Harden's says
From Caprice Holdings, this elegant Selfridges brasserie features a 24ft crystal-encrusted Pegasus statue created especially by Damien Hirst. With its own entrance on Duke Street, Brasserie of Light is open all day, serving an "eclectic mix of classic British and internationally inspired dishes".
Harden's survey result
Summary
“Who would have believed you are eating in a department store!” – Richard Caring’s “glitzy but useful” second-floor brasserie has “a real buzz”. “With huge windows, the decor is fabulously glamorous and Damien Hirst’s stunning ‘Pegasus’ dominates the scene”. The “Ivy-style menu” is “appealingly eclectic, if with rather average execution”, but by-and-large comes at “fair prices”.
Summary
“Fabulous décor” is the main talking point at Richard Caring’s brasserie for shoppers on the first floor of Selfridges, which is dominated by Damien Hirst’s 24ft tall crystal-encrusted Pegasus (Caring has become the artist’s leading British collector in recent years). The place is also “great for people-watching & a buzzy atmosphere – I love it”. And the food? “OK, but nothing to shout about”.
Summary
“Big, busy, brassy and tightly packed, like an Ivy on steroids!” – Richard Caring’s brasserie on the first floor of Selfridges is designed first and foremost to be “eye-catching” and “fun”, and “the grand Pegasus by Damien Hirst adds to the glamour”. But while the “so-so” food is “better than expected” for some diners – “ideal for ladies after a hard day’s shopping” – the “glitz”-first approach is becoming more grating to others; especially those who discern an ever-more “impersonal” (“get ’em in, then chuck ’em out”) approach. “I’ve eaten at Selfridges’ restaurants for decades and this one reflects where the store is moving – flash, loud and expensive…”; “it’s always full and lively, I suppose you could say – frequented mostly by people who like to dine surrounded by lots of music and noise”.
Summary
“For sheer glamour and Damien Hirst’s Pegasus, this gets my vote” – Richard Caring’s “lavish” and “wonderfully buzzy” (at times “ear-splittingly loud”) yearling on the first floor of Selfridges (but with its own entrance) is “visually stunning, with a fit-out that creates talking points and enjoys marvellous views of Oxford Street”. Its brasserie fare ranks somewhere between “better-than-you-might-expect” and “mediocre”, and service can be “amateur”, but serious criticisms are absent. “Populated mostly by ladies who shop and lunch”, it was also nominated by numerous reporters for “a great and glitzy date”: “something about department store dining can actually be quite sexy, and this extravagant presentation kind-of works…” Top Tip – “Would recommend for a drink at the bar as the space is gorgeous, and with pink loos being so OTT it made us smile”.
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 Brasserie of Light?
400 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1AB
Restaurant details
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £33.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £4.75 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 13.50% |
400 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1AB
Opening hours
| Monday | 8 am‑12 am |
| Tuesday | 8 am‑12 am |
| Wednesday | 8 am‑12 am |
| Thursday | 8 am‑12 am |
| Friday | 8 am‑12 am |
| Saturday | 9 am‑12 am |
| Sunday | 9 am‑11 pm |
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