The Colony Grill Room, The Beaumont, 8, Balderton St, W1

Something old, something new. That could be the motto of The Colony Grill Room, which both is and isn’t. Confused? It will make sense when you get there. Get dressed up and arrive hungry.

The restaurant is on the ground floor of five-star The Beaumont on Brown Hart Gardens in Mayfair. Initially part of Jeremy King and Chris Corbin’s empire, it’s now under new management and has had a lavish refurbishment. After the obligatory brace of martinis at Le Magritte Bar— all wood panelling, leather and Dashiell Hammett-esque lighting, with dynamite cocktails; you can tell the manager has stints at Rules and Dukes under his belt —we’re ushered into the buzzy dining room, with its murals, thick white tablecloths and clubby booths. It all feels as if it’s been there forever; nothing about this place smacks of will-this-do pastiche.

Head chef Ben Boeynaems’s menu walks a similarly deft line between old and new that nods to his time at The Goring. The shrimp cocktail is a luxe modern update, whereas the whole-leaf Caesar salad is a crisply executed classic. The mains are stylish and clever: a monkfish wellington, replete with braised salsify, pressed celeriac and hen of the wood mushroom really stands out. From the Colony’s eponymous grill come superb steaks matured in the restaurant’s own salt chamber for at least 42 days, together with whipped béarnaise, triple-cooked chips, buttermilk mash and even a Café de Paris snail butter.

Puddings—sundry sundaes, bananas Foster, a towering baked heesecake, French toast with brown-butter ice cream —are as lavish as you’d expect. As is the Saturday brunch menu: the Full New York (over-easy eggs, salt beef, hash brown, fried dill pickle, portobello mushroom, served with a toasted rye and caraway bagel) is the kind of plate you build a weekend around.

The new owners have honoured the formula that won it so many fans since 2014: no-expense-spared, 1920s-style interiors, cosseting service and a specialoccasion menu. Light it ain’t—you might need to take the rest of the day off after lunch, but for indulging in a transatlantic time travel, it’s unbeatable. Emma Hughes