When visiting The Dining Room at The Oriental Club, Douglas Blyde ponders whether this 200-year-old institution should move with the times and offer a “more international, more adventurous wine dossier”. “Could this be London’s grandest cul-de-sac?” posed TripAdvisor’s oddly named ‘futtock21’ of The Oriental Club, whose dining room has been revived in time for the 200th anniversary. Meanwhile, Sphere’s Candice Tucker recalls the party marking the bicentenary, which brought together “the old and the new with VR Clay Pigeon shooting” with the bonus of a “display of archival memorabilia, such as old house rules from 1961 stating, ‘Members are particularly requested not to throw letters or envelopes into the W.Cs’.” Design Acclaimed by Historic England for its “giant engaged Ionic portico,” “sculpted tympanum,” and “Louis XVI style staircase inserted by Lord Derby,” the Grade I Stratford House became the Club’s third headquarters in 1962. Frequented by resident rescue felines, Fiss and Malcolm, who bear no resemblance to the brass lion door knockers at the entrance, the Club features a formerly mint coloured dining room revamped in blood red by Russell Sage Studio, complete with a snippet of the original carpet framed beside the wine fridges. We do however wonder why the designer did not work harder on aspects of climate control and on improving the dressing to windows which are bereft of a view. It also boasts a billiards room where Steve Davis recreated a victory, an inviting terrace beside a chalet setup atop fake grass which doubles as a
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Wine
