Heddon Street Kitchen

It was a freezing January night, which made the welcome at Heddon Street Kitchen particularly welcome. Popcorn and water appeared on arrival, and the restaurant quickly established a relaxed, friendly mood. The room has the easy confidence of a busy West End address, but it does not feel too polished to settle into. Original cocktails are a genuine highlight: Love Potion No. 9 and Lady Regent were imaginative without becoming silly, and the prices did not feel designed to punish a second round. The boozy “Gentleman’s Breakfast” shake was another sign that the bar understood the brief.

The bar snacks kept the same generous spirit. Welsh rarebit on crumpet and ham and egg croquettes were exactly the sort of things that make a pre-theatre or post-shopping meal feel easy. We were seated at the chef’s table near the kitchen, though a draught near the door and one odd stool took some of the shine off the arrangement. The menu itself was affordable and wholesome rather than dazzling, moving through pork chop, burgers, chicken paillard and fillet with a clear sense of what its audience wanted.

There were a few hiccups when the order was placed, and the cooking did not always provide a reason to look up from the conversation. Macaroons, chocolate tart and pavlova closed things out pleasantly, but the real charm was elsewhere. Heddon Street Kitchen succeeds through cocktails served with imagination and a team that keeps smiling while the room moves around them. It is a comfortable, capable place with a warm pulse, and at this score its appeal is the ease of the whole evening rather than any single moment of culinary dazzle.