Hoi Polloi

Hoi Polloi is an all-day restaurant inside the Ace Hotel, which means that besides being useful for literally any occasion you can throw at it, it’s an excellent spot for people watching. The restaurant itself looks like a very cool brasserie designed by Japanese architects, and while the food’s good, you’re unlikely to be doing backflips over it any time soon. You can access Hoi Polloi via the flower shop next to the hotel, or via the hotel itself, like a normal person. Hit it up with confidence for breakfast meetings, oysters and champagne, or a low-key dinner This place is very good for eating.This restaurant works for pretty much every dining situation. We say “pretty much” so you don’t complain to us after showing up to this all-day spot in Washington Heights looking for a white tablecloth restaurant to celebrate an anniversary or a divorce. But from breakfast on your way to work or fried chicken with a group to cocktails and pizza with a date. Once you eat at The Tang, you’ll instinctively wander back whenever you need some good, quick food that’s not too pricey. This is a Chinese noodle bar on the Upper West Side with a big selection of things like dan dan noodles, roasted bone marrow. If you just want one thing, go for the signature beef noodle soup with chewy noodles, tender beef, and a smokey soft-boiled egg. There’s a bar overlooking the kitchen where you can eat by yourself, and there are also a bunch of tables in the sleek space where you can grab a casual weeknight dinner with a friend.

From the moment you step outside the tubes in Shordeitch, you instantly feel this sense of being on a movie set. The last time I have visited the area it was way more dramatic! Still the charm of modern, warehouses, typical colonial /english and the locals scenographical looks and attitude, makes this place super cool. ACE hotel is a perfect incarnation of all the above. Their 24h 40's post fashion week apocalyptic edgy dinning space the Hoi Polloi is sexy from the inside and on the plates. Laid-back good service. Prices are OK. And drinks menu is well presented.

Afternoon Tea - Good value afternoon tea, in a pleasant restaurant. The scones were fresh and the clotted cream and jam were good. The bread on our sandwiches was a bit stale and their are only two different types of sandwich. As others have said the service is a bit slow, the staff all look a bit under pressure. Withe the afternoon tea their are about 10 tea options which have free refills, or you can have coffee. Without telling you they also charge a £1 water aid donation for tap water, but they add 12.5% service charge to that £1 and keep the extra 12.5p for themselves which is a bit cheeky.

We came here on the recommendation of friends on the fantastic burger. They tagged along too. They were a bit disappointed as the burger had changed a lot since they’d been there, but it was a pretty decent one still. Seemed like good value for money and a wide range of interesting sounding dishes. The vibe was quite cool and laid back with low level lighting and non intrusive music. The service was a bit of a let down - our food was rushed out and then we didn’t see another waiter for a long time, they were rushing around and not being particularly attentive, even after we received the bill it took another 20 minutes to flag someone down to pay. The food itself was tasty, with nice presentation. Finally somewhere in London gives you chips with a burger as standard!