Paddington’s Frontline is a members’ club, events space and restaurant in one, where Londoners go to relax, eat, think and talk – not necessarily in that order.

The Venue
Founded by a group of cameramen and dedicated to journalists who lost their lives reporting from war zones, Frontline is a club for events, exhibitions, screenings and discussions. Although the club is spread over three floors, the ground floor is dedicated to the restaurant. The restaurant’s decor is simple and classic, but not too formal, with warm colours and brick walls. Most of the attention is drawn to the enormous lampshade-like lights as well as the photographs on the walls.

The photographs currently on the walls are part of their War and Protest exhibition. It might be a bit jarring to eat underneath Herbert Mason’s 1940 photo of St Paul’s Cathedral surrounded by smoke, or Jeff Widener’s photo of the protester in Tiananmen Square, standing in front of a line of tanks, but there are some cheerier ones as well, including the famous photo of a soldier and nurse in full post-war celebratory embrace taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Instead of feeling like you’re at an exhibition though, you simply feel like you’re in a friend’s nicely decorated dining room – a friend who has a very political taste in photographs, that is.

The Atmosphere
Think of a club dedicated to journalists and the image that comes to mind is a bit of a mishmash of grizzled old newspaper reporters barking down phones and slick, fast speaking suits eagerly taking notes. Although most of the diners here look like they’d be more at home on the golf course than in the trenches, a little bit of imagination and you can picture them as the correspondents they quite easily could have been.

When the club holds events upstairs, you can be assured that after it’s over the attendees will come down for some food. Expect lots of big groups, whether it’s a meet-up of old colleagues or a family out celebrating. Smaller parties are catered for as well by the friendly and efficient staff, who recognise customers and are quite happy to spare a minute or two for conversation.

The Food
Frontline’s menu is traditionally British, and, like the decor, has a simple, no-frills approach. Prices are average for the area at about £13 - £18 for mains, and the portions are hefty and filling. Starters include a flageolet bean and vegetable soup, which has generous chunks of vegetables and a nicely seasoned broth. The rare beef with rocket horseradish and beetroot puree comes with meat that’s perfectly pink and tender, but there’s a bit too much salt and the puree could do with a bit more horseradish to give it a sharper edge.

Mains include traditional stalwarts like fish and chips, lamb, steak, shepherd’s pie and sausage and mash. The latter is an absolutely enormous pile of mash topped with three plump and juicy sausages; the mash is creamy and thick – not a lump to be found – and the onion relish is savoury and succulent, with thin strands of onions throughout. Although the fish and chips look promising (like the sausages, the fish comes perched a top a bed of chips), with a nicely piquant mayonnaise on the side, the batter is almost overwhelmingly greasy. Because of the way the fish is positioned on the plate, it makes the thickly cut chips greasy as well and spoils what would have been an otherwise nice dish.

Chocolate lovers should try the Rolo chocolate pot to finish the meal, with slivers of thin and crisp ginger biscuits – the chocolate is thick, sweet and indulgent, with just a hint of sugary caramel. Queen Mab’s pudding is like a blancmange with candied fruit, fruit peel and shortbread crumbs mixed through. The subtle taste and pieces of fruit take a bit of getting used to, so this is best if you like your desserts creamy and not chocolatey or fruity.

The Drink
The wine list is, without a doubt, the most entertaining one in London. If you’re at all intimidated by wine lists be sure to put your fears aside and have a look at this one – even if you’re not au fait with grapes, regions and years or can’t tell your merlot from your sauvignon blanc. Compiled by Malcolm Gluck (who knows his stuff, having written 36 books on the subject), the list is enormous but it’s also interesting and a pleasure to peruse, with interesting descriptions and stories underneath the bottles, which are sorted into categories like Some Gripping Italian Reds and White Underdogs. Prices are a bargain at most of the bottles well under £20 – there’s one bottle for about £70 on the list but you’ll have to search hard to find it.

The Sequiot Valencia Tempranillo is a cabernet sauvignon from 2005 and priced at £13 (a bargain as the restaurant bought out all of the 2005 vintage which amounted to about half a dozen cases). Be sure to try it before they run out – it’s clean, light and pure tasting, with a hint of cherries and no bitter aftertaste.

If you’re tee-total there are the usual soft drink options, but drinkers of all sorts will be pleased to know that tap water is offered immediately on arrival, which is, literally, very refreshing.

The Last Word
A laid back, friendly place where everyone fits in – journalist or not.

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