I am MAD about Christmas dinner and, as soon as December comes round, I try and squeeze as many as possible down my fat froat. I kicked things off nice and early this year with the work Christmas lunch at The Temperance in Marylebone, London.
Set menu, group dining scenarios are often disappointing, but this Christmas menu got me excited:
Traditional roast turkey, pigs in blankets, bread sauce & cranberry relish served with traditional roast potatoes in duck fat, chestnuts & sprouts, carrot & swede mash and braised red cabbage
Those details set my expectations high. Pigs in blankets! Yeah!
But unfortunately this dinner fell at all of the traditional group menu hurdles: the veg were overcooked and stone cold, and the turkey was bland. Edible, but certainly more school dinner than gastro pub. The Temperance has some good reviews for food elsewhere so I’m not going to write them off over this most difficult of challenges. Let’s be honest, work Christmas parties are more about this sort of behaviour than perfectly cooked sprouts…
The staff were incredibly tolerant even at the end of our 11 hour drink-a-thon, and that’s really what counts in these festive times…
The Temperance, two courses for £19.95, three courses for £23.50 (Christmas menu only)
74-76 York Street, London W1H 1DP
Mange Tout 
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