If you find yourself ice-skating at Somerset House in central London over the next week or so (and hurry: you’ve got only until 11 January before it closes), then first please accept my commiserations. Second, please also note that the Chinese restaurant Poon’s, by Amy Poon, scion of the Poon’s restaurant dynasty, recently rooted itself in the New Wing.
Ice-skating itself I have nothing against, but we can all agree that these slippery yuletide stampedes on temporary rinks are the polar opposite of festive, so surely it would be far better to be hiding indoors in the warmth with a round of prawn wontons, a bowl of nourishing “magic soup”, or some wind-dried meat claypot rice. Plus, when the weather outside is frightful, the decor in Poon’s is utterly delightful. So gorgeous, in fact, that within two minutes of entering this dusky, muted salmon-pink, twinkly peach, womb-like space, I found myself asking for the name and brand of the paint shade, because it felt instinctively one that, if applied to my own walls at home, would solve many existential problems.
