Octagon Restaurant - Home House - Marylebone, London

Home House has always been one of London's most sought-after private members' haunts for daytime work and after-hours imbibing, but its dining options are sometimes overlooked, which, as we found out, is a gross oversight. We investigated Home House's pan-Asian restaurant The Octagon on a Thursday evening and found it to be on par with some of the top Michelin-starred Chinese and Japanese restaurants in the capital. 

The Octagon takes its name from the octagonal floor plan and is a masterwork of Art Deco decadence. It's quite bijous with room for only twenty diners along metallic silver-hued buttonback banquettes and swooping charcoal grey armchairs. The most striking aspect of the room is undoubtedly the lofty neo-classical 1820s ceiling which depicts nymphs and zephyrs at play. 

As mentioned before, the far eastern fare was a force of nature. We kicked off our meal with some excellent cuts of raw fish. A selection of sashimi was prepared with delicacy, showcasing superlative slices of salmon and tuna with cucumber maki on the side line. Tuna tataki was just ever so slightly seared to reveal a ruby red interior and immersed in an astringent mirin and rice vinegar sauce. Our expectations had ballooned at this point, but we were super chuffed with was to follow. 

A tranche of black cod was incredibly delicious, nourishing and silken, marinated in a sweet miso sauce and then roasted slowly so that its flesh flaked off in quivering ivory slabs. A wagyu beef fillet was prepared with precision, marbled beautifully and served atop a bed of spinach with al dente pak choi on the side. We wrapped up our evening with a chocolate fondant, which had been baked to perfection with a crispy exterior and molten chocolate erupting from its centre under the edge of the fork. The dark richness was complemented nicely by a sugary dollop of honeycomb ice cream. 

We were duly impressed by our visit to The Octagon and can recommend it without hesitation. Having worked with Home House for many years and time after time appreciated its energetic social milieu, it was great to get a taste of the fine-dining as well, which, in our opinion, is Michelin level.

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