The most mentioned words on restaurant websites are probably “finest seasonal ingredients”. These often abused words have little meaning these days. Luckily my faith has been restored with a recent visit to the Indigo restaurant at One Aldwych hotel.
If you are a theatre lover, this is the ideal restaurant for pre or post-theatre dining, being in close proximity to at least 20 theatres; as well as being a stone’s throw from the shopping area of Covent Garden.
Whilst the restaurant’s decor is inoffensively clean, the enjoyable part is getting a table near the viewing balcony and observing the action from the lobby bar or just admiring the incredible floral decorations.
The star of the show is undoubtedly the immaculately thought out menu. The first surprise is executive chef Dominic Teague has constructed a menu that is gluten and dairy-free without making a fuss of it and not compromising on the taste and quality of the dishes. This is the ideal place to invite your friends with picky dietary requirements.
A closer inspection of their menu will indicate this isn’t standard hotel fare. Rarely would you see 3 types of seafood on the same plate for as starter: hand-picked Dorset crab, potted shrimp and pickled mackerel. The chef lets the freshness of the ingredients speak for themselves and you will believe 100% when they say it’s been delivered from the South coast morning catch straight to the kitchen door that very same morning by leading supplier, Murray’s fresh fish.
I had never heard of Rhug estate prior to visiting Indigo, but now it’s a quality-assured name that I would actively seek out. Their lamb rump tasted as tender and succulent as it looks from the photo below. It was just the right side of pink and the combination with samphire, smoked aubergine, capers and anchovy made for a divine combination.
Reviewers often write about desserts as an afterthought (including myself). However, their excellent list of desserts is definitely worth saving space for: they have a very decadent Amedei chocolate mousse and a seasonal fruit Pavlova for two, which is ideal for sharing with a date. I tried their more unusual offering of orange polenta cake, poached Yorkshire rhubarb and pink praline. It was light, not overly sweet and healthily gluten-free. They also managed to successfully make a rhubarb-hating diner finish the whole dish, which is quite the complement to their kitchen team.
It’s refreshingly delightful to find a kitchen team genuinely using the freshest, finest seasonal ingredients in their dishes instead of just putting those words on their website. Whether you are heading to the theatre, shopping in Covent Garden or just fancy a superbly well-prepared meal, Indigo restaurant should be high on your list of restaurants to visit.