The Escoffier room

This is the best value meal you will get in London! You can only go at lunch time as it’s students who cook the food and the service is sometimes slightly amusing. But as long as you go knowing you aren’t getting silver service but you will be getting amazing food paired with great wine you will be very impressed! I went with a friend who is in the wine trade and he was extremely impressed with the wine list and more importantly the prices they were offered up at, he said you will pay more to buy from many stores never mind from a restaurant. If you get chance, do go!

We came here for lunch yesterday and were super impressed by the quality of cooking and service provided by the students. I must say it is better than some soft openings I’ve been to (and technically it’s the same thing no? These kids need guinea pigs to practice!)
As it is the month of yuletide/​chrismukka/​saturnalia, of course we were fed a Christmas themed lunch:
Super velvety cauliflower soup amuse. Excellent.
Pork cheek with bok choi– could be meltier, but pretty yummy.
3 bird roast– I’ve come to the conclusion that a 3 bird roast will only ever be tasty if served Henry VIII style as a whole swan/​peacock/​ostrich and someone actually carve it in front of you (beheading of wives optional).
chocolate mousse thingy– very nice orange sorbet, lovely but super rich
exceptional choice of cheeses
micro mince pies– perennial problem of too much crust– mince ratio when miniaturized.
Unfortunately, it had a hefty £14 Christmas tax on it but we did have fun with our crackers. The students were really nice and showed us how to blow up the rocket balloons and gave us extras when ours had holes in them.
The students and their teacher were super friendly and did try to help. Like with all learning places, there were bits of misses, like forgetting our mince pies and lack of wine knowledge. The tutor was telling us things they were being trained in (like the cheeses) and was on hand to give tips to the students so I’m sure they will leave the college with great knowledge and hopefully a leg up in the industry.
As for me, I just left happy with a full belly. Perhaps not as great value as during the other months of the year, but definitely worth a revisit!

I recently ate at the Escoffier room and do not believe that hhrtmnn’s snarky review is justified (and from the content of the review I am not sure if he/​she ever ate there).
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But anyhow, I found the £25 five course lunch to be tempting and I had read good things about this place so I gave it a try.
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The dining room is quite cosy and the atmosphere is nice. I was probably the youngest person in the room so apparently this is a hotspot for local retirees, which I did not find to be very bothersome. The food was really quite good, perhaps not as refined as it would be in a gourmet restaurant but better than a lot of places in London. They offer a veggie and non-​veggie menu but you can swap the dishes around if you like.
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It was quite amusing to sit there and watch the trainee waiting staff serve a room full of guests they were a friendly bunch but it does show that they are still in training (and also, on the day I was there, the waiting staff were actuallly trainee cooks so they were probably a bit more helpless than trainee waiting staff).
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If you are expecting slick service you will not get it here but if you can take restaurant service with a grain of salt you will get what is probably the cheapest 5 course lunch in London. They also offer the menu with corresponding wines for £48, which is good value.
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They are only open during lunchtime and booking is advisable it is a small room and often booked up.

Ready for food from chef’s in training?
Westminster Kingsway college train aspirant chefs and then they let them loose on the public. The Vincent Rooms is the ‘establishment’ which houses both eateries in which the public pay for the privilege of being guinea pigs!
Choose between the modern european style of The Brasserie or the more intimate Escoffier Room which only seats 35.
The menu changes daily and The Escoffier Room is open for lunch only — on weekdays.
You are assured of fresh ingredients and grandiose plating up but will have to take your chances on the chef’s creativity, the kitchen’s application and the waiting staff’s expertise. These are the college’s second and third year students after all.