Hush Brasserie

Jasmine ice tea with strawberry & elderflower

Hush Brasserie is one of those places I really want to be outstanding, not least because it's really close to where I work, but also because it has the potential to be great. It's just not quite there yet. Formerly the French Kitchen, Hush is part of the Sweet Potato group, who own such delights as Villandry, Sake No Hanna and the brilliant Cabana (and I say that as a non-meat eater. It's a churrascaria really, so for me to rate it they must be doing something right). I'm unsure as to where Hush fits into this, other than as a french-style bistro trying to be all things to all people. Albeit mainly tourists around Holborn and hungry office workers. Since I fall into the latter, and since they market themselves as a "business lunch" venue, I'd query why the staff seem unable to get it together. Both times I've visited they've have kept my party waiting to order and the service has been patchy to say the least. The food is reasonable, although maybe a bit overpriced for what it is, so choose carefully.

Dressed dorset crab with avocado & toasted sourdough

Whole globe artichoke & hazelnut vinaigrette

The drinks we started with were delicious. I went for the jasmine ice tea and my companion tried a white wine and strawberry concoction which was delicious. She started with the crab and avocado which I think was probably the stand out dish for me. It's a hearty portion, served with sourdough (and who doesn't like sourdough?) The crab was light and well-dressed with tasty mayo, on lots of smooth avo. Yum. I went for the artichoke because it's a fairly rare sight on an British menu, and the hazelnut butter sounded delish.  I'm a big fan of nuts. The artichoke was a bit past-its-best really, but there was enough of it to make a decent starter. I just can't understand why restaurants serve dishes like this unless the ingredients are really fresh and look good. But anyway, in comparison with the main course it was a winner.

Spaghetti with tiger prawns, chilli & garlic

Spaghetti with tiger prawns. What could go wrong? A staple in faux Italian chain restaurants, I thought this would be pretty good. Wrong. I left the majority of it and the waitress did question why, which surprised me given that it was a portion of pasta large enough for two, but stuck together in a clump and dumped onto a plate. The prawns were fine, but they were definitely added as an afterthought. Seemingly, so too was the seasoning and the chilli and garlic. I like tasty food, but apparently the chef doesn't.

Crispy duck salad with honey & mustard dressing

My companion's main of crispy duck salad with a side of fries was infinitely better-or she's far less fussy than me. Probably a bit of both, but I have had the fries at Hush before and they are good. The lobster roll I had them with on my initial visit, whilst nowhere near anything you'd get in the States, was not a bad effort. The side of butternut squash with pine nuts and raisins was nice, very autumnal and perfect to have when the rain is pouring down outside, as it was when we dined.

Roasted butternut squash with pine nuts and raisins

The desserts at Hush are good, the Mars bar cheesecake with praline ice cream is delicious and I will race you for it. Even though we weren't particularly hungry, we decided to share the other amazing-sounding Honeycomb ice-cream with hot chocolate sauce. After waiting with our dessert menus for over 10 minutes we were disappointed to be informed that this wasn't available. I'm not sure why we weren't told this when we were given the menus, but this is the issue with the wait-staff at Hush. Nice they are, but there is just something... missing.