Corenucopia By Clare Smyth, London Sw1: ‘posh, Calories-be-damned Cooking And A Dad Rock Soundtrack’ – Restaurant Review

In a room packed pinch fancy types conscionable disconnected Sloane Square successful London, I americium eating a £52 sheet of dover sole and chips while Status Quo’s Rockin’ All Over nan World blasts cheerfully done nan room. The chips are very nice, each crunchingly crisp and yieldingly fluffy successful each nan correct places. All 12 of them were perfect, successful fact, stood aloft successful their metallic serving vessel. “A-giddy-up and giddy-up and get awaaaay,” sings Francis Rossi arsenic I perch connected a velvet, ray mustard banquette that’s intelligibly truthful very costly that I shudder each clip my greasy paws truthful overmuch arsenic skim adjacent to rubbing it.

The Core fried chickenhearted astatine Corenucopia, London SW1 is served pinch a broadside of Oasis.

Clare Smyth, of 3 Michelin-starred Core fame, is letting her hairsbreadth down pinch this caller project, Corenucopia, wherever she’s cooking a little pricey, much comfortableness food-focused menu. Expect seafood vol-au-vent, chickenhearted kiev, Barnsley chop and trifle. There’s moreover a abstracted murphy paper that comes to nan array successful its ain frame, and offers pommes anna, dauphinoise, croquettes, fondant, hasselback and truthful on. If you bid that dover sole, which, incidentally, comes battered and stuffed pinch lobster mousse, it turns up pinch its ain vinegar menu, besides gilt-framed. Balsamic? Barrel-aged sherry? Champagne? “Malt, please,” I said, alert that this was nan petition of a drab traditionalist.

But, while Corenucopia’s decor is determinedly posh, its soundtrack pounds pinch British dada rock, ranging from nan aforementioned Quo to Oasis to Clapton to nan Stones. If that sounds a spot confused, well, fans of Core look to beryllium remarkably clear connected nan matter, because Smyth’s caller associated is presently jam-packed pinch Michelin-chasing types dying to effort her new, relaxed, groovy, “pocket-friendly” outpost. Still, while Core costs £265 per personification earlier vino and work for nan seven-course “Seasons” tasting menu, Corenucopia offers starters specified arsenic a crispy veal sweetbread for £32 followed by turbot pinch vin jaune condiment for £64, and desserts specified arsenic a profiterole (singular) pinch Tahitian vanilla pick filling astatine £22. Add a fig leafage aliases mezcal negroni, a splurge disconnected nan spud list, a solid aliases 2 of vino pinch nan savoury courses, followed by a 2010 Château Suduiraut sauternes to spell pinch your profiterole, and you mightiness arsenic good person gone to Core.

‘A plump small wealth trove’: Corenucopia’s mushroom pie.

Even so, nan nutrient astatine Corenucopia is simply a delight. This is cosseting, decadent, calories-be-damned cooking. Grilled olives connected skewers pinch eel and timut pepper? Absolute bliss. An ornate smoked salmon paté topped pinch dill jelly and served pinch mini buttered crumpets? Wonderful. The aforesaid goes for nan pithivier-style mushroom pastry filled pinch ceps, portobello, parmesan, spinach and smoked ovum yolk – a plump small wealth trove that I ate pinch immoderate crisp brassicas enlivened pinch horseradish, parmesan and lemon. The hasselback potatoes cooked successful beef fat were a joy, too, though astatine £8.50 positive service, to service conscionable 3 of them seemed much than a tad ungenerous. That battered dover sole pinch nan lobster mousse, meanwhile, is much than specified gimmick, and comes pinch very good, earthy crushed minted peas alongside those triple-cooked chips.

For pudding, we went for nan sherry trifle made pinch Bristol pick and reddish berries that came topped pinch whipped cream, but it lacked nan stodge and heft of a existent sherry trifle, and was much a vessel of light, jammy cream. In fact, I regret not opting for nan sticky toffee pudding made pinch rum and treacle and served pinch jersey cream, aliases for Smyth’s rotation connected tiramisu, an “Irish-misu” made pinch Jameson’s-fuelled Irish coffee.

The sherry trifle astatine Corenucopia is ‘more a vessel of light, jammy cream’.

Obviously, Smyth is not nan first highfalutin cook to unfastened a relaxed restaurant. Gordon Ramsay perfected that move decades ago, making his sanction pinch nan hyper-expensive and très exclusive Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, wherever Smyth herself first came to attention, earlier broadening his scope pinch galore little stuffy ventures. So overmuch truthful that, by 2026, group pinch bumbags are now queueing for his Pub & Grill astatine Caesars Palace successful Las Vegas. Corenucopia is many, galore steps backmost from nan likes of that, not slightest because it is still successful a Michelin-adjacent Chelsea bistro pinch red-trousered guests and a chunky vino list. Even if Liam Gallagher is gargling done Supersonic arsenic you’re eating fried chickenhearted pinch caviar, you’re still not putting elbows connected tables.

Service-wise, meanwhile, location is simply a beardown consciousness that immoderate front-of-house personification who originates by calling nan diners “folks”, aliases squatting by nan array to return their order, aliases tries to do truthful without a pen and paper, would beryllium taken extracurricular and shot. Does lobster bisque thermidor really request nan Riverboat Song by Ocean Colour Scene arsenic its soundtrack? No. Do you person immoderate allergies, madam? Yes, Britpop.

• Corenucopia by Clare Smyth 18-22 Holbein Place, London SW1, 020-8016 5752. Open luncheon Fri-Sat, noon-2.30pm, Sun 12.30-3.30pm. Dinner Weds-Sat, 6.30-9.30pm, Sun 6-9pm. From astir £80 a caput à la carte, positive drinks & service