Located in the vibrant heart of London, Haymarket, close to Piccadilly and China Town, the Americana Restaurant is a relaxed easy going American diner that gives slight Cuban vibes wrapped up in all American spirit.

A strong pillared entrance leads you into a very bright comfortable space with a mixture of booth and table seating. Plenty of greenery and white tiles creates a calm oasis and the vibrant pops of dark blue and burnt orange work well in bringing this interior together.

There is also further seating outside, through the back of the restaurant and upstairs in the mezzanine - this restaurant is big!

The reason for our dining here was my collaboration with Lumo Travel and how easy it is to go on a 24hour Date to London from Edinburgh. Lumo Trains travel from Edinburgh Waverley to London Kings Cross in just over 4 hours and you can get tickets for as little as £40 return! This was Date 1.

Seated in the corner close to the open kitchen, it was great to watch the chefs at work, especially plating the food. The kitchen was extremely calm and seemed to run smoothly and effortlessly.

However I did feel it for the front of house staff, as they were short staffed that day and seemed to be running from one end of the restaurant to the next constantly.

Americana has a good drinks menu full of drinks - beers, spirits, wine etc; cocktails, mocktails etc

Feeling the Cuban vibes, we chose a Rum and Coke and the Toast of the West End with whisky, prosecco, ginger and raspberry.

We ordered the Warm Sourdough Bread with Herbed Chicken Butter (£5.00) hoping this would come pre food but it arrived around the same time as the starters.

The Sourdough bread, had a tangy and complex flavour. The delightful aroma and the golden, crusty exterior of a perfectly baked sourdough loaf was irresistible and I slathered a chunk in the creamy butter.

REVIEW OF AMERICANA SOUL FOOD, LONDON

We ordered the Colchester Oysters (£20 for 6) and a plate filled with glistening, freshly shucked oysters arrived. Each oyster was big n fat n juicy bursting with briny freshness.

Lump Blue crab cake (£18.50) with spiced tartar sauce and scallion vinaigrette. This was completely overpriced for what it was unfortunately. The crab had been shredded and certainly didn’t reflect the lump blue crab meat which is the best and most expensive part of the Blue Crab; this meat is white, firm with no flakes and usually left in chunks.

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail (£15.50) Smoked Marie Rose sauce, leaves, avocado and cherry tomato. This however was a sharp contrast to the crab cake, with massive juicy prawns and the sauce was superb!

Slow Smoked Baby Back Pork Ribs (£22.00) Americana BBQ sauce, French fries, pit beans and slaw. These ribs were massive with plenty of meat on them. Tender but the flavour hadn’t penetrated the meat and thus is was only the bark or outer layer of sauce that contained the flavour.

Buttermilk fried chicken burger (£17.00) Mississippi comeback sauce, slaw and French fries. A decent burger, well cooked and seasoned.

Deep-Filled Apple Pie (£8.00) Salted caramel sauce, vanilla ice cream and cinnamon crumbs. Unfortunately the pie crust was burnt ontop and came with a soggy bottom. The apples inside were a little on the firm side and could have done with a little more cooking.

Alabama Pecan Pie (£8.00) Chantilly, cherry gel and toasted pecan. Nice pecan pie however the pie came with a cherry jam containing whole cherries and not cherry gel - not a complaint as I love anything cherry!

As I mentioned earlier, the restaurant was understaffed and they didn’t manage to offer us any further drinks and a few items were missing from our order. The staff are however extremely friendly and helpful, very cheery and do try to provide you with great service.

An extremely busy spot close to Piccadilly, the West End and China Town. This restaurant definitely caters to pre theatre as come 630pm-7pm, the restaurant emptied with theatre goers heading out to catch their shows.

THINGS TO NOTE

• The cater for vegetarians and gluten freebies

• No dogs allowed

• It has disabled access and wide enough doorways for a wheelchair

• They do brunch, lunch, dinner, A la Carte, Set menu and have a bar

Americana, 11 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4BP www.americanalondon.com

My Spoon Award : Bronze 7/10

I was invited by American to review their menu. Food and drink were complimentary but the views are very much my own.