The Glasshouse

A great restaurant. It is much more English in style and a little less of a fine dining experience than its sister restaurant, La Trompette, but that does not mean to say it is any less of a restaurant. We had the a la carte menu which is incredibly reasonable at £39.95 per head for 3 courses. I chose sole paupiette to start, fillet of beef for my main course and cheese to finish. The paupiette was a little large and on the rich side for my liking but very tasty. The beef was almost sweet with flavour and accompanied by lightly fried potatoes and well cooked vegetables. Cheese has a small cover charge but is worth the extra cost; the range and quality of the cheeses on offer is very good. Service was very friendly, down to earth and subtle. My only slight gripe was the delay between our main courses being cleared away and our orders for puddings being taken. All in all, this is a restaurant with a great atmosphere, which I would recommend to anyone for any occasion and for any adult age group; well worth a drive/train journey.

Lunch today at the glasshouse was truly memorable. Each course was presented beautifully (almost too well-presented to tug apart with knife and fork) the flavours were subtle and well thought out, the ingredients were fantastic and it was fastidiously well-prepared. Staff were friendly and incredibly efficient, despite a full and bustling house. I wish I had the money to work my way through more of the wiine list! Actually thought the food here just edges Chez Bruce. And a meal here, followed by a stroll around Kew Gardens in the sun is just great. Go.

Made to feel special and very welcome from the time of booking to the time of leaving. Not that crowded when we went on a Sunday night and result of our visit was six very happy tummies. Do try each others plates for full enjoyment of the breathtaking menu. Starting with the three specialist breads all fresh and morish, it just keeps getting better. The staff are genuinely attentive and appreciate your feedback. If you wonder what is the best dish, the answer seemed to be all of them.

The Beef was a particular delight and for those who have never tried a crispy quails egg this is your moment.

Go soon, go often…

Excellent!
We decided to try this restaurant for my daughter's birthday: she is 16 now so I wanted to impress her a bit. And impressed she was!
The welcome has been warm and friendly. The advice about the menu detailed and enthousiastic (after they spoke about the menu we wanted to try everything!).
The italian sommelier has been very very helpful and overall we had excellent service (attentive but not oppressive) along excellent food. They even offered my daughter a special little dessert for her birthday!
Definitely they will see us again..and again, since we still have to try all the other great dishes in the menu!

Enrico F.

My wife and i visted the Glasshouse for the first time on Saturday evening. The interior is pleasantly and stlylishly minimal without attempting to be ‘chic’. More appealing is the size – how nice to find a restaurant on the smaller size that isnt trying to service as many covers as possible. The table spacing is just about comfortable, helped by the buzz of a full restaurant – but could benefit by the sacrifice of a couple of tables.

We were met by a warm and genuine welcome which set the tone for the evening. We both thought the service was truly first class – professional, warm, discreet and timely. As good as any 3* restuaurant i've visted. Thus things were set up perfectly from the start. The menu doesnt disappoint with a good variety of fish, game, and meat. Choice for vegetarians is limited but pescatarians will be happy. Allow some time for browsing the wine list if you're a keen vino fan – there's plenty of interesting choices – with a price range to suit most.

Ultimately it was the food that we came for and we werent disappointed. Starters of seared tuna and a leaf salad were wonderful – in both cases winning combinations of different favours and textures. I opted for daube of beef for mains. The beef was very tender and full of flavour complimented by a rich and sticky reduction. Like most men i eyed up my wife's food with great interest. The halibut appeared to be perfectly cooked and judging by her reaction it was. Desserts were equally appetising- a surprinsingly light sticky toffee pudding and if cheese is your thing then you're going to love the expansive Cheese board.

All in a all – great food, great service and good ambience. Definitely on the list for future visits.

We were torn between Chez Bruce (1 previous visit for lunch) and The Glasshouse (no previous!) opted for the new and more local expreince which turned out to be a very good choice.
Warmly greeted, excellent choice of food that was tasty as well as beautifully presented; service was just a tad slow between courses but the staff were friendly and helpful particularly when choosing wine and later dessert.
We liked the non pretensious style generally and I really liked that spoons as well as knives were brought for the starter and main therefore I did not have to ‘lick the plate’ to enjoy every last drop of the wonderful sauce of the sea bass crab and mussel starter and later the ‘Beouf’. GORGEOUS. Overall the experience was good value for money and would have been more so without the wine, but for us this enhanced the enjoyment of lovely food.
We will definately return and would take and reccomend friends

Outstanding food and service!

I have returned from a Friday night dinner at the Glasshouse. As ever, a first class experience. The food exceptional (myself the veal starter and pork main, my wife haddock fishcake and lamb). The head waiters / management and staff are always highly professional and very friendly creating the perfect atmosphere to enjoy a Michelin rated meal (relaxed yet sophisticated).

Regarding the “children” situation mentioned by another reviewer, I applaud The Glasshouse for their stance on this. The number of times I and my party have had an expensive meal ruined by badly behaved children on other tables (in numerous restaurants) is significant. I am sure The Glasshouse would welcome well behaved children who are a delight to have in any restaurant. It is high time though the irresponsible parents of badly behaved children wake up and realise it is not acceptable to inflict this on others, particuarly in top-end restaurants, and no doubt while they are happily munching away oblivious to the woe they are causing fellow diners.

Well done to the Glasshouse – please keep this a sophisticated, friendly, grown-up restaurant serving fantastic food!

Having been to the glasshouse before and had an average experience we thought we would give it another go particularly given the reviews and the fact that they ‘welcomed’ our 19 month old daughter. We decided to go for lunch and come at the end of the lunchtime sitting to reduce any inconvenience to other diners sitting next to a small child.
on arrival the atmosphere was ‘ cold’ to say the least and matters were not improved by the quality of the food! three courses of lacklustre food followed accompanied by unfriendly service. This was particularly sad given that we were celebrating two birthdays both of which were ruined by the experience.
If a restaurant claims to ‘ welcome ’ children then they should fulfill their promise and if they have a michelin star they should maintain the standards that gained it. I would also add that haughty service by stuck up managers does not justify the hefty bill!
as someone who is fortunate enough to visit michelin starred restaurants i would certainly not recommend this pretentious undeserving' local' restaurant which is certainly not family orientated.

This place could be re-named Classhouse and I’d award them straight A’s in all departments. Oh Boyd can Anthony cook! Corny….. but fortunately they are not. Over 7 years ago we discovered this restaurant before first Michelin star attainment and it’s top in the trio for me. To be fair to Chez Bruce I have only eaten there once and if it were geographically more accessible then my opinion may differ.

Even with a plethora of good eateries surrounding me in the Thames Valley I still yearn to venture to the edge of the metropolis just to go here. We’ve had a couple of tortuous journeys, have arrived late, early and not at all; but undeterred, one evening last week we made it on time to be greeted warmly and to experience yet another display of passion in all they do.

If you’re passionate about food’n wine, enjoy unwinding in a quietly bustling atmosphere in low-key contemporary surroundings, and like to be served vitally good modern fare by a friendly and generally pro’ team, then do pop along. This place has consistently ‘done it’ for us. Enthusiastic sommelier happily recommends to your spec. most often with joyously glugging results and refreshingly without any pretence.