We found Clare Smyth's new restaurant almost by accident - and we're glad we did! Unlike Core, Cornucopia is a more casual dining restaurant (but with plenty of fine dining touches). Its dishes are based off of traditional British comfort foods, but elevated. I love Core but I rarely have the stamina or the money for their tasting menus, so I was interested to try this à la carte menu for lunch.
The good:
Service is amazing. I gathered many of the wait and managerial staff were brought over from Core, so I wasn't surprised at the professionalism.
Food
We ordered a couple snacks (bite sized "amuse bouches") to start: the fried chicken and the olives. Both were good. I marginally preferred the olives (which arrived as two olives making it easier to share - a single order of chicken is just one bite of chicken.)
Entrees: we ordered the mushroom pie and the toad in the hole. The mushroom pie had a beautiful crust and very juicy mushrooms with list of creamy umami. The toad in the hole was very flavorful. My husband thought it was perhaps a touch too salty and noted a gelatinish skin on the sauce he found unattractive (we are nitpicking here). I liked the bites I had of the toad dish and found it marginally more flavorful than the mushroom (but I also like salt).
Potatoes- you can order different potatoes as sides off the restaurant's special potato menu. Both of the potato dishes that we ordered were excellent - the croquettes (very airy) and the fondant (pictured).
Dessert: we took a flier on the soft serve ice cream dessert with bee pollen precisely because it sounded like an unusual choice for the menu. It made for a nice, lighter dessert with interesting texture. The bee pollen sometimes had a kind of bitterness to it that I wasn't sure I loved, but I didn't hate it either. If I'd had more of an appetite, I'd have loved to try some of the other desserts on the menu.
Decor - decor is similar to Core in that it's an elegant white-walled setting upstairs (downstairs had what looked like a wood-paneled private dining room). Bathrooms were predictably lovely, though located down a staircase. (We didn't worry about accessibility on our trip, and I didn't think to ask.)
Potential Negatives
This space is louder than Core. Tables are closer together and there were times when the service was turning over that it became hard to hear each other over the table.
We were seated next to a couple with a well-behaved dog. I'm a dog person myself, and we had no issues - but if you have allergies it might be good to let them know that upfront.
Overall a great dining experience and we'll be back. I also think it's a good place to bring a London newcomer to for an elevated meal in a more relaxed setting than Core. read more