Wheeler's of St James @ St James Street, London

Taken from Wheeler's Official Website:
Wheeler's of St James's is a collaboration between Marco Pierre White and Sir Rocco Forte, reviving the world's oldest and finest fish restaurant in the heart of one of London's most distinguished locations.

After a stunning makeover, the restaurant's glamorous dining room, private room and bar belies its traditional exterior and is a popular fine dining destination for both tourists and locals alike.

On the site of Madame Prunier's fish restaurant, one of the capital's most fashionable eateries in the first half of the last century.

For those of you who haven't watched The Great British Feast, do click here.


Anyway, enough about Marco, click on the above link if you're interested to find out more. After watching all 4 episodes of The Great British Feast, I wanted to taste some of the dishes that were served in the show.

I was thinking to myself, I've tasted quite a few top restaurants in the UK, and yet I haven't tasted any traditional English food served in a proper restaurant. Initially, I wanted to go to Marco at Stanford Bridge. Unfortunately, they only do dinner and are only open from Tuesday to Saturday. So, I had to make do with one of his other restaurants (which was thankfully nearer to my place).

Anyway, upon stepping foot into Wheelers, I realise the place was empty for lunch (on Valentine's Day). Immediately, I wondered if I had made a good choice in picking this restaurant. Service was good. Freshly baked bread was served immediately upon seating down.

Fresh Bread

As they were running a promotion, there was 50% of any main upon any order of a appetizer or dessert. The promotion ends at the end of February 2011. Anyway, my aim was to sample the dishes I saw in the Great British Feast.

Prawn Cocktail

Prawn cocktail is one of those ever green dishes that has been served in the same manner for the last 30-40 years (or probably longer). It tasted fairly good. No complains there.

Wild Halibut Steak à la Sicilienne

This dish was recommended by the waiter who claimed it was his favourite dish. When a waiter says such a thing, expectations are high. The fish did not disappoint. It was perfectly cooked, with the meat just falling off the bone (yet the bone was still red). The fish was moist and well seasoned with green peppercorn, lemon and olives. It was a good dish.

Fish Pie

As seen in The Great British Feast, the fish pie was almost identical. It contained pieces of salmon, smoked haddock, prawns and scallops and was topped with mash potatoes. It was a good pie. The flavours were well balanced. The peas certainly went well with it. No wonder Marco served it to 200 people.

Chocolate Cake

The cake was extremely rich and tasted almost of pure cacao. Personally, I felt that the cake was too dense. Three mouthfuls would probably be the threshold for someone to consume. Anything more and anyone would probably be sick of it.

Eton Mess

Eton Mess is a traditional English Dessert that was once served at Eton College during their annual cricket game. It consists of meringue, berries, whipped cream and ice-cream. I imagined the bowl to be bigger. Its not that I was greedy or anything of that sort (as I couldn't finish it anyway), I just wanted to dig into a big bowl of it as seen in The Great British Feast. Surprisingly, the dessert wasn't overpoweringly sweet. The berries had a nice sweet and tang to it. Digging for the small pieces of meringue was like searching for gold in a mine. It was good, but I left half of it behind as I don't fancy gorging myself with whipped cream when I'm already blotted. 

All in all, Wheelers is one of those no fancy decorative food places. They serve British food which are cooked well in large portions. If you're after fine dining food, this is the wrong place to go to. However, if you want to taste good British seafood in a nice environment, Wheelers would be the perfect place for you. I heard they serve a good plate of Fish n Chips are well.

Dress code: smart casual

*Opinions expressed are solely based on my personal experience

Map to Wheelers of St James

Nearest Tube Station: Green Park

Address:
Wheeler's of St. James's
72-73 St James’s St
SW1A 1PH, London,
United Kingdom.

Contact:
Telephone number: +44 (0) 207 4081 440
Email: info@wheelersrestaurant.org
Website: http://www.wheelersrestaurant.org/

Opening hours:

Lunch: Mon-Fri 12pm-3pm
Dinner: Mon-Sat 5.30pm-11pm
Closed Sundays