Royal Air Force Club

Angella

Elegant traditional with pix of planes 11th December 2008

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A wonderful building full of paintings of planes in action, display on Spitfires, painting of Berlin airlift.

The elegant dining room is carpeted and quiet. There is a dress code and rulings about recording devices.

You can order two-course or three course set meals, or a la carte. The a la carte menu changes fortnightly.

Starters included soup of the day and liver pate.

We watched beef being carved from a trolley which had a cover.

I had set menu, partridge. It was December, the time of year for hearing a Christmas carol about 'a partridge in a pear tree' and I'd never had partridge before. I won't again either. I always find that chicken is the favourite bird worldwide for good reason. The partridge was small tough with no special flavour. What's more it was underdone and bloody. I asked them to cook it more. However, I did like the chestnuts and the heart-shape fried bread. The green beans were suitably crisp.

The cod from the a la carte menu was good. Vegetables had to be ordered separately.

The dessert trolley included what looks like summer pudding but it's winter pudding because it contains alcohol - Mulled Wine Winter Pudding. Other choices included apple pie, fruit salad; sherry trifle, mince pies, ice creams and sorbets, Yule log. Hot desserts were Xmas pudding with brandy sauce and Rum; and chocolate sponge pudding with clotted cream.

The clotted cream was too thick, like butter. It should look and sit solid but still be suckable and slurpable.

The British cheeses were most unusual, and included Cornish Yarg wrapped in nettles.

The dining room is open lunch 12.30 pm -last orders 2.30 pm and dinner 6.30 pm to last orders at 9.15 pm.

We had cafetiere coffee. With mints in contrasting colours of foil - good to look at. We had coffee upstairs in a long lounge. You can pay your bill in the dining room but have coffee served upstairs to drink at leisure sitting in arm chairs or on sofas. The lounge was redecorated in 2008, with the best picture I've ever seen of glamorous young Elizabeth (now Queen).

The lounge is named after the man who donated the house to the RAF to be an officers' club.

the building is equally near Hyde Park and Green Park stations.
Hyde Park station has wonderful murals.

The club is open to present or previous members holding a commission with the RAF and their families, but also has reciprocal arrangements with two clubs in Edinburgh, Tanglin Club in Singapore, several in New York and more elsewhere.

I went there as the guest of somebody who is a member of the Williams Club in New York. For reciprocal club see the website www rafclub.org.uk Members of reciprocal clubs can also book accommodation.

My friend said the RAF club had a great buffet on Saturday lunch time with lots of cheeses.

If you are just visiting, pick up a copy of the magazine which members are sent. It told me about VIP members and past events. One of three survivors of The Great War, aged 112, had had a book launch here. And a young woman, the first to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, lunched here after receiving her award nearby at Buckingham Palace.

I also read articles about the development and use of the Harrier and Lancaster planes. The bust of a plane designer is in the corridor leading to the cloakrooms. Another article explained the reason why certain planes were shown in the stained glass window installed in 2008 as the result of a bequest.

Biggles at 26/12/08

Surely only one 'L' in Angela?
Chicken superior to partridge? You frightful little plebeian. The partridge served at the club is better than anywhere in London.
It's an AEROplne, by the way. This is what comes of allowing Americans, and worse - Americans with guests, into the club. It is the Royal Air Force Club. No place for civilian Proles.

Angella at 27/12/08

Thank you to anybody who sends in a comment. Yes, there is only one l in Angela but I had difficulty finding my own reviews on the internet and could not register any domain names starting with Angela or angela (sic) as they were already taken.

My view, and that of the management of most public sites, is that one should never insult other writers personally, simply refer to their comment and express a different view. Thus the comment about plebeian is not acceptable, whilst the comment on civilians is.

The only time for anybody to address me personally is to email me to ask my advice. Or if they are charming enough to invite me to dinner to try partridge again at this establishment or another.

I would be interested to know where else one can get good partridge. I am willing to try any dish or establishment three times.

Thanks for the spelling tip. I could change the spelling in my review but I prefer to allow the comment to remain relevant.
American spelling is taking over. As an English teacher I have resisted it for years. But many major UK media organizations have changed their style books to US spelling which often has the advantage of being shorter. I tend to prefer traditional spelling, because short forms hide the origin of the word, often Latin or Greek, which can cloud the meaning or lead to ambiguity.

The RAF club was of great personal interest to me as I am writing the biography of my beloved late uncle who was in the RAF in WWII. Therefore, as a civilian, I am glad to hear any opinions and the sort of vocabulary and tone of those who express their view.

aussiemike at 07/11/09

Kudos to you Angela!
An eloquently reasoned reply to what I consider an equally unreasonable and somewhat ignorant comment about your visit.
I for one would never stoop so low as to make such comments about someone I had never met.
On your recommendation I will definitely visit this club AND try the partridge. It's a dish I've not eaten before and I'm always ready to try anything new.

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