Tucked away in a tranquil courtyard mere steps away from the bustle of Piccadilly Circus and buzzing Soho is Ham Yard Hotel. Upon opening, the hotel garnered a great deal of positive hype and reviews – but over two years on, I still hadn’t heard much about its restaurant. However, from the moment I arrived to a warm welcome, stepped in to the huge dining room and spied the stunning breakfast spread (let alone perused the menu), I knew it was going to be worthy of high praise, too…
The menu is extensive, and although gluten-free items aren’t specifically marked up, the wait staff is incredibly clued up on dealing with allergies and talked me through the gluten-free options on the menu with ease. I was overjoyed to learn that most dishes on their breakfast/brunch menu are or can be made gluten-free, so was truly spoilt for choice. From simpler porridge, to eggs in every which way and glazed hams or chorizo hash, there is something delicious to suit all tastebuds. I ate the Eggs Florentine, consisting of a perfectly poached egg sat atop two toasted slices of gf bread in between which was sandwiched a generous serving of wilted spinach. Topped off with a good helping of rich – but not overpowering – hollandaise sauce, it was so good that I could easily have polished off a second helping. Meanwhile, my partner had the house-glazed smoked ham with eggy (gluten-free) bread and grilled tomatoes – which he swiftly devoured. The premium-quality ham was thinly sliced and full of flavour, while the eggy bread had just the right amount of coating to make it beautifully crispy.
If you’d rather sample lots of different breakfast items rather than just one main dish, the breakfast buffet caters to coeliacs, too. An individual basket marked up as gluten and wheat free holds a range of sweet and savoury cakes and muffins (the flapjack was wonderfully sticky while the fruit cake was melt-in-the mouth), plus there’s gf granola, a range of fresh fruits and berries, and several varieties of yoghurt.
As if the wonderful menu and service wasn’t enough, I was surprised (but super happy) to learn that the kitchen not only has different fryers and toasters to avoid cross-contamination, but also an entirely separate worktop area dedicated to creating their-gluten free dishes. So much more than just another hotel restaurant, I cannot praise or recommend Ham Yard highly enough, and will definitely be making a repeat visit.