The Greenhouse

The Greenhouse – gosh – I hadn't been there for about fifteen years. The last time we'd eaten there it was still being run by Gary Rhodes – I had the most delicious plum tart tartin served with cinnamon ice-cream – yummy. When the Hubby said he'd booked it for us to take some chums as a celebration, I wasn't terribly impressed… ‘No’, the hubby protested, 'they apparently have a Michelin starred chef, who's doing great things…' Well allrighty then… Now, we did arrive a little the worse for wear, but the staff bundled us into the glass box that I assume passes as a private dining space, and I thought things looked really rather positive.

Our amuse bouche were rather good – cubes of salmon with horseradish, little cubes of fois gras, I think, in-between dark wafers of some kind… We ordered a bottle of champagne from the very extensive list, and then the Hubby noticed that there wasn't a bottle of red under about £250… Good lord – thank goodness I was on the white! I calculated the mark up at about 400%… 400%!!! One red was marked up by over 600%. I haven't see mark-ups like that for years! We buy Antinori wines direct from the wholesaler, so I know exactly how much a bottle of Solaia or Cervaro should be, and this was pretty far off the mark!

Now, I'm not going to bitch about how outrageous that is – we were celebrating, in very good company – and we were all having a very good time.

Gradually though, we started to notice a certain surliness in the lead waiter – I think he thought us oafish, and assumed that we weren't paying attention the food – actually we were all paying rather a lot of attention to everything going on around us… (The sommelier by comparison was prompt, courteous and attentive – as well he might have been at those prices.)

As a pre-starter we were given a little demi-tasse of white onion foam, with a herb liquor, exactly as it should be – a little explosion of tastes. Now I'm not a massive eater, so I chose two starters – I had a fois gras terrine with a roasted shallot sliver on top of a little shard of something, and it was delicious! I followed that with a little roast lobster tail about the size of a langoustine tail), and that was equally yummy.

We had a variety of dishes between us, with the others opting for John Dory, lamb, halibut, sea bass etc, and all were very well executed… We ended with a lovely little strawberry tart, which was light and moreish. There were also some very good petit fours, little chocolate slivers etc. All in all the food was very competent, and I think I would return…

However, I can't help feeling the whole process was ruined by the said waiters' behaviour: we'd be in the middle of a discussion, and let's remember there were six of us, and he'd interrupt us just to pronounce (in a bored fashion!) what each pre-thingie was… I absolutely understand a restaurant taking pride in their food however, we hadn't ordered the tasting menu – we weren't here to pay homage to the chef… These little amuse were supposed to complement to meal, not dominate it. We were paying to eat the food we'd chosen, not to become slaves to the freebies.

So if you're looking for a foodie experience, I'd highly recommend The Greenhouse – but expect to mortgage your house if you want to get stuck into the wine list! However if you're looking for a good night out, with lovely food thrown in, I think I'd spend my money elsewhere.

This restaurant was a huge disappointment.
Went for a romantic dinner for two, the restaurant felt very corporate, although tables weren't too close together. It didn't particularly have a special ambience.
The food was fine, however, the service left a lot to be desired. We had originally booked the restaurant on a set menu deal, however, upon looking at the set menu one of our party realised that they did not actually like/eat many things on the set menu and asked if there was a vegetarian option. To which the waiter replied: well if you are vegetarian we will have to provide one.
In the end we decided to eat off the a la carte menu at £70 for 3 courses. The person who had enquired about the vegetarian option chose fish to which the waiter rudely commented: “So not a vegetarian then.”
Service was slow, inattentive and trying to order a drink or get a water refill was a real ordeal.
Would not eat here again or recommend it.

I chose this restaurant for my boss and her husband to entertain a client and his wife. This was on recommendation from watching the Masterchef programme. I am very dissappointed that the client was not impressed by either the food, wine or service. My boss who was quite happy with the food and wine did say that the service was appalling. The service was slow, the wine was not of the correct temperature and was kept so far away from the table that their glasses was not topped up on a regular basis and in fact left until empty. The waiters were simply not paying attention to their needs as one would expect in a high class restaurant . My boss say's that she most certainly will not be going back and I feel embarrassed to have recommended and booked it.

The Greenhouse remains amongst the bast places to eat in London

We have had the Autumn tasting menu ; it is expensive but is very very good : why waste money with indifferent restuarants in the CIty when you can eat consistently high quality food, whether amuse bouche, scallops, carpaccio, pigeon, small portions but perfectly presented by staff who know their trade and understand that waiting is a skilled occupation.

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The Greenhouse is an oasis of calm. The lush entranceway and muted décor set the scene for a meal full of interesting flavours and textures, beautifully presented and sensitively seasoned.

The amuse bouches between courses were particularly well executed and served by knowledgeable, attentive waiting staff.

I loved the Snix pudding and will definitely return to try out another seasonal menu – a lovely experience that leaves you feeling well fed and cosseted throughout.

Had a very enjoyable lunch, the menu did seem to have Basil in VERY course, from the bread rolls to the desert.

Service was good, but slightly disappointed that we had to ask for the wine and water to be topped up a number of times. Food was well presented, not rushed or to slow either, allowed us to have a enjoyable lunch at a pace that suited us, rather than the restaurant kitchen.

Sommelier was also very good at recommending wine by the glass and the bottle. The request for a sweet wine was listened to exactly and the request was very well fulfilled.

Slightly pricey but for this caliber not surprising.

This is not a cheap restaurant. However, it is certainly worth at least one visit. The food is quite innovative, some hit (brilliantly clever sorbet), some miss (the lamb was overpowered by lemon). The service is excellent, the setting is lovely – I do wonder if you can sit outside when the weather is nice though, which would be great. The wine list is almost silly in its size, and it certainly doesn't have too many wines on the lower end of the scale, but a huge amount of extremely expensive wines are contained within. Do go on an expense account if you can, otherwise make sure its a special occasion !