If you’re planning a romantic evening in the East End and want to avoid the sheer hipsteriness, the uniformly bearded, lumberjack-shirted, pulled-porkiness and craft-beeriness of it all (a statement that may well be out of date by the time you’ve crossed Spitalfields Market to reach the venue in question and this review published), we know just the place and time.
On the last Wednesday of every month and at no extra cost, 350 candles are lit in Andaz Liverpool Street’s 1901 restaurant. Unlike other parts of the hotel, this grade-II-listed former ballroom avoided bombing in WWII and still has its original stained-glass dome centrepiece (except for one piece – over pre-dinner cocktails or champagne, look closely and you’ll see a tiny glimmering shard is redder than the rest; this is the only section that isn’t original).
Choose from an equally elegant menu with starters that include divine Cornish pan-roasted scallops with smoked haddock and shrimp tortellini, samphire and a bisque emulsion, or try the dressed soft-shell Devon crab with cucumber, grapefruit and blackberry jelly. Main courses include head chef Hameed Farook’s speciality grilled Aberdeenshire beef fillet with potato cake and an oxtail spring roll, or go for the pan-fried Cornish halibut with a crab and brown shrimp risotto.
We finished with a plate of delightful petits fours and coffee, before reentering the busy world outside and diving into Liverpool Street Station, less than a minute’s walk away, rejuvenated and ready to face all the beards and man buns the modern world can throw at us.
Candlelight Evenings at Andaz Liverpool Street take place in the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant, 1901, every last Wednesday of the month. For information or to make a reservation, contact London.restres@andaz.com or call 0207 618 7000.
For more information about Andaz Liverpool Street, including rooms, events and offers, visit www.andazliverpoolstreet.com.
