The Coral Room

The racy Coral Room is the latest, inspired addition to the 1920s Lutyens-designed Bloomsbury Hotel. This seductively lit, soigné salon (the hotel’s former lobby) is set around a shimmering art deco bar, its exuberant Jazz Age decor inviting you to linger over cocktails. The welcome is genuinely warm, service focused and standards high. Big Smoke – typical of a competent range of modern and retro Slings, Sours, Martinis and Manhattans – is a Tequila, chipotle and mescal Mule with a subtle kick. Alternatively, head for the Garden of England, an elegant alt’ Aperol Spritz that adds sherry, lavender, lemon and grapefruit juices to the original recipe. Post-breakfast, order from an all-day menu of small plates and ‘treats’ such as devils on horseback; lobster and crayfish mac & cheese; or chicory, pear, walnut and Stilton salad – perhaps with a glass of English wine. Cream teas are also served at The Coral: a classic-in-the-making.

You'll find the stunning Coral Room tucked away on a back street in between Tottenham Court Road and the British Museum, and were you to walk past on Great Russell Street, you might easily not realise that this pink gem was there. The Coral Room is hidden away at the back of the Bloomsbury Hotel, and serves food all day, starting with breakfast, light lunches and nibbles in the day, and following with afternoon tea and a smart menu of small plates and sharers into the evening. 

The most striking thing about the Coral Room as you walk in is the decor. Perhaps not surprising given the name, The Coral Room is decked out in coral pink, and seductively lit too. The room focuses around a beautiful art deco bar, which glows with built-in lights, and shimmers underneath huge chandeliers. The bar is well stocked too - there's a huge selection of beers, spirits and wines (including a wide range of English sparkling wine), and cocktails too, including a Coral Highball (amaro, gin, le rhubarb and cardamom soda), and the Hanky Panky (red vermouth, gin and Fernet-Branca). 

Breakfast kicks off with pastries, granola, eggs, buttermilk pancakes and avocado on toast, before the real fun begins with a Med-inspired lunch menu - dishes include chicken Milanese with capers, rocket, Parmesan and fries, chargrilled sirloin ciabatta with caramelised onion, rocket and blue cheese, and a classic Caesar salad. Many of these return in the evening, alongside a few more international plates, like teriyaki chicken skewers, and corn tostadas with whipped hummus, black olives and crumbled feta. Plus, The Coral Room serves brunch on weekends, and afternoon tea as well. 

The Coral Room also has The Coral Garden - an intimate, sheltered terrace, equipped with botanical canopy, heaters and cosy fireplace.