Park at The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

The Park at Mandarin, to give it its shorter title, enjoys a stunning location overlooking Hyde Park, providing some of the best food to be had in London, from 7am to 11pm daily. Chef de cuisine, Chris Tombling, and his team, see to it that this is no idle claim, creating a healthy and delicious menu by using only the freshest and finest ingredients to create international and vegetarian dishes that attract much praise.

The restaurant was designed by Adam Tihany, the man who created Le Cirque in Manhattan. The Park has a cool and calm serenity, a good foil to the noise and bustle of London, using natural shades that complement emeralds and jades. The Tihany designed furniture is light and comfortable, the linen the finest that Italy can produce, and bespoke English china. Such elegance can have no hesitation in asking for smart casual code from its customers.

As might be expected such attention does not stop there, and accommodation at the Mandarin is renowned for its sheer comfort. English elegance combines with liberal luxury as waking to another day is softened by pure Irish linen and Frette cotton. Thoughtful touches such as the choice of six pillows demonstrate the care that goes into the three types of rooms, Courtyard, Knightsbridge and Hyde Park. Every conceivable modern convenience is included, making the rooms ideal for business or social use.

A breakfast menu does ample justice to that wonderful meal with which to start the day, and there is even a Japanese version, with grilled salmon, rolled omelette, Miso soup, pickled vegetables, dried seaweed, Tofu with ginger and greens, which, whilst it sounds tempting would not drag me away from the traditional full English, or a grilled smoked kipper, preferably from Caister.

The Park is at the heart of fashionable London, so it is hardly surprising that it is popular as a lunch venue, with a three course business lunch for £20 including a glass of wine amongst some of the best value in London. Should you miss that there is always afternoon tea between 3 and 6pm, giving a choice between the champagne versions or traditional afternoon tea. The choice of varieties of tea is magnificent. The return of afternoon tea to its proper place in the order of things has been one of the more cheerful trends in public perception of eating, and in some places afternoon tea dances are back with a vengeance, but not, I hasten to add, at The Park.

The à la carte is, of course, the piece de resistance, with a combination of international cuisine. Starters of Peking duck rolls with hoi sin sauce, French onion soup with toasted cheese croutons, pan friend crab cake and roasted lobster with grain mustard dressing, or steamed and fried dim sum with chilli, soy and lime sauce all sit together well and provide a dazzling choice.

This is reflected in the main courses where wood grilled veal escalope with crushed potatoes and shallots shares space with Singapore noodles, a delightful mix that invokes hoi sin beef, shrimps and barbeque pork with other Chinese ingredients to make one of the most attractive dishes of the Orient. Desserts stay European, so expect to find Eton Mess, apple crumble, and strawberry trifle amongst others.

The Website for The Park is well worth a visit, both to discover the full menu ranges and their facilties for business meetings and special occasions including private dining.