Le Caprice, St James's

Mr Oil and Mr Vinegar lunch at one of London's most popular and glamorous restaurants, Le Caprice.

Mr O: Well, I hope that even you will put your natural unpleasantness aside for the purposes of this review. I know you love the Caprice.
MrV: Yes, I do, but I don’t like the customers so much. Greasy bunch of property developers, lots of them are.
MrO: You can hardly blame the restaurant if a few well-off property people have lunch there.
MrV: You most certainly can. The profile of the customer defines a restaurant far more than its food, service or location. They should turn away all these spivs and encourage a better sort.
MrO: I very often see quite distinguished people and the more acceptable members of the Royal family dining there. You could hardly call them spivs.
MrV: That’s a discussion for another time but in any case that’s who the spivs want to rub shoulders with and the Caprice should vet them.
MrO: I’ve always loved it here, since my first visit in 1985 with a very pretty woman who flirted most outrageously with me.
MrV: Did you get anywhere with her?
MrO: No, she was a PR woman and I was a journalist so she was being paid to flirt. I phoned her a couple of weeks later to ask for a date and she didn’t remember who I was.
MrV: That’s PR people for you. Ghastly collection.
MrO: But I kept going back. In 87 and 88 I went there for lunch most weekends. The standards have never slipped. I think that’s because of Jesus Adorno.
MrV: I know, I know, the best maitre d’ in London, blah blah.
MrO: Well, he is. He should give lessons to other restaurateurs in how to do the job properly. Anyway, it’s always packed...
MrV: ...with property developers...
MrO: ...with wealthy and discerning people. Funny, isn’t it, that a place which is comparatively modestly furnished could become and stay so fashionable?
MrV: It’s much too hot here. With all the money the Caprice makes you’d think they could put in some decent air conditioning. That’s why the spivs tend to eat in their shirt sleeves. The backs of the chairs round the spivvy tables are adorned with their coats – or jackets, they call them, as if they were potatoes.
MrO: How is your food?
MrV: I have to admit, it is excellent. These pigs cheeks are perfect and the yellowfin tuna sashimi – more of a carpaccio, really – was pretty much the ideal starter.
MrO: The Thai-baked seabass is my favourite. It is incredibly delicate and aromatic. And they also do a decent grouse at the right time of year.
MrV: At least they don’t rob you blind, like some fashionable restaurants I could name.
MrO: I know, they could easily charge half as much again, but then it would lose a great deal of its charm.

Mr Oil and Mr Vinegar consumed two courses each, washed down with two vodka-and-tonics and two bottles of wine. The total cost was approximately £150.
Le Caprice, Arlington House, Arlington Street, London SW1A 1RJ

RESERVATIONS 020 7629 2239 / ONLINE
http://www.le-caprice.co.uk/
http://www.caprice-holdings.co.uk/
http://www.london-eating.co.uk/21.htm
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/restaurants/le-caprice-review-2883.html
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/16.html
http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/le-caprice-london
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Caprice-Gill/dp/0340738383
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1216445/As-Londons-Le-Caprice-moves-New-York-Jesus-Adorno-checks-competition.html
http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/detail/122569
http://www.restaurant-guide.com/le-caprice.htm
http://www.tipped.co.uk/listings/2474/le-caprice
http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/england/london/review-45909.html
http://www.urbanpath.com/london/modern-european/le-caprice.htm
http://www.qype.co.uk/place/906134-Le-Caprice-London
http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/restaurant/1z8nv7/le-caprice