An American dream

An official statement announcing the demise of Osia bar and restaurant recently arrived on my desk. It is attributed to proprietor Raymond de Fazio, who puts its failure down to 'right product, wrong location', which brings to mind the crucial mantra that location, location and location are the prerequisites for success in the hospitality industry.

De Fazio is sticking with the venue, though, and now that his former business partner and head chef at Osia, Scott Webster, has wandered off to his native Australia, his idea for this venue's salvation lies in the dream of an American-style bar-cum-diner.

The old Osia has essentially been dumbed down: fine dining ornaments have been replaced by ketchup and mustard bottles, elegant cards have given way to wipe-clean, plastic-sleeved menus.

What was the restaurant is now a snacketeria with large booths: the bar area at the back of the building remains an elegant, high room with a long row of comfortable booths running along the wall. The only change I could detect in the design is the senseless concealment of a rather splendid, double-height, leaded glass window.

Although Broadway operates seven days a week, the bar bit of it only opens six days (not Sunday), and then not until 5pm. The cocktail list is realistically priced at around £6 a throw, and for the most part they're extremely well made and nicely presented. A Caipirinha and a Mojito did not disappoint. Neither did a spicy-as-it-should-be Bloody Mary.

The American theme runs through to the beers, although Coors Lite, Rolling Rock and Michelob Ultra are lamentable lightweights of that nation's ever-more interesting beer products. An extremely short wine list (six red, four white) ignores US vineyards in favour of relatively uninteresting, low-budget wines.

The food menu reads well and should appeal to fans of the American way. Salads, club sandwiches, bagels, jambalaya chicken, Cajun-crusted salmon, fish cakes and steak sandwiches is an unchallenging menu in comparison to Osia's Australian-Far East fusion, and perfectly agreeable fare for those in need of not-quite-fast food.

Even though it doesn't set the world alight, I like the place because I can nearly always get a seat and am assured of friendly service and reasonably priced drinks. Haymarket is a curious thoroughfare on the hospitality circuit. Despite its proximity to some of London's most trodden paths, the masses tend not to venture as far as the Theatre Royal for food or drink, and this, sadly, might be one of the reasons this place had to change tack recently.

Deep in my heart, though, I suspect that de Fazio might have to give up the ghost on this place. It is still a case of right product, wrong location.

Broadway Bar and Grill
11 Haymarket, SW1