B&H Garden room, a light and bright restaurant and bar on the tenth floor of the Assembly Hotel in Leicester Square, is another spot from hospitality maestros Bourne & Hollingsworth. A sky-high, greenery-laden space with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on to London’s stunning cityscape, it’s a nice place to visit on a sunny day, or pre-theatre. After all, it’s always fun to appreciate the city and spy on workers inside The Shard.
The small-ish space is divided into two sections. One is casual and bar-like with high tables and lounges, then there’s a sit-down space around the corner for proper dining. But rather than dinner, this place is best for drinks and nibbles. We loved the mezze plate, with its fresh houmous, tangy olives and spongy pitta bread, and a light burrata salad starter with beetroot and crunchy hazelnuts. The rest of the food wasn’t awful, but it was pricy (mains were all around £25 each) and pretty ordinary. I’m not in a hurry to tell my friends about the thick slab of soft cod served with an out-of-place poached egg and hollandaise, neither the ordinary crispy kale salad with roasted veg.
So go to Garden Room if you like a view, but don’t make a beeline there for the food. If you take the elevator back down to the ground floor, Chinatown is right on your doorstep. You can appreciate lovely London from up top, then go back down and dig into the real, bustling thing.