Harden's says
With Sally Abé's recent arrival from the Harwood Arms, the Conrad St James's Hotel is clearly aiming to take its offering up a notch. This summer 2021 arrival is to be her main showcase within the hotel, offering an ambitious menu with classic British overtones. Did no-one tell Sally the unwritten rule that good British restaurants are just not allowed in Westminster? Perhaps she will at last break the mould! (See also The Blue Boar.)
Harden's survey result
Summary
‘Good in parts’ is perhaps the fairest description of this comfy dining room in a five-star hotel near St James’s Park tube, which continues to put in a ‘Curate’s Egg’ performance. Recruiting ace chef, Sally Abé, a couple of years ago helped boost the profile of what was hitherto seen merely as a business venue convenient for parliamentarians from nearby Westminster. Nowadays, she presents “an interesting menu” championing British produce and recipes, resulting in “fabulous food, beautifully presented”. On the downside, service can be “variable” and “while the decor is nice, the ambience is rather soulless as the restaurant is situated in the rather cavernous bowels of a hotel”.
Summary
Sally Abé’s accomplished traditional British cuisine has rightfully succeeded in bringing media attention to this rather hotel-y chamber, in a comfortable but anonymous five-star a short walk from St James’s Park tube. (Indeed, in his September 2022 review, the FT’s Tim Hayward declared it “absolutely bloody cracking… some of the best food in town”). It still doesn’t attract the volume of reports in our annual diners’ poll we would like, but most (if not quite all) proclaim it “outstanding all round”. BREAKING NEWS: in July 2023, the restaurant closed, for the installation of a new kitchen. We’ve left it with its former rating, but apparently on re-opening in autumn 2023 it will have an amended offering. Abé commented: ‘We’ll be back all guns blazing’!
Summary
Sally Abé has equalled the “superb” standard of British cooking that she achieved at the Harwood Arms at this Westminster yearling, named for a pioneering suffragette. But while the traditional hotel dining room she was imported to revivify is an “amazingly spacious and comfy space” – and benefits from “quietly super-efficient and knowledgeable staff” – it doesn’t yet generate the volume of reports it perhaps deserves: “why was it empty? This deserves to be one of London’s most popular restaurants!”
Summary
Named for a pioneering suffragette, this July 2021 arrival marks a new determination by the Conrad St James’s Hotel to put itself on the map. At the stoves – Sally Abé – who recently arrived from the Harwood Arms to oversee the hotel’s kitchen generally, with this her showcase. It offers an ambitious menu with classic British overtones. Did no-one tell Sally the unwritten rule that good British restaurants are just not allowed in Westminster? Early social feedback suggests she may – at last – break the mould! (See also The Blue Boar.)
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at The Pem?
Conrad London St. James, 22-28 Broadway, London, SW1H 0BH
Restaurant details
The Pem Restaurant Diner Reviews
"The food and service delightful - the place is corporate, huge and was empty at lunch (why were we pushed into the remotest corner?)"
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £35.00 |  |
|
|
| Cost | Availability | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menu1 | 95.00 | Always available | 6 |
Traditional European menu
| Starter | Main | Veggies | Pudding |
|---|---|---|---|
| £20.50 | £33.50 | £0.00 | £12.00 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £55.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £0.00 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 10.00% |
Conrad London St. James, 22-28 Broadway, London, SW1H 0BH
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Saturday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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