The Devonshire Soho has been garnering a ton of attention on social media which always causing a little skepticism after the less than stellar visit to Paris’s Bubble Bliss of similar acclaim. However, the menu looked great, and we were in the area on an off time ~14:30 on a Monday and decided to chance it for a large, late lunch.

The charming exterior leads to an average (read, not the most charming) pub on the ground floor. However, the clever restaurant menu is tucked away just one floor up. And I mean tucked! The tables are really on top of each other, that one must suck in their gut and bum when trying to find their seat. The white table cloths and close proximity felt very NYC. Protip: make sure to use the loo before you’re seated.

The gastronomic experience starts with yeasty, warm rolls and fresh, salty butter. What could be better? A glass of champagne? Ok, they have that too.

As it was the Gentleman’s birthday meal, he ordered quite the melange to share– lamb chops, pork chop, and lobster accompanyed by duck fat chips and green sauce. The in house butcher really left his mark, as we devored all of it, even the lobster, of which I’m not generally a fan, was out of this world good.

We ended with the sticky toffee pudding, again the best I’ve ever had to ring in another year. The table next door (a famous tv-hosts and authors) caught wind of our celebration and joined us for some tantalizing coversation and a following bottle (or two) of bubbly.

The Devonshire was the most pleasant surprise and exceeded the hype built around its clever social marketing. I can’t wait to return for steak frites (and more pudding). Stay tuned!