Set in the luxurious five star Langham Hotel, the Landau is no vacant beauty. Instead, substance lies beneath its striking appearance.

The Venue
Luxury is what the Langham Hotel is all about, and this hits you upon nearing the grand entryway. Fairy lights twinkle in the sky and a plush red carpet – fit for a queen – ushers you through the twin pillars into the entrance. Alternatively, you can enter the restaurant directly through a small, unassuming doorway on the side street, but then you’d be missing out on that initial grandeur, which is worth capturing.

It’s a short walk through the gold-decorated lobby and down the beautiful, gleaming corridor to the entrance of the restaurant. You’ll be met by a member of staff at the front desk before you even glimpse the restaurant inside. Follow them down a corridor laden with floor-to-ceiling cabinets filled with row upon row of glistening bottles of wine. At the end, you’ll enter the large, open-plan dining area. In keeping with the rest of the hotel, it is every inch the stunning beauty. A circular room, one side is made up of a huge bay window. Perfect for a lunchtime table, it’s light and airy and you can gaze out and watch London go by. The other side of the dining room is beside a huge, wood-panelled wall adorned with beautiful, classic art. Large metal chandeliers hang overhead, almost medieval in style, helping to bring warmth to the white-tablecloth laden tables. With clever positioning, maximum value is gained from the space without crowding people in.

The Atmosphere
This is a luxury hotel, so expect the clientele to be well dressed and sophisticated. Suits are the predominant feature during lunch, whilst the evenings are a little glitzier. A friendly chatter permeates the dining hall and no music plays, but the atmosphere is conducive to a romantic meal, business lunch to impress or a special occasion with friends. Many of the diners are older, but there’s a decent divide and it’s in no way stuffy. The staff are, in particular, top class. As you’d expect from a five star hotel service, you are cared for in a professional but friendly manner. They’re happy to offer advice and show off an in-depth knowledge of the menu - impressing whilst putting you at total ease.

The Food
This is where The Landau really earns its stars. Exquisite dishes to make the tastebuds dance emerge from the kitchen to tantalise all the senses. Dishes are expensive, with your average starter coming in at around £16 a dish and mains costing a whopping £28 – even the desserts are pricey at £8. However, they do some great set menus. The taster menu ranges from £55 to £75 and the set lunch menu is an absolute bargain at two courses for £27.50 or three courses for £32.50. The pre-theatre menu is also a snip at £20 for two courses or a measly £27.50 for three courses.

Starters include a range of fish, veggie and meat dishes. The salad of blue fin tuna, confit tomatoes, artichokes and quail's eggs is delicate and beautiful. More like a piece of art, the food is prepared with colours in mind and balanced across the plate in an imaginative fashion. The tuna comes in what can only be described as the best tuna mayo you’ll have ever tasted, with slices of seared tuna meat placed on top. It may sound too much, but the differently prepared fish is delicate and light and the textures meld together in the perfect mouthful. The artichokes come in a mousse-like consistency that is light with only the slightest taste of the strong-flavoured vegetable. The tomatoes are more like a jam – sweet and moist. Together they create the perfect start to your meal.

Mains are pricey – unless you go for one of the great deals – and they are quite small. However, they are beautiful to look at, appetising, and surprisingly filling. The gratin of seafood with macaroni, basil, grapes and Setoise sauce (a Langoustine shell based sauce that’s rich and creamy) is to die for. It’s so creamy it tastes almost cheesy and thick. Unusually for a dish like this, every piece of seafood is cooked until tender with no rubbery textures coming through. Langoustine, lobster, mackerel and halibut combine together meaning no two mouthfuls are ever the same and each bite is an adventure for your mouth.

You’ll be hard pushed to squeeze in desserts, but squeeze them in you must! Dishes like the Granny Smith millefeuille and sherbet with chocolate oil are imaginative while not being so arty that they lose what’s needed from a dessert – indulgent sweet flavours. Again, the presentation is close to perfect. The chocolate oil is encased in a small chocolate on the side – be sure to eat in one bite as the chocolatey smoothness inside splurges out everywhere. The gold leaf on top just adds that touch of glamour. The apple is sliced into circular pieces and poached before being stacked with caramalised apple and biscuit. On top of this is a vanilla ice cream and apple melba – divine.

If you’re heading along to The Landau for dinner, then the grazing menus come highly recommended. Great value for money, it offers diners the chance to graze on a number of different dishes from the a la carte in delectable, mini portions. But don’t be put off if you’re feeling hungry – this is more than enough to fill a hole, coming as they do in five to eight course options. The five course grazing menu is nothing short of sublime, mixing a range of dishes, from light starters to fish and meat mains and an incredible dessert. Of particular note is the salad Isabelle, quail egg, truffles and artichoke – a small portion of the full starter available on the a la carte. Light and fresh, it’s a great beginning to your meal. The quail egg is cooked perfectly, the yolk exploding in a rich gooey mess across the plate. With small cubes of vinigarette across the dish, each mouthful offers something new and exciting – divine. For the mains, the roasted breast of Challans duck, parsnip puree and sweet meat sauce will only convince you to visit again – if only to have this as a full main. The duck, although a little fatty, is filled with rich juices and flavours, cooked to a beautiful pink. Each slice is fat, juicy and explodes in the mouth in a cascade of tastes and sensations. You’ll find it hard to place the parsnip puree – and even those who aren’t a fan of the seasonal vegetable will find this the perfect accompaniment. Finally, the toffee cheesecake, pineapple and coconut ice cream deserves a mention. The cheesecake isn’t crisp, instead offering a gloopy hit of creamy toffee flavours. This is full on, and the small portion is justified. The coconut ice cream is light and subtle, although the pineapple doesn’t really lend itself to the dish. However, it’s all cooked perfectly, presented beautifully and tastes divine. A marvel.

The new menu for Spring 2008 includes a seven course tasting menu, priced at a reasonable £65. The first dish, a cream of pink Paris mushroom soup with winter truffle sets the course for whats to come: it's wonderfully creamy and utterly delicious. Crab and avocado is a classic combination, but this version is modernised a bit by the inclusion of a little plastic bottle of apple juice that you bite the top off of. The foie gras and mango is an unusual combination but it works well, the sweetness of the mango complementing the creamy and meaty foie gras. The seared Orkney scallop is perfectly cooked, with just a hint of smokiness whilst the square of lamb is tender and moreish. The pineapple and coconut is a refreshing dessert, especially after all the hearty food, and the caremelised pear comes with a sugary maple sauce. On the menu it looks like it'll be quite hard to eat all of it, but the portions are small enough that you'll quite happily look forward to the next course.

The Drink
Just walking into The Landau, past the wine corridor, you’ll know that it’s a venue that takes care in its wine selection – and you won’t be disappointed. Wine by the glass includes everything from a £20 glass of champagne – Billecart-Salmon, Nicolas Francoise Billecart - through to a £7 glass of a decent white or red. Half bottles are also available, ranging from £14 for the Cotes-du-Rhones through to a whopping £295 for a dessert wine – Hermitage, Vin de Paille.

For the full bottles there’s a great range of Champagnes, ranging up to a very pricey £415 bottle of Cristal. If you fancy a less extravagant option then the menu is wonderfully split up into white and red wines by region, covering every budget. From Italy to Germany, France to Central and Eastern Europe, Spain and America, South Africa and Australia, there is an extensive selection to tempt you. And with descriptions on each region, a huge amount of thought has gone in to producing the comprehensive list.

The Last Word
A stunning restaurant with the substance to back it, The Landau is worth every penny.

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