In the late 1970s, being a nice Jewish boy, I spent a ludicrous number of evenings in fancy Kensington hotel function rooms, these being the venues of choice for bar and bat mitzvahs back then. The decor at Allium, a new restaurant at London's Dolphin Square Hotel, took me straight back there. It's all ultramarine blue plush and chrome bits, and the kind of art that people with no taste get others to buy for them. It is a 13-year-old girl's vision of sophistication.

The curious thing about this is that while the business is new, the room isn't. Until last year it was the Michelin-starred Rhodes in the Square, which Gary Rhodes operated under contract for the catering behemoth Sodexho. Rhodes parted company with Sodexho, to be replaced by Anton Edelmann, for 21 years head chef at the Savoy. Edelmann oversees their corporate fine-dining operation and is 'chef-patron' at Allium, which means he doesn't actually do the cooking, but is bloody good at telling other people how to do it.

What I find odd is that, when they came to relaunch the space with such an illustrious name above the door, they looked at it and said, 'Ach, it will do.' It's a soulless, corporate approach to the business.

They're doing themselves down, because there is some seriously good cooking here, which was not necessarily what I was expecting.

I ate Edelmann's food at the Savoy a number of times. It wasn't bad, just unremarkable, as befitted the setting. Luxury hotel catering is about utility, an agreed version of accomplishment that does not distract. It is designed to satisfy without drawing attention to itself.

Here, the cooking has to draw attention to itself and, in the hands of head chef Peter Woods, it does. Flavours are robust. Combinations make sense. Anything on the plate is there for a reason. A tarte tatin of caramelised shallots to start would have been satisfying enough by itself, but the sliver of roasted foie gras on top added a deliciously judged touch of richness that moved the dish on to the next level. Thin slices of marinated salmon came with mussel beignet, the crispness of which played up the softness of the fish. Only a starter of baked brill with baby fennel made no impression.

The main courses displayed some seriously funky meat cookery, each a riff on an animal. So pork brought fillet, a fibrous piece of cheek and a lusciously lubricated chunk of belly; veal was loin and melting sweetbread; lamb came as rump, neck and confit shoulder. Saucing was rich, without any of that over-reduced stickiness.

Puddings were a little heavy on the fruit mushes - blackberry compote and vanilla pannacotta; cherry parfait with cherry compote; chocolate fondant with orange and kumquat salad - but each showed a light touch, which is what you want when you've just dispatched the essentials of an animal.

At £32.50 for three courses, this is pretty good value (if only for London). The wine list is admirably concise and boasts a couple of bargains, and service is generally polite and efficient. And yet, for all that, I don't yearn to go back. It feels like a 'catering operation'. The restaurant sits inside a rather dull hotel. As I say, the room reminds me of the place I helped celebrate my mate Andrew Feldman's bar mitzvah. And when it costs £120 for two, that's not what I want to be reminded of.

· Allium, Dolphin Square, Chichester Street, London SW1 (020 7798 6888). Meal for two, including wine and service, £120.