It was my beautiful friend Abigail’s birthday (whom you might recognise from my recent Spanish adventures) not long ago, so I decided to treat her to a lavish birthday dinner to celebrate at none other than Kaspar’s Seafood Bar & Grill at the regal Savoy hotel.

Bookatable seems to have a continuous stream of amazing value offers going of late, enabling us ordinary folk to dine at plush & expensive restaurants for a fraction of the usual cost.
So it was without hesitation that I nabbed the Bookatable London Restaurant Festival (LRF) deal to enjoy a 3-course meal and a glass of champagne at the famed Savoy, at just £49.50pp. Although LRF is now over, Bookatable are still offering their equally awesome star deals, which I test-drove at M Raw in September.
Thankfully I arrived a little early (total shocker!), so took myself on a tour of the stunning hotel lobby, complete with oversized chandeliers, beautiful flower arrangements and checkerboard flooring.

The history & luxury of this grand establishment is hard to miss, with a well-dressed man on hand to serve the ladies returning from a hard day’s labour of visiting Chanel, Prada and Gucci with an aperitif, should they wish to click their fingers.

To reach Kaspar’s one must pass through the beautiful Thames Foyer, where families dressed in their Sunday best sit & enjoy delicious afternoon teas, all lovingly hand-crafted in the Savoy’s on-site patisserie.
The room centres around what I can only describe as an ornate and eye-catching bird cage feature, topped with a gorgeous glittering stained glass dome.

With such an unavoidable route to the restaurant itself, it would be easy for the décor of Kaspar’s to disappoint, but that it most certainly does not.
The dining room is the epitome of extravagant, with a stunning white-marble centre-piece crustacean bar, with a jagged glass structure suspended above it that is reminiscent of falling shards of ice.


Expensive bubbly sits poised to pop.

Whilst teal leather banquettes & stools, and dark, solid woods, dominate the rest of the room.

The room was totally abuzz with well-dressed diners enjoying their evening meal.

And it didn’t take us long to join in on the fun.

A generous basket of French baguette hot straight outta the oven (observed with my own two eyes) was served with a real, rich butter.

We took our time perusing the menu, mostly due to the overwhelming number of excellent options to choose from.

Seriously, there were FOUR starters that I wanted. I can assure you that that does not happen often.
All that thinking resulted in empty glasses, and so without further ado, a bottle of Portenova dry & crisp white wine (£36.00) was ordered to accompany our impending fish extravaganza, which we gleefully guzzled with our delightful dishes.
In the end, Abi opted for the snails (1 of my 4), which arrived as six large, shell-less beauties, swimming in a dangerously moreish herb garlic butter, which I gladly helped mop up the remnants of with some French stick.

After MUCH deliberation, I chose the crab cake with watercress salad and sweet mustard dressing. Generous in size, packed full of supremely fresh crab and with a terrific fried crust, I was in absolute heaven. The dressing was the perfect tangy accompaniment.

For mains, Abi had the seafood laksa served with rice noodles, pak choi and crispy tofu. The seafood consisted of salmon fillet, a white fish, prawns and small scallops, all cooked to perfection and waiting to be unconventionally but tastefully bathed in the laksa sauce.


It would be fair to say that this was not your usual laksa, with the half-Malaysian beauty sitting across from me bewildered albeit unmoved by the complete lack of spice, and intriguing presentation style.
In short, it was a very tasty seafood noodle dish, but a laksa it probably was not.
I opted for Kaspar’s catch of the day, which happened to be monkfish served with a fine squash courgetti and sprinkling of pumpkin seeds.


The fish was well-cooked, but was unfortunately a little bland for my taste, with the “delicate flavours of the fish” left to be the star of the show. No one’s fault, but I personally prefer bold flavours in my food, so politely asked our ever-attentive waiter if he would mind switching it for the laksa, which was no problem at all.

We decided to go off LRF menu with a side order of sweet potato fries (£5.00), which were FAB.
The perfect ratio of crisp to fluff, and served with a delicious homemade chili mayo to dunk in to my heart’s content, I was in heaven.

They were on par with those at Hotbox and Mildred’s, and even my own, which is high praise indeed!
Totally & utterly satisfied, but with our second sweet stomachs revving up ready, we let our hungry eyes roam the dessert menu.
Once more, we were spoilt for choice, with no less than 8 equally mouth-watering options to choose from.
Since Abi was the birthday girl I let her have first dibs on pud (instant regret), with her settling on the dark chocolate fondant with vanilla ice-cream and crunchy chocolate soil. Coz that’s what friends are for………. right?

At the first incision a rich chocolate sauce began to spill, although the separation of butter was a slight mistake, but thankfully a tasty one nonetheless.

FOR THE BLOG (I love you blog, but I’m not doing that again), I chose a different dessert, in the form of the caramel crémeux with milk chocolate mousse and caramelised pecans.

It was a perfectly adequate dessert, but a little light for my taste (the heavier, the better, in my book) with the airy chocolate demolished in seconds, although the crunchy sweet pecans were a treat to be savoured.
Plates polished, we were each given a passionfruit marshmallow to end our meal on a crystallised sugary high.

We had an absolutely excellent evening from start to finish, with the food almost flawless, the selection overwhelmingly attractive, the staff & surroundings a resounding 10/10, and the LRF deal providing excellent value.

With happy stomachs plastering big smiles on our faces, we strolled back through the hotel, making a little pit-stop to peek into the patisserie.




I’ll have you know that there are some very accommodating dapper Gentlemen waiting outside the main doors to assist you into your carriage home.

But, unfortunately, I am not quite a Princess yet, and so it was off to the corner for an Uber for me.
8/10
I dined as a guest of Bookatable, but all opinions are my own.
I love Savoy and all those glittering chandeliers and I agree Kaspar’s has a gorgeous dining room. As a fish lover there is so much of the menu that I’d want! Sadly I was a little disappointed by my meal there but it partly my fault as it was a couple of weeks before my wedding so I ordered a salad:
http://www.silverspoonlondon.co.uk/2014/04/kaspars-at-the-savoy.html
Still I thought they could have done a little better. Anyway, the chocolate fondant looks divine but I like the look of your choice too.
Lots of love,
Angie
I thought everything was perfect, bar the food (although it was still very good). Both our starters were FAB but I didn’t like my main and Abi’s was good but nothing mindblowing. Still, I think it’s so beautiful and if I go back I’ll just order 100 starters! 🙂 You should go back too! xxx
Ahhh looks like an absolutely wonderful meal! Mum and I have been meant to visit Kaspar’s TWICE now and had to rearrange both times – but I think we’ve got to make the effort in the near future! Also hats off to you for being able to resist the chocolate fondant!
Lauren xx | The Lifestyle Diaries
I think you’ll love it Lauren, go go go! 🙂 And I know – I wasn’t happy about it hahaha xxx
It’s funny what we do in the name of blogging, choosing different desserts, isn’t it! i’d have been sad to miss out on that chocolate fondant too 😉
Suze | LuxuryColumnist
Never again Suze, never again! xxx
This reminds me of the most amazing laksa I’ve had in London, from a hole in the wall Thai place in Brixton market. Defo not as glam in terms of ambience but definitely so good in flavour!
I still love the Savoy though!
Honey x The Girl Next Shore
It’s super snazzy and beaut but maybe they could fine tune the food just slightly. Street food is always the best!!! xxx
I’ve been to the Savoy bar a few times, but never eaten there. My parents love the Savoy Grill but I’ve always wanted to eat at Kaspars! This has confirmed that I definitely need to go soon!!
C x | Lux Life
You should deffoes make them take you Catherine – it was lovely 🙂 xxx
What a fabulous combination of great food, fantastic company and stunning ambience and service! Did you have a chance to see what veggie options were like at the restaurant? xx
I really recommend it Ayushi! And no, unfortunately I didn’t, so I guess would be worth looking up the menu online before going, but the venue is stunning and the service is second to none! xxx
What a brilliant friend you are! I might send this to mine with “hint hint” in the subject line 🙂 I have never ever chosen a dish for the sake of the blog, I admire your commitment! xxx
Lucy @ La Lingua Italy
Haha Lucy… it won’t be happening again 😉 hehehe xxx
Bookatable have had some *wonderful* deals haven’t they!
They have indeed 🙂 xxx