After seeing the excellent Spilliaerts exhibition at the RA I’d booked Zédel to see how one of the more up-market groups was handling the Covid thing. And eat some good grub too, natch. Pre-pandemic it was a good destination if you wanted the feeling of a special occasion without breaking the bank. Would that have changed in the light of the economic challenges of 2020?

Zédel is almost designed for social distancing – the room is massive and so there’s no problem spacing tables out. After a temperature check on the door we descended the staircase and were greeted by the front of house, who directed us to a nice corner table in an encouragingly busy room for a Saturday early evening.

Their pricing policy remains the same. You can go high end if you want steaks, sole etc but there are plenty of bargains to be had too, including two set menus. I was looking somewhere in the middle with a warm goat’s cheese salad up front (plenty of veg, good thing) and then veal kidneys as a main. If economising in the restaurant trade sees more offal on the menu then I’m well up for that, it’s a long time since I saw kidneys on a London card! And they were perfectly cooked – pink on the inside, slightly crusty on the outside with a good chunk of smooth mash and a tasty sauce to slather it in. Seasonal greens were extra (but tasty) and the house white by the carafe is a good option if you’re a bit skint.

The service was excellent and I’d like to say extra attentive except that in my experience that comes as standard in Corbin & King’s joints. Another encouraging thing was crossing some band members as we ascended the stairs – a welcome reminder that somehow the cabaret is back up and running in Crazy Coqs. For a while it almost felt like things were back to normal.

8/10

Food London Restaurants Brasserie Zédel London Regent Street Restaurant