Restaurant at the Bonham

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• Average price 2 courses:
   £13.50 (set lunch)
   £24 (evening meal)
• House wine: £14.50 per bottle

• High point: An imaginative menu which stimulates, but doesn't overwhelm
• Low point: Overly styled lounge is not inviting for a post-dinner coffee
• Food served: Mon-Sat noon-2.30pm, 6.30-10pm; Sun 12.30-3pm, 6.30-10pm
• Private dining: Up to 25 covers
• No. overnight rooms: 48
• Open since: 1998
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs, Wheelchair access

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

This hotel restaurant is situated in an elegant, late 19th century townhouse in a quiet West End residential crescent and was undergoing refurbishment at the time of going to press. But the new dark patterned wallpaper may give a more intimate feel to the big-windowed, longitudinal dining room. French chef Michel Bouyer's menu changes every couple of months and reflects the seasonal produce of not just Scotland, but beyond with a perfectly cooked starter of fresh white truffle asparagus risotto. The Scottish classic combo of hand-dived scallops and Stornoway black pudding is given a French makeover with a Puy lentil salad which adds a piquancy and earthiness to the rich twosome. Duck breast served with a plum poached in ginger, star anise and black pepper is such an exciting blend of flavours that the Arran mustard mash seems to intrude on the Eastern magic. Ravioli with butternut squash and crushed amaretti biscuits is a beautiful combination. Caramel soufflé is not the intense caramel experience one might have expected, but the truffle honey crème brûlée is the perfect ratio of intense truffle-flavoured warm custard to brûlée topping which shatters with just one tap of the spoon.