Courtyard at 51, 51 Buckingham Gate

"Blame it on the rain," sang the much derided (but for my money, grossly under-rated) Milli Vanilli. And that’s what was going through the mind of this bar reviewer as I braved monsoon conditions en route to St James' Park to attend the preview of 51 Buckingham Gate’s Summer Courtyard of Music.

The evening definitely had promise. Marketed as The Summer Music Season, the hotel have booked a series of dinner events at which the likes of The London Quartet, and Soprano Bella will perform a selection of opera, and West End classic and contemporary musical theatre.

This is all scheduled to take place in the courtyard to the rear of the hotel, which with its cobbled paving, purple and green shrubbery, mood lighting and Victorian fountain, makes you feel like you have snuck into some posh Lord of the Manor’s back garden. So far, so very Downtown Abbey.

But sadly, the Wimbledon effect took hold in that rain delayed play. Or rather transferred us from the romantic setting of the garden to one of the formal event rooms inside the hotel.

We were welcomed by the signature '51' cocktail aperitif - Tanqueray gin shaken with grapefruit juice, and topped by what is clearly the most fashionable juice right now, in the form of St Germain elderflower liqueur. Refreshing, crisp, and packing a good alcohol punch. The three-course dinner started with a Greek salad - and for the carnivores amongst us a gin braised lamb shank in an olive passata - with char-grilled Mediterranean vegetables and a truffled herb mash as a main. It wasn’t the best lamb shank I’ve ever had in terms of flavour, however the gin braising worked a treat, and the truffled herb mash was good comfort food for the winter-like conditions. The highlight was the iced honeycomb parfait with mandarin compote, topped by confectionary bumble bees. A nice mix of sweetness and citrus sharpness.

The entertainment was West End-style fun with the London Quartet showing off their musical dexterity, and the Soprano Bella, her vocal skills. However, the highlight for this barfly was a 15-year old lad who apparently had come from Britain’s Got Talent. His renditions of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin-style classics got the crowd tapping their shoes and singing along. So much so that they brought him back on for an encore.

So what the rain had threatened to ruin was rescued by a young man singing old classics. Not so much "Blame it on the Rain" as "Blame it on the Boogie". As you can see, there’s a good reason that I’m not a music critic.