Oriental Club

Angella

Old England, Old India, curry, shirts and ties 20th January 2009

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How To Visit A Club As A Guest
The Oriental Club sounded interesting, exotic. I am a member of the Tanglin Club in Singapore and The Oriental Club has reciprocal membership. We did not have our Tanglin Club cards with us. But we'd been emailed a letter of introduction to take to show from the Tanglin Club and we phoned in advance, as instructed, only an hour or so before dinner, from a mobile phone whilst we were in London, and were told by the man on reception that we could dine in their restaurant.

Other clubs such as the Australian Club in Australia also have similar arrangements with the Oriental. A list of clubs with reciprocal arrangements is on the Oriental's website.

When I was a member of the Tanglin and living in Singapore I was using the Tanglin for swimming, the gym, socialising and inviting people for dinner without having to cook at home. I could not see the point of joining a London club which had no pool or gym. But now I'm in London but still paying for membership of the Tanglin, it seems a good idea to try out half a dozen London clubs for the novelty and to see if I'd ever like to join one.

I can't take you into any of the London clubs because I'm a guest. I suppose if you go to an overseas club as a guest, if you are smart you can chat up somebody in the bar and make friends and then entertain them elsewhere and expect them to invite you plus your friends to the club.

There's usually a limit to the number of guests you can take into the dining room, though you can hire a room at a club of which you are a member and invite a dozen or more to a birthday party. If you take a job in an overseas country, especially one where you have no friends or family and don't speak the language, you may get club membership as part of your package, at least for the first year overseas.

While you are on this deal, you can use the reciprocal arrangements to stay at the club in London (especially if you need accommodation because you've rented out your home). A very central club like this one is very handy as it is so central for business meetings.

Location
The Oriental is probably the most convenient club to find by public transport. You exit from Bond Street underground station on the central line and you can see the club, which is a grade one listed building, across the far end of the short cul-de-sac.

Decor
Oriental does not mean Chinese, as we had imagined, but India. The first members were connected to India or the East India company. Paintings show the Duke of Wellington, who lived nearby, Warren Hastings, and Clive of India.

The cosy welcoming entrance hall has a statue of an elephant on one side. Facing it is Buddha and below that a log fire, a good sight on a cold day.

The dining room entrance has elephants either side of the doorway. The grand ceiling looks as though it was cut in half. The three circular paintings are off centre.

Dining
Dress code for men is shirt, tie and jacket but in the height of summer they are permitted to wear a long sleeved shirt and tie without a jacket. No jeans or trainers.

A candle is on each table. The effect is very calm and elegant.

The menu offers a la carte, cheaper set meal choices and a curry every day.

I ordered a kir royale, which was pink and served in a champagne glass.

The best part of the meal was the starters. I loved the delicious orange and beetroot soup. The deep beetroot colour contrasted agreeably with the white bowl.

I can't show you a photo because the restaurant staff told me that mobile phones are not allowed to be used there. The same rule applies at the Tanglin club in Singapore and probably the same rule applies in most or all clubs of the traditional clubs in London.

Another starter we ordered was a lentil salad. That made a change.

My main course of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding was a mixed blessing. The meat was a generously sized portion. The Yorkshire pudding was so dry that I did not eat it. The roast potatoes were good.

Desserts looked better than they tasted. My chocolate and white marbled cheesecake was prettily presented with a pattern of chocolate sauce and three raspberries either side. The cheesecake was not strongly flavoured with either cheese nor chocolate. But I liked the raspberries.

Service
Service was polite and knowledgeable. I was told that my kir royale would be made with house champagne.

Nobody enquired if the main course was all right, which was a pity, nor did they notice that I left the Yorkshire pudding. Maybe that was because the meat was so huge that you could not eat it all.

(I was under strict instructions not to ask for a doggy bag. Nor a lion bag!)

But the server did notice that I did not finish desert. (I am supposed to be on a diet.)

Paintings
The dining room and all the corridors are full of small pictures. Portraits include the Duke of Wellington who was President when the club was founded.

A large painting in the dining room shows two figures prostate before a woman, with onlookers on one side. Something about the picture unnerved me. I thought it was
the fact that the figures at the front were on the ground rather than the fact that she was not smiling.

But my interpretation of the mood was correct. After dinner I asked a member of staff about the paintings. He said the woman has been widowed and the other people are visiting to offer her their condolences - and at that time in India ...

I gasped, 'Suttee!'

He nodded.

What a strange choice for the dining room. It really puts you off your dinner. In the early days of the club, members belonged to the East India company. Life expectancy was shorter. But in that era when the English writers were describing the Merry Wives of Windsor and operas in England and Europe were celebrating The Merry Widow. Perhaps the gentlemen who were dining were consoled by the thought that if they died overseas their wives would be devoted and not survive them long. The best thought I could manage was that the painter was campaigning against the practice.

Maybe he just wanted his picture to have a dramatic subject so that it would be remembered. He succeeded.

Cards
To wipe your brain free of any worries, at the back of the building upstairs is a card room where bridge games are played on Tuesdays.

Lounges
After dinner you can drink coffee in one of five lounges. Coffee in small cups is waiting for you to help yourself. Newspapers and magazines are alongside.

History
I saw that the club, which you imagine had always been in the old building since it was founded, had actually been in several locations before arriving here in the late 1960s. The old ballroom was converted into accommodation, singles, twin bedded rooms and doubles and suites.

Accommodation
Room prices around £100 are not a bargain but less than many in London - especially in this central area - and visitors can enjoy the genuine old surroundings.

More expensive rooms are those with air conditioning and the suites. Prices are cheaper for club members than for visitors from overseas clubs which have reciprocal membership. The website tells you which clubs are linked and they included the Australian Club in Australia.

Members
Nowadays membership is said to be members of the civil service, industry and commerce. I later checked the club's own website on the internet as well as Wikipedia.

Is it only for elderly white British businessmen sitting discussing business and state affairs? No. People from all over the world of all races and ages would find something interesting and would feel at home in a place which is grander than their own home. In one of the lounges Americans were having a great time. I bet they loved being in little old England. The club holds events such as a Chinese New Year dinner.

Under 35s - Interclub Members
Other meetings are specifically for the young - at which members of other clubs are invited. The Interclub for those under the age of 35 is a free extra for the youngsters at 17 London clubs. They get together for lunches, dinners and meetings. Incidentally, scanning through membership rates on the websites of clubs I found that the youngsters can also join several clubs at reduced rates.

Staff
The man on the front desk was looked like a black African but he spoke perfect English with an English accent. One of our servers was a Filipina who spoke perfect English but was very happy to hear us say hello in tagalog and to tell us where she came from and ask where we'd visited in the Philippines. The staff all looked as if they thought they had the perfect job.

The staff all knew about the dinner menu and could explain what was in each dish. As well as knowing the club history about which they enthused.

Books & Gifts
On the front desk are three books about the club and its paintings. A display cabinet shows club ties with elephants. You can see the club shop products including playing cards with elephants on the back, and elephant brooches - not cheap souvenirs but sterling silver, over £50, and admire the gold brooches, well over £100, on the club's internet site.

Prices
A meal for two including half a bottle of wine and a glass of champagne or kir in January 2009 cost between sixty and seventy pounds, which is about what you would pay in many central London restaurants, and what youngsters elsewhere on this site had happily paid for an evening out at a tapas bar.

Here, if the credit crunch has not hit you, you could opt for the more expensive main courses on the a la carte menu at around £20 for a main course of dover sole or veal, and a bottle of wine, and pay more like £100 for two.

After dinner we want upstairs to one of the lounges for coffee. The coffee did not excite me. Nor did the flavour interest me.

Oasis
However, I did enjoy being in a haven of peace. I had never understood the point of clubs previously. But it was an interesting contrast, after spending an hour waiting hour waiting for my companion, sitting in Burger King with coffee in a paper cup, reading about yobs (breaking away from a demonstration which police had been trying to contain) to smash the glass windows of Starbucks. In Burger King the pop music was so loud that we could not use a mobile phone, so it was quite pleasant to go to the club, where the dainty crockery was decorated with the club's symbol of an elephant, and sit amid grandfather clocks far away from the madding crowd.