Tried & tasted: Hix at Brown’s Hotel

This year marks the 175th anniversary of Brown’s Hotel, making it something of a Mayfair institution, writes Colette Doyle. This Rocco Forte-run property has seen many a famous face cross its doors over the decades, including Queen Victoria. Nowadays, it welcomes the likes of Tracey Emin, Paul Smith and Stella McCartney and is synonymous with being a haunt of the movers and shakers from the worlds of art and fashion.

Hix, the in-house restaurant overseen by eponymous chef Mark, a veteran of the London food scene, carries on this fine tradition and displays a range of artworks by British artists. In fact, a Tracey Emin work entitled “I Loved You More Than I Can Love” catches my eye as soon as I enter, but to paraphrase a famous beer campaign from the 1970s “I’m only here for the food”, so I prise my eyes away and peruse the menu instead.

The prawn cocktail starter could be a naff throwback to the decade that taste forgot, but in the capable hands of Executive Chef Lee Streeton it becomes a more sophisticated dish entirely. My companion plumps for salmon smoked using a proprietary “Hix cure” method, served with moreish soda bread from a recipe by Michelin-starred Irish chef Richard Corrigan. For the main course I go for a lighter option (a prudent move that means I can save room for dessert) and choose the Swainson House Farm chicken with a poached Burford Brown egg – clearly, provenance of food is of supreme importance here. My guest opts for Torbay Dover sole, which is pronounced sublime. Bakewell pudding with clotted cream rounds off the stylish meal on a high note. Urbane, classy and tasteful, this Mayfair venue may be steeped in history, but its future is certainly assured.

Hix; Brown’s Hotel, Albermarle Street/ Dover Street, London W1S 4BP; 020 7518 4004; hixmayfair.co.uk