Kaspar’s at the Savoy score by the 5D Sensograph of placescases.com: 4.7 out of 5.

October 2019

 

Seen           

Felt             

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Reading time: 5 min

Fast mode reading time (bold and coloured text): 2 min

I selected restaurant  Kaspar’s at the Savoy because it was close to my hotel Apex Temple Court and I put it as top priority in my list to-be-visited-in-London.

The most distinctive about Kaspar’s is its exceptional setting. Naturally, it shares the same interior style as the London emblem, Savoy Hotel, where the restaurant is housed.

Savoy Hotel is located on Strand, which is the sequel of Fleet Street, mentioned in my post about Apex Temple Court. Google maps gives the location of the restaurant on  a very strange spot, and for that reason, it is better to look for the hotel itself. You will recognize it by the small lane Savoy Court, resembling an entrance to a small luxurious court. It leads right to the entrance with the hotel’s iconic Lalique fountain in Art Deco style. Right next to it is the entrance of the Savoy Theatre, where you can watch a musical.

When the hotel opened for the first time, Kaspar’s was called The River Restaurant, because of its location towards the River Thames.

8 fun facts about Savoy Hotel and Kaspar’s:

• The Savoy started to receive guests in 1889.
• Its owner was a famous opera impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte.
• For this reason, the hotel has had its own theatre and many famous musicians, composers, singers, artists have given performances there. The Savoy theater entrance is next to the hotel’s, and one can watch contemporary musicals there.
• The first manager of the hotel was the famous Swiss hotelier César Ritz, and the first Chef- the well-known French gastronomist Auguste Escoffier.
• Ritz and Escoffier were fired by Carte because they were accused of embezzling funds from the hotel and corruption. After a while the scandal blew up, but it didn’t affect very much their reputation.
• In Savoy Auguste Escoffier created his famous sundae Peche Melba, named after the famous Australian soprano Nellie Melba.
• Savoy Court is the only street in the whole kingdom where traffic is on the right. Various reasons are cited. One is that according to good manners code, the important persons have sat behind the driver/coachman, which in UK sits on the right and so descending from the car/carriage, the distinguished guests of the hotel enter directly inside. The other is that by entering and stopping on the right side, the taxis that lining up to drive the audience out of the theater do not obstruct the entrance of the hotel.
• The small circle around the fountain of Savoy was the cause for the requirement to the classic London taxis, called Hackney Carriage or Black Cab, to have a technical ability to turn in diameter 25 ft or appr. 7.5 m. For your information, the smallest values of this feature of regular cars that I found on the internet were between 9-11 m.

Read more about the famous London taxis in my post Apex Temple Court Hotel, very close to the theaters in London. You can even see how they look inside, thanks to Oasis. 😊

See ….

…. Before you enter the hotel you can see the famous fountain at the entrance. The cars enter the lane on the right, surround it and stop right in front of the hotel entrance, under the huge shelter, so that guests who disembark stay protected from London rain and greeted kindly by the doormen;

…. The lavish decoration in Art Deco style- in the center of the Tea Room, through which you pass for the restaurant, there is a huge white gazebo, and inside- a large black grand piano. A player in black tuxedo performs classic and pop music in jazz arrangement. A slender singer in a white long dress with a bare back sings along. You can enjoy them in the video here dedicated to the restaurant;

….You could notice on many tables a sea food platter- one of the reasons guests choose Kaspar’s;

…. A multitude of sculptors and paintings all over the corridors and lobbies, the vast halls of the toilet, with full- length mirrors, marble countertops, dressing tables for makeup correction- all decorated in Art Deco style.

 

Feel ….

…. Friendly and quick service- at the entrance of the Tea Room, preceding the restaurant, the guests are welcomed by the hostess who accommodates them and immediately providing also the carte;

…. The next person who arrives at the table is the sommelier.  He asks you about your food choice to advise, extremely unobtrusively and well-intentioned, drink paring. It is important to note that you feel well- cared and not patronized;

…. Despite the great history of the hotel and the restaurant, the atmosphere is casual, there is no special dress code, however, I saw a lot of empty tables.

Hear ….

…. Amazing live performances under the gazebo in the already mentioned Tea Room- this adds on a lot to the special ambiance of the place.

Movie watching time: 1:10 min.

Smell ….

…. British Isles Cod – frankly, there was a slight strange smell, which I think was from the sea food sauce to it, but it was not unpleasant;

…. The wonderful aroma of truffle and chives in mashed potatoes.

Taste ….

…. The cod with brown shrimps nage, spelt and sea forage from the Celtic Sea was nice, but the mashed potatoes somehow outperformed it with its wonderful aroma, taking into account that by rule do not order such side dish in restaurants;

…. The bread that was brought to us at the beginning was dry and did not impress me at all, unlike the salmon based pate, which was delicious;

…. For the wine I made a safe choice by ordering a glass of Riesling from Dr. Loosen.

I confess sincerely, that trying so little from Kaspar’s assortment makes it difficult to determine how I liked it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t very hungry, and that was the reason. But my visit to Savoy hotel and its distinguished restaurant was definitely a memorable experience.

I would love to return and try more of the kitchen team’s art. But this time, I would obligatory visit the American bar and try its famous cocktails.

If you are already planning a trip to London I recommend that you book your stay right here. For your convenience, I added a booking.com box, which refers directly to their site. I guarantee you’re going to use all your genius discounts and privileges they would offer to you. Just enter the dates of your trip, then hit the Search button and voila. In addition, booking.com are doing their best to make sure that your expectations as a customer are fulfilled. I’ve described an example about the latter in  my story about our stay in Shangri-La hotel in Singapore.

Booking.com

Don’t worry about getting to Kaspar’s and hotel Savoy. Just use the Google map here by clicking on the red pin of its location and then select directions:

2 Savoy Ct, Strand, London WC2R 0EZ, Великобритания

A: Strand, WC2R 0EZ, London

T: +44 (0)20 7836 4343

E: savoy@fairmont.com

On the web-site of the restaurant there is online reservation form.

If you feel confident with the left side driving in UK and decide to rent a car, you can book it here in the box of the biggest rent-a-car online platform.

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Do you ever wonder how some places are so very different from others in service, environment, as a general experience? This means you are also interested like me in the topic of The Experience Economy by Pine and Gilmore. I’ve tried to recognize those places which apply it in practice its principles, whether deliberately or accidentally, and I think it is worth to consider them. Right click on category The Experience Economy.