Hunter 486 is a haven of fuss

The Arch’s stylists the Gorgeous Group has named the hotel’s restaurant after the Fifties district dialling code for Marylebone, "HUNter 486", a moniker just too mannered to bother with. But then this outfit does feel over-designed.

Inside, there’s lots of art and every little area has a different look. Or, as the hotel proclaims: "Each space has a story ..."

The restaurant is part of a big open room with a "salon de champagne" at one end and a glossy cocktail bar in the middle, boasting big leathery "waltzer" banquettes (where we rashly chose to eat). Sitting here proved uncomfortable; we felt ceaselessly surveilled by anxious staff.

Doubtless they’d detected us as unreliable reviewers rather than bona fide punters but even so ... We were asked if our main courses were all right a dozen times — that’s harassment, not hospitality.

All our courses were fine. There’s an "all-day grazing menu" here, none too challenging in concept, with Caesar salad, fish pie, steak and chips, and pizzas. But the delivery, under head chef Shane Pearson, formerly at the Electric Brasserie, is polished and professional.

From the fixed menu (two courses, £15.50, three £19.50, plus service), a double-baked blue cheese soufflé was dense and eggy with a good cheesy flavour, served with some pleasant caramelised beetroot and some even sweeter beetroot purée, plus a cress salad, perked up with sesame. A mound of this same salad also appeared alongside a terrine of foie gras and guinea-fowl (£9.50), a generous portion, in big rustic chunks, keeping the tastes well apart. Both these starters were picturesquely presented on a piece of slate, rather than a plate, with some arty smearing involved too.

From the grill, a spatchcocked poussin (£16.50) was tender and bland, despite being cooked with lemon and thyme and served moreover with a Madeira sauce, resting on a mash of leek and potato so lavishly creamy that it was practically another sauce itself. From the fixed menu, smoked haddock confit was rich too, the surprisingly big flakes of fish served on top of crushed potatoes dressed with chives, with a poached egg and lots of hollandaise loosening it up. After this we didn’t attempt the short list of desserts, which includes a steamed bread-and-butter pudding with hot custard for those committed to total wipe-out.

The Arch aims to deliver "London Townhouse living", the mantra of all new, would-be fashionable hotels. But at the moment, the place feels a little too fussy and effortful for that atmosphere to come off, for actual Londoners at any rate. Dean Street Townhouse remains the benchmark, showing how much cooler this style can be.

Hunter 486
Great Cumberland Place, London, W1H 7FD