All you can eat, luxury-style

I don't think I've encountered a buffet of such munificence before. 'Help yourself,' said our waitress, 'go as often as you like.' I know this is par for the course in all-you-can-eat Chinese glooperamas, but check this out: Parma ham; grilled goat's cheese with caramelised onions; smoked duck; smoked halibut; fat slabs of rather excellent foie gras. If you're greedy for luxury ingredients, this lunch could be the best deal in town.

The fuddy-duddy Athenaeum Hotel has had more than a brush-up: every surface now breathes somewhat Barbie-esque, fleshily pink glamour: walls are crusted with mother-of-pearl buttons; dusky pink roses cluster behind thick glass; sculptures glitter with mirrored fragments. I thought it rather fabulous. And Damask, the restaurant, does a good job of disguising its anteroom nature with luxury aplenty.

The menu is extraordinary, veering wildly between the decadent (foie and lobster) and the proletarian (bacon sarnies). It's like the world's most elaborate room service menu - and it's open until 3am, so if you find yourself longing for a wee-hours bacon sandwich (albeit at a price) here's where to head.

Headings are teeth-achingly twee (First Things First, Delectably Delicious) and food has occasional off moments - omelette Arnold Bennet tasted pre-prepared and the bubble and squeak was soggy - but this is an intriguing and unusual bolt-hole.

A meal for two with wine, water and service costs about £100. 116 Picadilly W1. Tel: 020 7499 3464. Tube: Green Park.

Damask
Piccadilly, London, W1J 7BJ