Frederick's

I went to Frederick's as a special treat for my birthday – and it was everything I'd hoped for, and more. The conservatory is a spacious light room with interesting art on the walls and tables overlooking an amazing garden. The ambience was relaxed, complemented by an unrushed professional service. The food was outstanding (fillet of beef to die for and an amazing chocolate soufflé) and the staff extremely friendly and attentive. The waiters/waitresses were very knowledgable about all aspects of the menu as well as the wine list and were very good at recommending wines within your budget. it was an experience I'll not forget for a long, long time. I would definatley recommend this restaurant and will be revisiting very soon !

Yesterday (12/11/10) my husband and I went to Fredericks. It was Friday, but it was early, 6pm, so fairly quiet. You could tell it was quiet, as there were waiting staff standing around. Unfortunately, standing around looking bored does not mean being attentive to customers.

Our menus came. However, it was almost 10 minutes before a waiter came to take our order. We ordered our meal and wine. I'd finished my water and my husband had almost finished his. The waitress came to change the cutlery. Not a single word was said to us, no hello, nothing. Nor did she notice that we needed more water. Wine arrived halfway through our starter. We asked the waiter for water. He disappeared. Starters finished and we waited patiently for our water… Eventually we had to ask another waiter for it.

I'm quite happy to pour my own wine, but if Fredericks insists on keeping the bottle with the waiting staff, I think it is their responsibility to ensure that our glasses are filled. Yes, you guessed it, we finished our wine. I pointed out to my husband that there were four members of staff standing near the serving area and not noticing our empty wine glasses. I bet him that if I went to the loo, I'd come back and still find our wine glasses empty. I won the bet, so we had to ask the waitress for our wine.

The mains arrived at c.6.50pm, steak and chips. Firstly, Fredericks may think it looks attractive to have a steak on a plate and then the bearnaise sauce in a little pot on the plate and chips on a dish also placed on the plate, but all this ‘fancy stuff’ does is tell the diner that the restaurant is trying to make the plate look full when the steak is small and there are hardly any chips on the plate. Anyway I asked the waitress for mustard and Worcestershire sauce and then waited and waited and waited for it… Meanwhile my meal was getting colder and colder and seven minutes later she came back with the sauces. Regardless of how many dishes they crammed on the plate, the steak was tough and gristly. It was of such poor quality it was more like an onglet than a rump steak.

Oh, yes, then our wine glasses were empty again. This time the staff weren't standing around, even worse some of them were walking up and down the dining room, unfortunately just exercising, not being attentive, as none of them noticed the empty wine glasses so we had to ask again. I said to the waiter 'Please just fill my husband's glass', obviously they have listening problems too, as he still filled mine.

The only thing that arrived quickly was the bill, but even that was fraught, as the waitress couldn't get a signal with the machine… Oh well, more fool me for expecting anything less.

We were very disappointed with our visit as in the past although the food has been ‘ok’ what made up for it was the good service. I hope last night's experience was not a sign of how service is going to be in the future. However, I doubt very much if we'll find out too soon, as it may be a long long while before we return after that experience!

Meanwhile if any reader is looking for a decent steak and chips in the area, last time I went to the Wenlock and Essex it had a pretty large steak and loads of chips for £12! Much better value and more importantly tastier than Fredericks' pre-threatre ‘rump’.

Certainly not a contender for Ramsey’s Best Restaurant in terms of food or service.

We recently attended a reunion dinner at Frederick's. It went really well and my party (all friends from University ) were very impressed with the restaurant and the service and food. It was fabulous to be around one round table as it gave us a good chance to converse easily and the setting and ambience is very good. I have eaten there in the past and would have no problem in recommending the restaurant again:

Fredericks is an Islington fixture and one of the three best restaurants in N1 along with Almedia and Morgan M. It’s well positioned as a reliable local but with mid-to-fine dining food. The menu consists of lots of British/continental crowd pleasers with a sophisticated finish.

Decor is fine but not particularly modern. Service is also fine, but always provides an enjoyable experience. Can be a bit chilly in the garden room but gorgeous in the summer.

Overall – a great upmarket local and one I go back to over and over again

Visited Fredericks for an early lunch on a Saturday. Not much atmosphere early on but by the time we left the place was filling up & it felt more lived in.
We went for the set lunch, options were reduced & so was the price, but the food was tasty & well presented. Great wine list. Our table was situated in the conservatory & at times felt a little cold. It would also benefit having the roof cleaned as when the sun shined through the perspex roof, it was awfully dirty which didn't compliment the surroundings.