10th September 2008
OMG, it's so, like, cool!
I haven't quite decided what the appeal is for a place like Soho House. For me, it's about seeing and being seen, being able to tell your friends and family that you've been somewhere cool and 'exclusive' and generally just feeling very fabulous and girl-about-town. I was taken to Soho House by a member for a business breakfast. It was desperately exciting not least because bumping into a very famous and very hungover celeb was a genuine possibility.
I arrived having no clue where the entrance was and once located, didn't quite know where to go once inside. It has that air about it that screams, "darling, if you have to ask where the toilets are, you don't belong". Once inside, the dark wood panelling and large leather armchairs were a welcome relief from the grey, drizzly london day.
The staff are as pretentious as the location (abrupt and nonchalent but at the same time discreetly attentive) but the food was tremendous. I was dying to have the eggs benedict but my manners prevailed once i remembered that it really is quite rude and most uncool to order the most expensive thing on the menu. The sausage sandwich was flavourful and you could tell that they buy posh sausages, probably from a farmers market and definitely not from the 2for1 counter at Tesco. Likewise for the bread. The tea came loose, again, another small touch which felt very decadent - and the juices were freshly squeezed.
All in all, a very satisfying place to spend a couple of hours escaping a very wet morning. Yes, it's overpriced and you have to be a member or be with a member just to get in but surely that's all part of the appeal, non?! If you like that kind of thing, you'll love Soho House.