We are going out with S a couple of days before his birthday. B's suggested we head to The Arlington, because she'd read about it in the paper. It's on the site of Le Caprice, just round the corner from the Ritz, and is another one in the Jeremy King stable (The Ivy, Wolseley etc). Clearly the place to be seen.
The decor is all very black and white, gleaming counters, celeb photos (when we asked where the ladies was we were told "turn left at Michael Caine"). It's quite roomy, tables placed well apart, and has the nice gentle hum of people enjoying themselves. No celebs actually present though.
There's quite an extensive wine list as you might expect, with lots of choice in the £50-£70 range. But we decide we'll stick with the Grillo, the cheapest on the list at £36 - it's perfectly fine.
S decides to start with a tomato and basil galette. This comes as a big splodge, looking rather like a steak tartare. He's very pleased with it, and the accompanying bread. B has a crispy duck salad, which is quite a large portion, with good flavoured duck with plenty of cashews and zingy watercress. My bang bang chicken is good too - the peanut sauce has a good kick but doesn't drown the good, moist chicken. Plenty of peanuts in what is effectively a satay sauce.
S's main is loin of tuna with spiced lentils. The tuna is cooked just right and the lentils apparently quite spicy. B settles for stonebass ceviche - really another starter, but apparently very rich and a good size. This comes with avocado and has a chilli kick. They each order a rocket and parmesan salad as a side dish. My calf's liver is another large portion - 5 or 6 slices of liver, with a few slices of very crisp bacon and a few piles of mash. There is apparently a "sauce diable", but though it was good, I couldn't notice anything devilish.
We decide we will go for dessert. S has the elderflower jelly with summer fruits which is fairly uninteresting. B and I share a "hokey pokey" - honeycomb with ice cream and chocolate sauce - which is good fun.
There have been lots of staff kicking around so service has been good, with glasses re-filled without fail. We had a second bottle of wine and some sparkling water, taking the bill to £243 - onto which they added a whacking 15% service, taking it up to £280. Still less than £100 a head, so for a classy place pretty fair.
