Kettner's

Don't normally write these but felt compelled after reading some of the other comments. All I can say is, if there was a problem before, they've got it sorted now. Went with some friends on Saturday and had a brilliant night! We were early so had a cocktail first (Berry Caipiroska, lovely) after which we were escorted to our table in the packed restaurant.
Despite the number of people eating (or maybe because of it?) the staff seemed to be enjoying themselves, which I think is always brilliant for the atmosphere and our waitress was friendly and efficient, without making us feel rushed. I started off with the mussels and then had the steak which was just perfect with a beautiful béarnaise sauce. The waitress recommended the pavlova, which was strawberry that day and which all but one of us ordered and it was gorgeous, I will go back just for that! I wouldn't call it cheap, but it was certainly good value for money, as a fab night was had by all. Kettner's is one of those places I'd been aware of for years but never had actually gone into and it's instantly become one of my favourite places in Soho and I'd go back anytime!

Kettner's is certainly a wonderful building in the middle of Soho but you get the feeling this is either geared at tourists or parties. The main dining room is old fashioned with rather dirty looking carpets and school tables and chairs. The menu is club-like, to the extent that it is boring. There is nothing wrong with such a menu as long as the execution is good. Dover Sole should slide off the bone with little or no effort – my poor fish needed a chain saw to get the flesh off. Very poor indeed. In short at £10-£15 for mains you can do better else where and not a place for a regular restaurant-going Londoner.

When I arrived there was no record of my booking. After waiting 20 minutes and had not even been given the opportunity to order any drinks, we were seated. All of this in hindsight is admin fault and can be forgiven necessarily. What cannot be forgiven is the lack of quality in the food. Specifically the food within the main meals.

The beef bourgeon was over cooked, stringy and tasteless. The duck confit sat on what can only be described as chipped plaster board, what was supposed to be a potato dauphinoise stack. I ordered chips on the side as I needed carbohydrate to subdue the amount of fat left on the plate from the duck. The chips were checkerboard in colour if a checkerboard comes in white, black and green. The chips were either over cooked or what was later explained to me as “too fresh” and thus appeared green.

Overall I was severely let down by the quality of food, and the food was the only reason why I braved the intricacies of Soho to attend a place called Kettners.

I booked a meal for a party of 12 only 2 days before we wanted to eat. We then arrived an hour early, but the staff were very accommodating, and the table was already set up.

We had the 2 courses for £13.50 offer, and everybody found the food delicious, service excellent, and those who also opted for pudding were delighted.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was lovely, and the staff couldn't have been nicer.

I will definitely be returning

The old Kettners was loved because it was slightly different to other restaurants. It had a wonderful lived in, historic feel. For Londoners it was a special place.

That's all gone. Apparently, the marketing director of Pizza Express took the refurb on as his pet project and boy has he stamped all over it. The side booths are gone, he's put in a stupid marble breakfast bar in the middle of the room, he thinks people wanted different food – they don't. They liked the cheap and cheerful pizza in the luxurious, ambient location with the piano playing. It was charming and atmospheric.

We ate there after the refurb and the main courses arrived at different times. We complained and got invited back for a free meal. They duly cremated my steak. Terrible, I could barely be bothered to eat it.

I had so many good nights at Kettner's. It was an institution. It was a little something special. Now it's gone gone gone. It makes me so very sad, as it used to be such a cool place and now it's crap.

Nick West

Kettners shouldn't be thought of as a restaurant with a champagne bar attached, but as a champagne bar that offers food.

The champagne list is far and away the best in London; I know that the champagne bar at St Pancres gets all the plaudits (and it is a beautifully romantic place to have a glass of bubbly), but the champagne list there is safe and, dare I say it, a little boring. Yes they have Salon, yes they have Krug, but where are the small, independent Grand Crus?* Kettners has them, that is where: Egly-Ouriet, Larmandier-Bernier, Jacquesson, they are all here. Sure you could go mainstream Veuve here, but why bother when there are so many better choices at much better prices?

As for the food, well it is fine: the confit of duck was a fair example, the risotto far from the worst I've had, but that sort of misses the point. Go to Kettners and chose a top quality champagne. If you're hungry, grab something to eat (my 8 rating for food and drink combined is a 10 for the drink and a 6 for the food, averaged out).

Service is friendly and the atmosphere buzzing (it is Soho after all), with the throng enjoying themselves loudly in a room that is big and open enough for it to work well.

Whilst far from as romantic or elegant as the champagne bar at St Pancras (Edward VII, Lillie Langtry and Oscar Wilde are all rumoured to have frequented Kettners in the past, but their ghosts cannot beat the frisson of romance that St Pancres holds, with its promise of being whisked away on Eurostar to Paris, Brief Encouter style), for the champagne, it is a better choice.

• OK, they have Jacques Selosse, but that is it. And it is expensive. Nearly twice the price of Kettner's Larmandier-Bernier Grand Cru.

Went to Kettner's for a birthday celebration on Saturday. There were 12 of us and we started in the champagne bar – decadent yet relaxed. Really interesting Champagne list and the friendly staff helped us choose a great champagne at a reasonable price. Delicious canapes kept us sipping bubbly before we ventured upstairs to a private room. The beautiful tete a tete room was perfect for a private party and the food absolutely delicious – beetroot cured salmon, crispy seabass, fresh strawberry pavlova. But the evening was made by the great atmoshpere and really attentive staff. Everyone agrred it was a fabulous evening and we'll all be recommending Kettner's to everyone we know!

I dined at the new look kettners on the 20 of March, and overall we found the meal to be very enjoyable. We arrived early and had some drinks in the champagne bar, there is a mind boggling selection of champanes but unfortunatly you can have a simple beer in there.
The braserie has undergone a transformation with the removal of the long table in the middle of the room, and with the pianist playing jazz tunes in the pudding bar the place had a nice informal atmosphere.
To start I had the rabbit terrine with homemade picalli. The terrine was rich and spicy and the picalli was beautifully cooked and spiced. My wife had the the goats chesse persillade and she said it was very t
to follow this I had the fillet of cod with apple and potato gratin and grain mustard veloute. there was a sight delay on the main course and I think we ended up waiting for almost 25 mins before they eventually arrived, but they were worth the wait, the skin was crispy on the cod, the gratin was delicate and the veloute carried a good clean flavor.
we both agreed the food was excellent as was the service (excluding the slight delay on the main course) the whole meal with wine and service came to just under £80
Overall I feel kettners offers good value for money if your looking for unfussy, yet friendly service coupled with good homemade food.

We booked at Kettner's as it was situated close to the theatre! I don't know what the restaurant looked like before it had it's makeover but I actually liked the luxurious decor. Plush, champagne bar surroundings went well with the chino dressed clientel! There was ,however, something missing in the place! Atmosphere was just simply deadbeat. Could have done with a pianist playing or something else to give the plave some life. Service was fairly punctual to begin with! However, as the evening went on and the restaurant began to fill up timings started to slip a bit between dishes! The waiter was professional and did get us the bill promptly when we needed to rush off to an evening show.
The food was ok but a little bland overall to be honest. Didn't inspire me at all! Desserts were marginally better.
We payed over 6O pounds for 2 courses but for such an underwhelming experience it didn't seem worth it and will put us off going back.

I've now been 4 times to Kettners since it re-opened and it keeps getting better and judging by how busy its getting I don't think I'm the only one to think that. Although the place has been given a make over it still retains that feeling of somewhere very special but in a relaxed sort of way. Last week we went before going to the theatre. The food was amazing – crab on toast was fresh and tasty, confit of duck with cherries perfectly balanced. The staff were great at making sure we were looked after and out on time. After the theatre we returned to the champagne bar for our desserts – we had difficulty choosing from the amazing array of funky and traditional cakes and tarts. This isn't any old restaurant – this is Kettners.

Yum you did it for me Kettners

Thanks so much for looking after us, we had a great meal.

Fantastic friendly service, scrummy food and suptious surroundings.

Dont believe evrything you read in the papers..I tried it and loved it.

I will be back

x

Kettners used to be a key Soho landmark. A great place to meet friends for a glass of champagne or several, with a joyous, friendly atmosphere and jazz pianist tinkling in the background. The comfy chairs and cross-section of Londoners and visiters passing through made you feel at home. The menu was great value for money, the service was characterful and efficient and it really felt as if it had been there for ever and would continue to be there for ever. I knew trouble was on the way when the ‘refurbishers’ moved in to help it ‘regain its Soho identity’. Clearly to them this meant stripping out all the character of the place, even the piano, and giving it a big, empty minimalist feel, just like all those London drinking barns with clever names like Slug and Lettuce and All Bar One. Just like them there are silly stools to perch on and big bare floors to ensure that all the noise bounces and echoes from wall to ceiling. This is not the Soho I recognise. What makes me weep is that the Kettners many of us knew and loved, which was sensitively restored only a few years ago, has now gone forever and has become just another casuality of the current fad for bland, neutral, impersonal design. As for the food, why bother when there are other places exactly the same round the corner at half the price!

I Had a lovley time at Kettners,

The food and service was lovley, the champagne bar was marvelous and the building looks transformed.

I went upstairs and it was like a private members club without being private..Its free..Wifi and all!!

what a shame

its a disaster too upset to speak
for ten minutes when we got there

tacky yucky decor
food awful
staff confused
empty at christmas
apart from drunks from the provinces

what a shame

We were celebrating in the champagne bar and restaurant, not long after opening. The service was really helpful and friendly and we were squeezed in for a table, even though we had no reservation. We loved the green velvet banquette with the vintage chandelier – definitely the hot spot in the bar. House champagne starts at £40 per bottle which means you can afford to drink it – a welcome change from the norm of champagne ordering. As for dinner, our favourites were the French Onion soup (amazing), the crab salad – the green beans were perfect – and the foie gras was delicious. I was told that the steak was so so and there was not much offering for vegetarians. For dessert, we enjoyed a variety – the chocolate pot was suitably rich and the lemon tart did the trick. I have always loved Kettners for an affordable slice of grandeur, although it had become tired in recent years. I think the refit gives it a breath of fresh air and I'm so glad they've got rid of those horrible carpets!

i met up with a gang of friends, having travelled down from the East Midlands. I heard that the place had re-opened following a refurb and we wanted to be one of the first to try it out. The atmosphere was lively, as you would expect for Soho, but the staff were really friendly and not at all snooty, unlike some places. Plate sharing was the order of the day as there were so many of us, so we got to try out different things from the menu. I was happy tucking into everyone else's plate, but was also content with my steak tartare. I eyed up my friend's lobster shepherd's pie (odd name), but I didn't get a look in. So, I guess that means it was good. I'll order it next time. The rabbit tagliatelle was tasty but too big. I normally leave my plate clean, so that says a lot. We didn't have champagne, but a decent bottle of red that slipped down well. Puddings: I had the lemon tart; a thick tart rather than a flat one, which I'd never had before and persuaded the staff to give it to me with raspberry sorbet. It cleaned the palate. Job done. I didn't get to look around after desserts, as everyone had to chip off for the babysitters. Next time I'll try out the champagne bar.