Roux at the Landau

Wow!!!

We went for a lunch to celebrate our anniversary as part of the lunchtime deal of £30 for 3 courses and a glass of champagne.

In summary both food and service were excellent. We began with a gin and tonic. Is there another gin apart from Bombay Sapphire?

The starter which was smoked salmon was beautifully presented and tasted beautifully.

For main course my partner had the Gurnard which I am informed was cooked to perfection. I chose the beef from the trolley which was wonderfully cooked and presented and was served with carrots and dauphinoise potatos. My clean plate was evidence of my opinion of the dish.

The sommelier suggested a wine for us , which was actually £4 less that our own choice. So much for restaurants trying to upsell the diners choice. It was fantastic and complemented our food brilliantly.

We both chose the cheese selection. A very good cheese board and a waiter who knew his product really well. We allowed him to make the choices for us and we were certainly not disappointed.

Every member of staff we met were both friendly and professional. They were there when we needed them and certainly didn't impose on our conversation.

A truly excellent meal, well served and we both felt we had very good value for money. We shall return!!!

Visited this restaurant with another couple, having booked online for the Roux special inclusive dinner for £45 – and made special note on online booking to make sure they understood that. Arrived after our guests to find they had been given the “full-on” menu at about £100 per head. Then followed embarassing discussion with waiter who said the special dinner offer was finished… Finally sorted, food was delicious and wine waiter suggested an excellent wine (Pernand Vergelesses Domaine Rollin et Fils) to accompany fish, pork, duck (wonderfully crispy!) & beef main course options.

But service remained poor throughout the evening, despite swarms of waiters wandering round and only 8 other tables occcupied, it was impossible to catch their eye and long waits to give order and receive food

The Landau is my favourite London restaurant. My wife and I return frequently. I was surprised to read unfavourable reviews on this site and feel I should state the case to support this wonderful place.

What's to like:

• the food: exquisite, particularly the starters and the puddings. And importantly the menu is always consistently good, there aren't any dishes that have disappointed, and the foie gras is always very special. Having eaten at many top-rated eating establishments throughout our wonderful city I would say that the food here is comparable with any Michelin starred restaurant we have eaten at, and I'm including Gordon Ramsey on Hospital Road, Marcus Wareing, and the Fat Duck (though that is more an ‘eating experience’ than anything else) . Only Le Manoir de Quatre Saisons in Oxfordshire has bettered the Landau for food quality in my humble opinion.
  

• the tasting menu: a real treasure of flavours and delivered in perfect time over the course of an evening
  

• the sommelier is wonderful and always chooses the perfect accompaniment to each course, particularly with the tasting menu
  

• the staff are fantastic. The service is attentive but not overwhelming. We dine here more than any other London restaurant, but that is probably only around 3 times a year, yet most of the staff remember us each time we come
  

and are always so warmly welcoming.

• the room: a high-ceilinged space with a circular feel. Great lighting. Discreet and quiet: no echoing chatter ringing around, just a peaceful ambience.
  

• the hotel: sometimes as a treat we might book an overnight in a room at the Langham Hotel, upstairs from the Landau. This is a beautiful hotel with wonderful rooms.
  

• The Landau is a real treasure.

My husband booked this for my birthday – at first I was excited – after all this was Michel Roux! However, despite a pleasing first impression, the evening slowly descended into disappointment. Firstly, we wanted to order wine so that we could have a drink before dinner. However, it took so long for a waiter to come and take the order (despite about a hundred of them scurrying around a largely empty room) that we just decided to order food – when we came to ordering wine, the waiter told us he would send the sommelier around! We had already decided what we wanted!

The sommellier took 10 minutes to arrive, by which point I was dying for a drink. We ordered the wines that we were initially going to order with the waiter, then approximately 2 minutes later our starters appeared. Still no sign of the wine. I had to ask for it and it was swiftly poured. My husband had the cauluflower soup – nice flavour but very very salty. I had the scallops which were well cooked but were unpleasantly gritty and crunchy. I don't know what caused that but it was a let down.

I asked for more bread – which I received and it was nice bread. However the service again let things down – nobody noticed that the butter dish needed to be replaced, nor that the water glass needed a top up.

For the second course I had lamb and my husband beef. Again, despite the fact that our wine glasses were standing empty for some time after the first course had been cleared away, nobody came to enquire whether we wanted a top up or another wine, which we did. Attempts to flag down a passing waiter were either ignored or we were told that the sommelier would be with us shortly – of course he did not materialise until the main course was served. It wasn't until we were into our main course before our wines were poured.

The lamb – there was nothing wrong with it but nothing right with it either. It was very tended but didn't taste of much. Accompaniments were fine, nothing special. The fillet beef had the taste and texture of corned beef. It was just bizarre.

After all of that, we ended up deciding against dessert – neither of us wanted to risk it. The above came to some £130, which is just appalling value for money. I'm really shocked by the poor standard of service and ho-hum quality of the food. We didn't complain because we didn't want the evening to end with a complaint, but I would certainly never return.

An exceptionally pretty dining room, but lumbering service sucked the life out of dinner for me.

The wrong main course was brought (I ordered rib of beef; a rib-eye steak was delivered), and the sommelier offered worryingly inept advice.

Good food, but not amazing – expensive for what it is.