Whenever you book through toptable and review your meal you earn points which can contribute to a total which you can use to spend on a free meal. No.5 Cavendish Square is one of the third restaurants on offer at the third tier (in effect for one free 3 course meal you would have to book and review at least fifteen restaurants or get a load of bonus points!

No. 5 Cavendish Square is a restaurant located on the first floor of a hotel hidden in a street behind Regent and Oxford Street. The room is very dark and I guess being a hotel restaurant justified the small number of covers (about maybe 30 or 40 seats that we could see?) Though we had booked for a respectable time of 7pm the restaurant was empty when we arrived (and it didn’t get much busier by the time we finished eating.)

The awards menu is also their set menu (2 courses for £20 or 3 for £25) for those interested in dining. Food is Italian and you actually get quite a decent selection with about six starters and six mains. The dessert selection comes from a cart which you can see on your way in.

The meal starts with a sliced French bread stick and tiny Italian bread sticks along with olives, olive oil and a particularly hot salsa delivered almost immediately as you sit down. So we were off to a good start (though some butter would have been nice too but that’s just me being greedy. Heh heh.) We certainly took full advantage of the bread even though I tried to resist!

For starters Sandra selected the Lemon marinated Scottish salmon, with rocket and quail egg Salad and I, spotting the pork belly, tried the Millefeuille of asparagus and pecorino with crispy pork belly. Both were served on a black square dish which made my dish almost pop didn’t look quite write in showcasing the salmon. Taste-wise I had no real complaints.

Our mains seemed to arrive almost as soon as we’d finished with our starters: Grilled fillet of Sea Bass with mixed mushrooms and new potatoes for Sandra and Calves liver, butter and sage with pak choi spinach, raisins and pine nuts. I’m not saying the dishes looked appetising but I feel that a little more effort could have been made with the presentation. Especially with my liver but maybe I’m just being fussy. Both tasted alright though, like the presentation, nothing exactly made my tastes buds come to life either with the newness of the ingredients or a wow taste factor.

We could have passed on dessert but since it was part of the meal we both went for it. Our waiter wasn’t very good at reciting what was available and actually this was a little reflective of the service we received tonight: though polite throughout I felt it was a little inattentive, like the waiter just couldn’t be bothered. Actually that’s a bit harsh – the head waiter seemed to act like he couldn’t be bothered whereas another more junior waitress who served us was friendly and helpful.

Dessert wasn’t fab but served its purpose for that sweet ending to the meal:

Overall I was expecting much more out of this restaurant both from the fact it costs more top table points for a free meal and also from the reviews given. It was good value for money because we were on a deal but I’m not sure the meal was worth £25 for the three courses we’ve had. I’ve definitely had better value for money at higher quality restaurants with better service and, dare I say, nicer food. That’s not to say it was completely horrible, just completely average.