Dessert Restaurant by Sarah Barber at Hotel Cafe Royal

We paid a little visit, which turned out to be a huge visit in terms of waist band (and pocket), to the Hotel Cafe Royal on Regent Street when we heard about the first ever dessert restaurant.

That's not entirely fact - they have savoury dishes so you don't 'overdo' it (highly impossible).

To be honest though, I haven't got a sweet tooth but I just couldn't resist. We were a group of 4 - 2 of us were sweet people, 2 of us not so much, so we had a good equal mix amongst us at the table.

There is a choice of 2 menus - the 3 course sweet OR savoury, the 4 course pick 'n' mix and the all out 5 course Sarah in Wonderland, named after the chef. All comes with wine pairing for a hefty price.

I decided on the spot that I would go for the 'all out' menu - 5 course WITH wine pairing - I'm only going to come here once, let's be honest, so I might as well - as my new motto goes.

Heritage beetroot and Golden Cross - goat’s cheese, wild honey, beetroot snow with Pinot Blanc “Les Barriques”, Domaine Ostertag, Alsace, 2012. I'm not the biggest beetroot fan but mixed with the goat's cheese - it was a match made in heaven.

Wye Valley asparagus - green asparagus, quail egg, truffle mayonnaise with Pouilly Fumé La Rambarde, Domaine Landrat-Guyollot, Loire, 2012. This dish was by far a favourite for us on the table. It was fresh and light and combined perfectly with the mayonnaise. The wine was also very good - we were given two wines for the dish which we weren't too sure about but both were very refreshing. 

Yuzu yoghurt - lemon curd, lemon sherbet, meringues with Côteaux du Layon, St Aubin, Domaine des Forges, Loire, 2013. This created a stir for many diners as the presentation of lego was just too much to take in. How could anyone not be excited by this dish?! However, the overall dish was slightly disappointing - the mousse texture somehow made this taste quite bland and perhaps needed something a bit more - or maybe bigger lemon meringues?

Peach Melba - raspberries, almond custard, peaches with Château Roumieu, Sauternes, 2012. The almond custard came in a squeezy tube which was fun, but the whole dish was rather bland, the textures together just didn't quite work for me and there was not enough almond. I was also not a fan of the sweet wine, even eating the dessert, the wine was just too sweet - it was almost like drinking pure syrup. I think this was the point where I was peering over the edge...

Wham Bam Pow - chocolate box filled with an olive oil biscuit, passionfruit and ginger pate d’fruit, chocolate pop with Akashi-Tai Shirome Ginjo Umeshu, Hyogo, Japan. This was a rather exciting last dish - everything edible and the popping candy is always a fun idea, however, at this point I was almost about to explode and so I just couldn't get through the chocolate mousse (again, what's with the mousse)? The Japanese sweet wine was also quite interesting - it tasted of prunes which was strangely addictive.  

As a bonus, you get these cakes (yes, these are edible) when you pay the bill - if you hadn't had enough sweet stuff already. A good old fashioned victoria sponge but the marmalade was just too much and I could only manage a bite. 

On the whole, it was a fun experience. It's definitely a place you go to for a special occasion and the staff are very friendly and helpful. My 5 course with wine pairing came to £70 which, for me personally, is quite a big dent in my purse for what I had. Don't get me wrong - it's not the quantity that is the problem, but the concept as a whole. It was perhaps a bit too much sweet stuff - and that came from the diner friends who liked the sweets too. The ideas and the themes are great but think the course could be rearranged slightly to allow diners to enjoy the last few dishes more (as opposed to forcing it down because you're almost nearing the end). The lasting thought from the table was that everyone preferred the savoury asparagus dish as the favourite - which tells you that maybe an individual doesn't need all that dessert after all...