Travelzoo deals

The Rib Room, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Last Saturday my son, usually a lively eleven year-old, whispered his way through dinner. He didn’t have a sore throat. He wasn’t ill. The problem was that we’d taken him to restaurant so swish that he just couldn’t relax.

Family weekend

We were staying in London for the weekend as a family and decided to go out for a grown-up dinner. Travelzoo had invited me to review one of their local deals and I saw that they were offering vouchers for for The Rib Room, a restaurant not far from the Go Native Hyde Park apartments we were staying in. The Rib Room is in the five-star Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in London’s Knightsbridge and opened over 50 years ago. A friend had been there recently and mentioned how much she’d enjoyed it so I decided it would be a good place for us to go.

Travelzoo vouchers

Travelzoo is an international company which recommends discount deals for things like hotels, restaurants and theatre tickets. The deals are always changing and it’s worth checking out what they have on offer. The deal I spotted for The Rib Room was for a cocktail and three courses from a set menu for £29.

When we arrive at 6.30 the restaurant is quiet but it soon fills up. A long, marble-topped bar sits at one side of the restaurant. The lighting is low, the chairs dark leather and the tables covered in thick, white cloths. The atmosphere is clubby and discreet. There’s a big table in a curtained alcove at one end of the room and BBC TV presenter David Dickinson is sitting two tables away from us. The staff are charming and produce alcohol-free cocktails for the children while my husband and I drink bellinis.

The food

We enjoy yummy dishes like chargrilled salmon fillet and roast rib of beef. The puddings are my favourite part, especially the caramelised orange cream with orange sorbet:

Caramelised orange cream with orange sorbet. Copyright Gretta Schifano

The food is good, the service excellent, but my son seems to have lost his voice. As soon as we step outside he finds it again in the heart of blingy London. He shouts: ‘LOOK, THERE’S A GOLD FERRARI!’

I look. He’s right:

Gold Ferrari, London. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Family travel lowdown: The Travelzoo vouchers for The Rib Room cost £29 for a cocktail and three courses from a set menu and don’t include drinks or a service charge. Thank you to Travelzoo for providing our vouchers for the purposes of this review.