www.parkplazasherlockholmes.com

The Sherlock Holmes Hotel, a Park Plaza operation on London’s Baker Street, trades shamelessly on the fame of Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective – who, in Doyle’s 60 stories, lives just up the street at 221B – in order to attract Sherlock’s legions of fans during their London holidays.

In this case, however, such cultural piggybacking does not signal a crass commercialisation of Doyle’s legacy. Instead, the Sherlock theme may have encouraged Park Plaza – which is better known for very modern buildings, such as its Riverbank hotel in Vauxhall – to make the best use of this 18th century building’s interesting features. The former townhouse’s refurbishment has been a sensitive one, creating spaces that are modern while revealing their age: the heavy wooden floors are battered and scratched, and an idiosyncratic stove nestles in a pillar in the elegant front bar.

Beyond the bar lies a little, 15-table restaurant serving mainly British and organic food. And here the combination of contemporary and historic continues: the artworks are rather modern, but amidst the shapes and colours it’s possible to make out the tall, moustachioed figure of Dr Watson, and a reclining Sherlock – the latter, startlingly, clutching what appears to be an Apple Mac laptop.

After an excellent assortment of complementary, home-baked breads, I plumped for a plate of oak-smoked Scottish salmon, whose healthy pink swirls arrived with chopped onions, a soft cheese, capers and dark, nutty bread. With these interesting accompaniments – some of them calming, some enlivening – it was a delicious and entertaining starter; much tastier, indeed, than my partner’s rather anodyne ricotta and pea tart.

Continuing on the fishy theme, my next course comprised chunks of monkfish, chargrilled on wooden skewers. Beautifully cooked, their delicate flavour was boosted by the accompanying cheesy mash and roasted whole cherry tomatoes – these still clinging to a crispy vine stem. And again, my tasty dish outshone my partner’s Pernod-poached Scottish salmon: her fillet was tender, but little trace of Pernod’s star anise flavour remained, and the buttered spinach – as ever – took just seconds to go cold and chewy.

By the time we got round to dessert, my partner deserved a break – and she got it, in the form of a dark chocolate fondant with pistachio ice cream. Boasting a perfect gradient from the rich chocolate cake of its shell to its soft, cocoa-heavy centre, the fondant just pipped my Madagascar vanilla crème brûlée; though this too was excellent, served with a satisfyingly crispy top and a heavy loading of tiny black vanilla seeds.

At £80-odd including the tip, the Sherlock Grill’s pricing is pretty standard for the area – and its food, atmosphere and décor shows that its managers have thought carefully about the elements that go to make up a pleasant restaurant: excellent foodstuffs; simple but careful preparation; generous portions; welcoming staff; and a smart but classic environment. It’s a winning combination, and at root it is – dare I say it – elementary.

Matt Ross