Hide (*) – London

Yesterday my partner and I went to brunch at Hide for my birthday. It was my first time having a Michelin starred breakfast so I wanted to share my thoughts on how it went.

THE GOOD

The restaurant is absolutely gorgeous. The exterior walls are nearly all glass and it offers sweeping views of Green Park and surrounding Mayfair. The interior decor is one of my favourites I’ve experienced in London. Warm woods, soft fabrics and glass partitions fill the space. Very comfortable chairs and tables made with quality materials. The space feels spacious and airy while keeping a cozy treehouse-like atmosphere. And the pièce de résistance is the spectacular curved wooden spiral staircase that anchors the centre of the restaurant.

The food is stunning. I came in expecting to feel underwhelmed at a posh-brunch, but the flavours were expertly crafted and executed. You could tell that each ingrediant was chosen with care and nothing on the plate felt out of place or done without reason. The lobster benedict in particular was exquisite. Generous portions of lobster tail with a perfect hollandaise sauce, and just the right amount of caviar to add a touch of umami to the dish.

The pastries were some of the best I’ve ever had. Simple well-baked bread is a dying art at restaurants and Hide definitely delivers. It puts Cedric Grolet’s patisserie up the road at the Berkeley to shame.

THE BAD

The space, while pleasing to the eye, has a very odd layout. It’s a large restaurant, however certain areas have been crammed with tables while other areas have large underutilised dead spaces.

Our table was wierdly floating in the middle of a walkway so we had one occupied table very close on one side (so close we felt like we were part of their conversation). And on the other side we had waitstaff constantly brushing past us because there wasn’t really enough room to walk by. In hindsight we should have asked to move from the start – especially because there was an out of the way table adjacent to ours that was never filled during our seating.

The service itself was…not good. Once we’d been sat, it took 15 mins for our waitress to come acknowledge us and bring the menu. She seemed extremely uninterested, gave us no explanation of the menu, no smile, and no warm greeting. When we did finally order after another 15 min wait, we ordered our food and drinks at the same time. For my flat white, I specifically asked for oat milk but it came with cow’s milk so I had to send it back. We had also ordered two mimosas, yet they somehow failed to arrive until AFTER our food. It took asking three different staff for them to finally sort it out.

After we got our food and drinks they did apologise for the issues and they also took the drinks off the bill and gave us an extra pastry on the house. But unfrotunately the damage had been done. To add insult to injury, once we had finished and our plates cleared, it took another 10 mins of quietly being ignored at our table before we gave up and flagged a random staff member so we could pay and leave. Our waitress nowhere to be seen.

CONCLUSION

I really wanted to love Hide and the food definitely stands out. Making brakfast a standout meal is a tall order but the chefs definitely delivered across the board. The dishes are style WITH substance. Likewise, the interior space is stunning and has been designed with quailty and care. And the views over Green Park are some of the best I’ve seen in London.

Unfortunately, the horrible service and awkward seating left us pretty displeased and close to us asking to remove the service charge from the bill (which I’ve only ever done once before). Ultimately the food is spectacular but I won’t be returning again.