Bronte restaurant review: A fusion of Tom Dixon design and Antipodean cuisine

After a redesign, the Bronte restaurant reflects almost every cuisine around the world in a colonial-inspired setting

The interior of the dining room, with jade coloured booths and dusty pink seats

Stepping inside Bronte is like walking into a colonial dream, but with a punch of modernism. With double-height ceilings, huge palms, arched glass doors and a colonnade tiled terrace, British designer Tom Dixon has transformed the former Strand Dining Rooms into an eclectic mix of periods and styles to reflect the Victorian explorers and Grand Tour goers, in the second venue Dixon has designed for restaurateurs Adam and Trevor Davies.

Tom Dixon's pink concrete bar and hanging pendant lights in the entrance

Recently opened, the beautiful dusty pink concrete bar and Dixon’s reflective pendant lights (which have moved on from his original copper colour to a brassier tone that fades to clear glass at the bottom) are really the main event and dominate the entrance. Ornaments range from a large Buddha head to an oversized plastic white boat. When I asked about the vessel, the waiter replied, “No one has questioned it, but it’s meant to be part of the nautical theme.” It looks wildly out of place.

The more intimate dining area at the back has a mixture of well-paired pale pink curved seats and jade leather booths, with an Art Deco mirrored cocktail bar covered in pewter. And at each table, a Dixon brass tealight. On the surrounding walls are glass-mirrored cabinets, with minerals and fossils that look more like a museum exhibition, based on the collections of 16th-century explorers.

To clarify, the name refers not to the literary family from Yorkshire: the muse for the inspiration is much closer to home and is visible from the restaurant’s terrace. And that’s the man standing atop the 52m (170ft) column overseeing Trafalgar Square – Admiral Nelson, the 1st Duke of Bronte (see the connection), and one of the kings of collection and exploration.

With a worldly theme reflected in its décor and offerings, there are more countries represented on the menu than you could shake a stick at. Designed by Andrew Lassetter and Jonathan Villar, and inspired by far-off destinations, it includes Asian, Antipodean, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, with a little British thrown in too. In short, there are few popular cuisines left out.

The chicken samosa with feta and butternut squash from the small plates menu (Jodi Hinds)

After confirming three or four small plates (£5-£7) served as starters, we began with Spanish tapas-style dining, choosing British and Indian dishes. The combination of prawn and chorizo in the Scotch egg with a hint of chilli and a runny yolk was the winner of the four plates, followed closely by chicken samosas, packed with feta and butternut squash in a gorgeous, golden thin crispy pastry, and miso yoghurt with pomegranate. Moving to Asia-inspired selections, the staples of ginger, coriander, lemongrass and lime shone through in the prawn ceviche, while the chunky Vietnamese-style crab and avocado rice paper wraps with mango, mint and a side nam prik were meaty, if only a little too many noodles inside.

The next section of the menu is slightly confused. Below “salads and Bronte food” is a burger sitting aside a crab dish, edamame and kale pancakes, and fish and chips, proving the fusion idea has not gone amiss anywhere. In fact, at times it’s more like fusion on steroids, with several items on the menu that you’ll have to quickly Google under the table, unless you decide to let your waiter – dressed in what looks like a heavy-duty butcher's apron – explain it all.


 Prawn ceviche with ginger, lemongrass, coriander and lime 
 (Jodi Hinds)

The seafood-heavy menu offers a special of the day, along with scallops, swordfish steaks and giant prawns (£24) that are more akin to small lobsters, served in the same way – minus the fiddly cutlery. I went off-piste and chose the marinated lamb rump (£18) – thinly sliced and delicately rare in the middle, with a smoky barbecue flavour consolidated in the fat. It's served with peppery coleslaw and a sweet honey and rosemary sauce, which I was glad was in a separate ramekin. We chose sides of miso aubergine and feta (£5), and a generous and well-dressed avocado and orange salad (£5). Pudding followed with a chilli chocolate fondant – I was warned, “It’s very hot!” (it wasn’t, just a nice kick) – a vast and punchy passion fruit brulee, and a robust espresso martini. Four cocktails, two glasses of wine, and three courses and two sides for two people came to around £120.

We finished the night sitting on Dixon’s fan-chair seats on the foliage-lined terrace – if it wasn’t for the unabashed drum of evening city noise, you could be somewhere as far flung as the menu throws you, if only a little confused on where that might be.

1-3 The Strand, WC2N 5EJ (020 7930 8855; bronte.co.uk). Mon-Thurs (8am-11pm); Fri (8am-midnight); Sat (9am-midnight); Sun (9am to 11pm)

Food:****
Ambience:*****
Service:****