Blakes

By far the WORST dining experience of my short life.

Just awful. I booked Blakes after someone I had met at a party raved about it. I very soon realized that this person must have NO taste and NO experience of adequate customer service.

We arrived to be greeted by an uninterested waiter who took a minute or two to finish up a personal call before ‘greeting’ my family and I with barely any eye contact and no sign of a smile. He had no idea that we were coming for a late lunch. Even after I had made a reservation through the Hotel and called up the day before to confirm.

The restaurant was pretty empty yet we were ushered through to an un-manned bar and told bluntly to wait there. Still in our wet winter coats and wanting a drink.

After a five minute wait, I decided to take our coats myself and take them through the restaurant to be hung up.

Soon after we were rudely ushered to our table and told we had to eat in the corner at the back because people were coming for Afternoon Tea and they didn't want us eating a late lunch near them.

Following on from this, service was slow, and barely friendly let alone polite. The wait staff looked genuinely hacked off by our presence.

The bread we were served was stale.
The dim sum was over salted and the prawn and ginger won tons were cold and raw! I promptly sent them back and the waitress didn't say a word, just snatched them off me and walked away. Reemerging 10 minutes later with a half-hearted apology and stating that it will be free.

Starters were 50/50… mushroom soup was really tasty but again, far too salty! tomato galette was burnt and all you could taste was salt and butter, and served in a box that was almost impossible to eat out of. Soft Shell crab was over done and bland.

Mains were so bad, I was genuinely left speechless, upset and nauseous for the rest of the day.

Truffle angle hair pasta was inedible.. just a blob of over cooked stodge, swimming in a tasteless cream and one or two shavings of truffle. The waiter brought over ‘extra truffle sauce’ which would have been better suited to a DIY job than consumption. Looked and tasted like wall paper past in a pot.

Beef was OK but again, the flavors were so disappointing! I genuinely felt that I could have done a better job, and I am no culinary whiz! The chicken was swimming in butter and lemon juice. Couldn't taste anything but to be honest.

The side's were again, inedible. Beans were raw. Sweet potato was burnt to a crisp. Spinach was overcooked and resembled the most awful gruel from a Dickens Novel rather than a side at a 5* Hotel restaurant.

Not one of our dishes was finished. In fact, I had to get up and find the waiter to get us the bill a full 5 minutes after our mains arrived because we just had to get out of there.

The bill came to about £150, and to be honest, the meal I had in Zizzi the night before for about £30 was INFINITELY more delicious and the service was far and beyond more pleasant than all the 3 of the wait staff at Blake's put together.

If you ever take anything from a restaurant review, DO NOT EAT HERE! WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME. Left me and my family utterly disheartened and nauseous for the remainder of the weekend.

Had dinner here recently based on the recommendation of a friend who lives locally and advised that this was a hidden gem – and they were right! It's down the stairs in the lobby of the hotel and is this real treasure of a restaurant. We had a couple of martinis in the bar which were amazing – can highly recommend – and then went through for dinner. The service was attentive but not in your face and they helped me choose a main course when I was a bit overwhelmed by choice as there were about 4 things I wanted to try! The food was stunning – beautifully presented and just delicious. Can highly recommend the seared tuna although my friends Bento Box looked incredible. The sake jelly with gold leave was the unexpected highlight of the meal and looked too good to eat! Really glad I found this place now and although loathed to share the secret, it's too good to keep to myself. Can't wait to go back.

This discrete, subterranean pad is a lesser-known gem, bedded in the heart of London’s well-heeled South Ken. The cosy restaurant carries the air of a private members club, typified by the steady stream of regular punters colloquially welcomed in by staff. The curios deco – an ad hoc mosaic of South East Asian, European and Colonial influences – balance sophistication with a homely warmth.

The staff are cordial and reasonably engaging; the good service could be made excellent if the waiting staff were a touch more attentive.

My starter, a Ponzu Ginger Broth with Money bags was a creative delight. The Teriyaki main course was tasty and well presented but largely unremarkable. Fortunately, redemption came in the form of Gold Sake Jelly with Passion Fruit, which made an excellent finish to a very pleasurable dining experience.

Great establishment, highly recommended!