1 Lombard Street Restaurant

Arriving at 6pm ensured we were spoilt with plenty of attention, which is always nice at a top restaurant such as this. Even better, you escape the head-thumping noise levels of the popular Brasserie next door which is always teeming with patrons and instead the tranquil confines of the ‘Restaurant’ offers a much needed civilised break from the jungles of the Square Mile

We chose the degustation menu for dinner, to ensure we got a good selection of dishes to try and the meal started with an Amuse Bouche of chilled cucumber and mint soup with lemongrass oil served in a dainty shotglass, which was crisp and refreshing. Carpaccio of tuna with pickled ginger and wasabi oil was the perfect follow-up. Other dishes included a salad of wild mushrooms, artichokes, green beans, foie gras and pears with a chocolate reduction and the most perfectly cooked fillet of lamb I have had in a long time accompanied by fondant potatoes and pea puree.

Each course was paired with wine that complimented the components of each dish perfectly. Dessert was a bit like with simple strawberries soaked in sauternes and a scoop of creme fraiche ice cream, I would have preferred something with some kind of carb/pastry in it… or even some cheese to follow? Overall, you can't really complain as both food and service are excellent and in the City you should really not expect anything less; although I would have to say that 1 Lombard Street remain a cut above the rest.

Five of us ate at the restaurant last night to celebrate my nephew's achievement of a 2.1 degree in physics. The food, the environment and the company lived up to expectations for this important celebration. We had the set menu and the house wine. The food was beautifully presented, tasted declicious and the chef's surprise was particularly good with one exception the dessert which was bland. The service was excellent- Amy was very attentive but not obtrusive, and in particular she paid close attention to every detail.

One Lombard Street is always a failsafe option for client lunches. My last visit was no exception, and restored my faith in the London restaurants after my experience at the Criterion earlier in the week.

The food at Lombard Street was fantastic, and I would have been happy eating anything on the menu (which I always feel is the mark of a good restaurant). Staff were attentive and friendly, despite the fact that I was terminally annoying and changed my order a good while after it had already been sent to the kitchen.

My main course was scallops with shellfish tortellini in a thai veloute with wasabi and green papaya. It sounds as if there are far too many different things going on for it to work, but somehow it really did – the flavours were so delicate, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

It is memorable dishes like this that I think makes One Lombard Street stand out from a lot of the other good restaurants in The Square Mile. In fact the only thing I can really say against One Lombard Street is that their dessert menu is a bit limited.

D

We took advantage of the 25 pound deal on a week night. The food was delicious. We had 5 courses, rather than the 3 advertised – with an appetiser and a chef's surprise in addition to the standard three courses. The food was delicious – we couldn't fault it.

There was only one other table in the restaurant – with more patrons eating in the brasserie section. So it was a little lonely. The service was good, except the waiter was very keen to fill up our glasses at every opportunity (I even got a top up without having drunk anything of the first glass he poured!). A second bottle of water was opened without our consultation – this always seems to happen with meal deals – I guess this is where they can make some money. I don't like it!

Overall we really enjoyed the meal and the 25 pound deal was a great opportunity.

Ok, so we only paid 25 pounds per head for their London restruat week set menu, but you would still expect them to keep their standards high. In fact it was fairly dissapointing. Maybe a better place for a luch rather than dinner.