It’s odd. You could draw a line lengthways down the dining room of Monmouth Kitchen and make two totally different restaurants. It’s set on the ground floor of Covent Garden’s Radisson Blu Hotel, which doesn’t exactly scream hipster, but sit looking out of the wide, industrial-chic windows onto cobbled Monmouth Street and it feels a little like you’re in a trendy café in Shoreditch. Swivel around 180 degrees, though, and you’re taken firmly back to hotel-land: City-type boys in shirt-sleeves, lounge music and just a bit too much air conditioning.
They’ve even split the menu in half for you: one side, Italian, the other Peruvian. Not a classic combo, but things looked up with the arrival of the first plate. Warm white ragu arancini had a perfect melting mozzarella centre, a surprisingly decent foil for the fiery chicken tacos that followed. Then things went downhill: a sea bass ceviche tasted like it had been marinated in a mixture of Jif lemon juice and sweet ’n’ sour Dip Dab. The quality of the fish was good though, and the service exemplary. All in all, it’s not a bad spot; just avoid that ceviche and insist on the seat facing the window.