The Devonshire has a pub called the Public House downstairs (known for its perfect pint of Guinness) and then the two floors above feature a wood grill restaurant and seating.    Having been in Soho since 1793, they dry age, butcher their Scottish beef on site, and offer locally caught seafood.  They are open 7 days a week and the grill is on the second floor.  We were in the quieter third-floor room (they do have an elevator) with many small white cloth-covered tables filling the room.  Brown paper was on top of the cloth, windows were on two sides letting in the sunshine, curtains cover some of the walls which do have some paintings, no music was in the background and carpet was on the floor.  Even filled, the room didn’t have a noise problem.  At lunch, they offered a 2 or 3 course set menu as well as a full menu.  Wines were available by the glass and bottle and they also have a reserve wine list.  It appeared to have a good mix of local people as well as tourists and service was efficient and friendly.   It was a good value for London with the set menu having generous portions and additional vegetable sides being reasonably priced.  Nothing was bad but nothing blew me away though.  It was a perfect first meal when you’re jet-lagged and waiting for your hotel room to open so you can crash a few hours.  I’m sorry I didn’t get to try the pub downstairs – it was very lively.

Set-up

Food

Housemade rolls are plump and glossy, with salted tops. One of the servers served them hot from the baking pan with a spoon. They were soft and good, and they came with a dish of butter.

 

Prawn and langoustine cocktail was a good serving of tiny shrimp in a marie-rose sauce (tomatoes, mayo, Worcestershire, lemon, pepper) that is topped with a shell-on langoustine.  The langoustine was a bit dry and mostly for show but the small dressed shrimp below were tasty.  A couple little pieces of greenery were easily removed with the langoustine to better enjoy the refreshing salad below.  Most of the flavor was from the dressing.

 

Skirt steak, chips and Bearnaise sauce was the second course.  I asked to keep the meat on the rare side and they did a nice job, even though it wasn’t a real thick piece.  The meat did come pre-sliced which made for easier eating and the Bearnaise was on the side so you could have as much as you wanted.  It was also good on the duck-fat fried potatoes.   They were a large cut and very crisp on the outside with lots of soft potato on the inside.   It was a fine plate.

 

We added two vegetables to the plate, one being Creamed leeks.  They were fresh, tender and tasty.  It was a good dish.

 

The server recommended the Butter Carrots as being one of her favorites so we tried them too.  They were quite nice but had the softest texture.  Not sure how they cooked them to get them almost spongey with an exterior like they’d been dropped in the deep fryer.  Either way they were sweet with a good final effect.

 

Sticky Toffee Pudding was the optional third course and we split one.   It came with a large scoop of ice cream, but you could have had whipped cream, as again we went with the server’s suggestion.  It was surrounded by a generous amount of buttery sweet sauce which wasn’t too thick.  The moist pudding/cake was lovely with a good amount of sweetness and texture.  It was served warm as was the sauce and made a pleasing contrast with the cold ice cream.   A good end to the meal.