Serpentine Bar & Kitchen

It’s not that I’ve got anything against picnics but creating the perfect, Blytonesque spread and finding the right idyllically leafy spot (not to mention crease-proof, summery - yet not too revealing - outfit) can sometimes feel a bit too much like hard work.

Which is why I’m all for the new breed of stylish cafes that are popping up in London’s parks: Mr Peyton led the way with Inn The Park in St James’s and now the Benugo boys, Ben and Hugo Warner, have given the the cafe on the west side of the lake in Hyde Park their own stamp of old-fashioned English charm.

There are country lawn staples like  ham hock and tarragon terrine with piccalilli as well as the slightly more adventurous whole roast mackerel with green beans, and organic ‘Benugo Gelati’ for pudding, all at pleasingly reasonable prices.

You can either eat inside the cafe - with it’s central Fifties-style snug of armchairs and standard lamps - or take a table, deck chair or beanbag on the spacious deck outside and watch everyone messing about on the water.

Or, if you’re dead set on finding that perfect patch of grass, you can always pick up a variety of picnicy bits to go or one of their speciality hampers – not forgetting lashings of ginger beer.

Hours: Mon-Sun 8am-8pm
Place: Serpentine Road, Hyde Park, W2 2UH
Cost: £20
Web: serpentinebarandkitchen.com
Book: 020 7706 8114 (no reservations)

by SL

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.