Willett's at The Cadogan: Sloane Street's hotel bistro this summer
Hotel restaurants on Sloane Street have a habit of feeling like an afterthought to the shopping. Willett's, at The Cadogan, a Belmond Hotel, is a deliberate exception. The British bistro opened this spring in place of the hotel's previous all-day restaurant, and August is a good time to try it: the kitchen has added a daily happy hour and is feeding children for free until the end of the month.
The room and the name
Willett's takes its name from the family who built the hotel's townhouse in 1887, and the room leans into that history. Studio Shayne Brady kept the original 1887 herringbone floors and added heritage greens, antique mirrors, linen café curtains and bronze detailing. There is an open kitchen with counter seats for anyone who likes to watch the cooking, booths for smaller groups, a reworked bar for drinks and snacks, and a terrace for warm evenings. It feels more neighbourhood bistro than grand hotel dining room, which is precisely the point.
Crumpets first
Executive chef Michael Turner joined The Cadogan in 2025 from The Savoy Grill, and he has put crumpets at the centre of the menu. They appear at breakfast, lunch, dinner and at the bar, sweet or savoury, with toppings that have included duck liver parfait with Yorkshire rhubarb, Dorset crab, Penny Bun mushroom with Wiltshire truffle, and Gentleman's Relish. The rest of the opening menu, as described by Sloane Street's own guide, works through the British canon: a Sutton Hoo chicken and morel pie with mash and gravy, cider-battered gurnard with chips and mushy peas, and a beef Wellington for two.
Puddings are where the kitchen has most fun. Jam roly-poly comes with woodruff custard, lemon posset with raspberry sorbet, and there is a rice pudding with Yorkshire rhubarb jam and a sherry trifle, plus a British cheese trolley. Menus change with the seasons, so expect some of those spring dishes to have moved on.
What is on in August
As part of the area's Plated dining festival, Willett's is running a daily Willett's Hour from 5pm to 7pm, on the terrace or at the bar: £2 fresh oysters, £2 sausage rolls, £5 schooners, £7 pints and £8 signature cocktails. Through August, Kids Eat Free too, with complimentary lunch and dinner for accompanying children aged 12 and under. Both offers are listed in the Knightsbridge Partnership's August dining guide, which makes Willett's one of the more family-friendly smart addresses in the area this month.
Getting there
The Cadogan sits on Sloane Street, between Knightsbridge and Sloane Square stations, and a short walk from the boutiques at either end. Willett's Hour is the easy way in on a weekday after work, with a plate of £2 oysters and a cold pint out on the terrace before the evening crowd arrives; for a family lunch, book ahead and mention the Kids Eat Free offer when you reserve. For more places to stay and eat nearby, see our guide to Knightsbridge hotels.
Lead image: amandabhslater via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
