak was perfect, the marrow had a lovely meaty flavour that was complemented by the earthiness of the mushrooms.
Dessert was sticky toffee pudding and a glacee. The sticky toffee pudding was a triumph. It was sweet, tasted of “real” toffee and was served warm. The glacee was served frozen and was a light, tart dessert that left us wanting more. The starkness of it contradicted the homeliness of the sticky toffee pudding in a surprising way.
The service we received was excellent. It was fast and efficient but unrushed. The waiting staff smiled and seemed happy in their work. The food was great. The only negative is the lacklustre atmosphere. It marred the experience somewhat and detracted from what should have been a great night.
The Bill: £65 per head
