A business friend of mine suggested we walked from his office to sit down for coffee and then lunch at an unspecified place “over the bridge” from said office.

I confess I was a little surprised to be lead into an office block on the Strand which was, the last time I saw it, more a candidate for demolition than a convivial lunch.

We emerged on the 8th floor, however, into one of the Soho House’s newer outposts. Both busy and buzzy, in order to have a reasonably private conversation we were forced onto the roof terrace, which at least allowed me to admire the pool. There is a surprising lack of heaters, so lucky one of us had both hat and gloves, given the thermometer had barely battled above freezing.

Fortunately the restaurant opened up and we were able to come back into the glitzy bar area. Service ranged from mildly disdainful (not sure we exactly fitted the vibe) to exceptionally friendly. And the food, while quite simple, was excellent. As I was there with my serious businessman head on, I was not able to snap as much as I wanted to, but I was able to grab a few pix of the food. My cauliflower was excellent (with a small addition of sodium chloride), spicy and not mushy. My companion’s beef rigatoni was also declared tasty,

However the standout feature for me was the (smallest) room with a view. 10 out of 10 for sanitaryware placement!

Rating: 5/5

180 House (members only): https://www.sohohouse.com/houses/180-house