Baglioni Hotel

A child-free weekend planned as a chance to catch up on sleep, gorgeous food, wine and shopping – and anything else we could think of…

Arrived just in time for lunch on Friday and headed into High Street Kensington, not ready for a big meal but keen to savour a nice glass of wine we headed for the Whole Foods in the old Barkers store building. The ground floor is devoted to lots of lovely wholesome, homemade food and the upper floor is a restaurant. We headed for the oyster bar and savoured a dozen British oysters and a fresh prawn salad accompanied by a lovely chilled bottle of Chablis. The salad and oysters are prepared in front of you. The restaurant was busy ,so if you're looking for a leisurely afternoon sitting back and people-watching, this is not the place. We preferred to meander along the High Street and then back to the hotel for a siesta. We'd already booked a table at Nobu in Picadilly. Having read the reviews after we had booked I was not sure whether I would be one of the people that either loved it or hated it there were such diverse reactions. The restaurant certainly packs people in with tables being quite close to each other, but still enough distance to hold a conversation without being talked over by the table next door. The pace was quick but not rushed. We enjoyed a selection from the menu including the Wagyu beef, blackened cod, sashimi and sushi. Our favourites were the tuna with coriander and chilli sashimi and scallops. We both had desserts, simply because we had seen others go past and they looked so good.  They were. Afterwards we had a drink in the bar downstairs but after such a taxing day of relaxing we were keen to get back and make the most of a promised full night's sleep.

Saturday bought glorious sunshine and a jog round Hyde Park to try to counterbalance the food and wine fest. We spent the day shopping and a matinee at the theatre. As it was raining when we came out of the theatre we sought shelter in Kettners on Romilly Street and shared a chilled bottle of champagne, just to build up strength for the wander back to the hotel. After yet another busy day we did not feel like straying too far from the hotel so ended up in a restaurant a hundred yards or so from the front door. Unsure what we had booked and not having read any reviews we were very happy to have stumbled across 'Zaika', a modern Indian-fusion restaurant. Food and service were fantastic and I would recommend the pre-dinner house cocktail –  I could drink these every day! Food was very tasty, with lovely strong, fresh flavours.

We have now added a couple more restaurants and a hotel to our would-love-to-return list.

A short taxi ride from the Baglioni is Racine restaurant near Harrods. Racine serves wonderful French food in nice, brasserie-style surroundings. Not to be missed.