By Steve Dinneen
Anyone can get a seat in the House of Lords. You don’t need to be a party donor, government benefactor, baron, baroness or a bishop. The Palace of Westminster’s second chamber’s Peers’ Dining Room will be open to commoners and the electorate for lunch (12pm-4pm) on 4 and 5 April, and for lunch and dinner (5.30pm-8pm) on 6 April.
The tradition of opening it up for public bookings during the annual Easter recess began in 2015.
Served in the Peers’ Dining Room’s Gothic setting, with stained glass windows and original Pugin wallpaper, you can enjoy executive chef Gary Devereaux and head chef Mark Hulland’s three-course menu for just £54 per head.
This year’s menu begins with an appetiser of egg on buttered toast and ends with the restaurant’s signature petit fours. Stand-out dishes will include lime-cured salmon, confit lamb, and petite pois à lá Franchise. Fish dishes include Shetland cod and curried cornish halibut, while vegetarians can plump for suprême of Cambridgeshire celeriac.
The Peers’ Dining Room wine list is extensive, featuring Three Choirs Cottage Hill (£30), Cuvee 1821 Zonin Prosecco (£39), House of Commons Gardet Champagne (£49), Marlborough New Zealand Chardonnay (£49), Stallions Leap White Zinfandel (£260), a House Bordeaux ( £37), Churchill’s Tawny Old Port (£60), and a 375ml Sauternes dessert wine (£33).
Also available are a pitcher for four of Pimm’s (£27.50), Galician and Italian bottled beer, Seedlip non-alcoholic spirits, and Speaker Hoyle’s Select whisky (£5.80).
The 776-member upper house is the second-largest legislative chamber in the world, after China’s National People’s Congress.
Elected, appointed and hereditary members of the houses can enjoy a daily £18.50 breakfast or a full English fry-up at £22.50, subject as all meals to a mandatory 12.5% service charge but inclusive of VAT. A Westminster afternoon tea with finger sandwiches, scones and Devon clotted cream is also served.
Over the last three years, over £8m of taxpayers’ money has been spent on generously subsidising the restaurants and bars of London’s Houses of Parliament.
• Book your Peers’ Dining Room experience through dishcult.com or call 0207 219 3395
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