Foxtrot Oscar

Foxtrot Oscar is, to some, a polite way of dropping the F-bomb. With an, I suspect fully knowing, irony it’s also the name of one of Mr Ramsay’s restaurants – and anyone who has seen him on TV will know he is rather keen on making extensive use of the 6th letter in the alphabet.

I’m clearly in a Ramsay mood following on from the triumph that was his 3 Michelin starred signature restaurant, but given I was paying the bill this time we opted for the far cheaper sibling a few doors down Royal Hospital Road.

It’s compact, vaguely bistro styled and slightly eclectic in décor, but just hope you don’t get asked to sit downstairs – we did and asked to move as it’s tiny and down a very narrow and winding spiral staircase. Noise is kept to a minimum upstairs by a very effective, but very ugly, acoustic ceiling (one of the joys of dining with a facilities manager is a discussion about ceilings!), though their choice of music is at best curious. Staff are friendly and polite and generally service is good, though less than polished e.g. reaching across you etc.

Food is perfectly pleasant but certainly not worthy of 3, or indeed any, Michelin stars. I started with chestnut veloute, served with crispy pork belly and granny smith apple; you get hot, thick chestnut veloute, which is curiously bland, poured at the table over a small portion of shredded porky belly and granny smith ‘croutons’ – which are a strange and unnecessary addition.

This was followed by a burger and chips. The burger was lovely – cooked medium, with cheese and bacon, it was properly handmade and really thick with great chips – hand cut, huge and thick, with crispy outsides and white fluffy centres. The bun the burger came in was slightly strange – toasted but more a glazed roll than a traditional burger style bun and perhaps the tomato relish was a bit over done, as it seemed to have been applied more in the manner of pizza topping.

Dessert was the most disappointing element – caramelised banana pannacotta with gingerbread, which sounds great. Sadly the none of the elements ever met each other as the pannacotta came in a small glass jar, like a French yoghurt, the banana was a tiny potion served one side of the slate platter and the gingerbread, 3 small but warmly flavoursome pieces, the other.

The bill came to just over £50 per head, which for 3 courses, wine, water, service and a drink beforehand, is very reasonable; however, given the type of food you are getting and the service delivered for a similar price I’d recommend either Pantechnicon or the Thomas Cubbitt instead – both offer something similar, but in a nicer environment.

The food was fabulous and the Bone marrow starter simply amazing; recomended by the waiter as the special, it was however quite heavy for a starter. Luckily the oriental pork belly was rather lighter, although it arrived straight after the starter, a break would have been nice. Taste wise I usually prefer a crispy pork belly, yet this was perfectly prepared and even the rice was the nicest i have had i a while, usually i find rice rather boring.
Our table was moving a little but the waiter put something under one of the legs, overall I found the service outstanding.
The only real negative was that there was just one ladies toilet and i personally thought the decour could have been better.
Worth a visit and parking free after one thirty on Saturday, unlike evil Westminster council!

I am stunned by the good reviews for this restaurant!

We have just returned from a week day work lunch. It was extremely disappointing. We were the only 8 people in there at first which should have guaranteed good food. The service, we have to say, was excellent as was the wine and wine list. My soup was cold and the croutons were soggy underneath which shows they had been sitting in the soup for some time. The beef was very tender but again cold. The goujons were very average and it was commented that they could have been pre-frozen they were so ‘ordinary’. My colleagues had fish served with a cold poached egg and the pork belly was tough and also cold. The risotto was excellent, apparently.

All in all we had a nice lunch as it was a rare outing for our department but we were bitterly disappointed. By the way we did not complain at the time as we were short of time and our boss was paying which would have been awkward.

We visited FO on Sunday 8th August 2010. This “evening out” was a gift from my Sisters friend as we were staying in London that weekend for my husbands 60th Birthday. FO did not disappoint. Although very noisy (it is not a large restaurant) it was very good. The food was delicious and the service first class. I had the crab for starters then the pork belly followed by the cheese plate! We were however a bit disappointed when the air conditioning got blasted up when we were the only 4 left in the Restaurant – it was only just after 10pm. We would have sat longer and ordered another bottle of wine but it got very cold and uncomfortable to sit and relax so we ordered a taxi and left. Personally, if you are going to spend a lot of money and more so for a special occasion you envisage sitting in the Restaurant the entire evening and not having to leave “post haste” !!!
Apart from that, we had a lovely evening and we could find no fault with the food or the service.
FO is well worth a visit – maybe “Gordon” could alert his staff to “hands off” the Air Con till all the diners have left.
Mrs Gail Hampton
Dundee – Scotland UK

Foxtrot Oscar Review

GORDON RAMSEY, the British celebrity chef renounced for losing his cool on programs Hells Kitchen, The F Word and Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares, now owns 15 restaurants in the UK and overseas. He holds an OBE and has been awarded a total of 12 Michelin Stars and in 2001 became one of only three chefs in the UK to hold three Michelin stars at one time.
I had the pleasure of visiting one of his empires recently and had a fantastic dining experience. It seems fitting that Ramsey’s restaurant is called Foxtrot Oscar, the name being a politer version of f*** off! It was opened in 1980 and Ramsey took it on back in 1998.

Foxtrot Oscar, a bistro in the heart of Chelsea provides mouth watering food in a friendly and relaxed environment. It is a 10 minute walk from Sloan Square tube and there are
plenty of car parks within walking distance.

We were shown to our seats by very welcoming and attentive staff and the smells of glorious home cooked food hit me.
The restaurant has two floors and we were sat on the top one which is tiny, giving it a cosy, homely and intimate feel. The décor of burgundy walls add to the unique charm and character of the restaurant.

We studied the menus and were spoiled for choice, so to help us decide we ordered a bottle of rose, Chateau Haut Rian and soaked up the candle lit, intimate ambience.

To start with, I opted for pan fried pigeon with beetroot carpaccio which was tender and glorious. I also sampled my husband’s duck terrine with apricot chutney and toast which was bursting with strong and vibrate flavours.
For my main course, I opted for beer-braised Dedham Vale shoulder of beef, with anise carrot puree. It was beautiful, cooked to perfection.
My husband ate game pie which was so good that he wasn’t too keen to share any (and when I tasted it, I saw why!)
We ordered side dishes of green beans, honey roasted parsnips and roasted squash with chilli.
I made room for some pudding of oven baked pear soaked in red wine and ice cream which was lovely.
What I really loved is that it’s good old fashioned British food that your Grandma would have cooked, without the OTT factor which is what makes it so special.
It’s fair sized portions and very reasonably priced. An average 3 course meal would be around £45 p/h so don’t be put thinking it’s a Ramsey restaurant it will be expensive, because this isn’t the case.
I recommend Foxtrot Oscar for all occasions and look forward to working my way down the Gordon Ramsey list of empires.

I would like to thank the restaurant manager Eihab Ali Gabe and all his staff for their wonderful service and full compliments to the head chef Ian Ellis and the all his team.

Foxtrot Oscar: 79, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London. SW3 4HN
For reservations call: 020 7352 4448
Website: www.gordonramse­y.com/foxtrotoscar

From the start I should be honest and say that I went to Foxtrot Oscar as a part of the London Restaurant Week (which is actually a fortnight) via lastminute.com. I decided to come here as I ate at the Narrow earlier in the year which is another Ramsay pub and I leave much nearer to this place. I completely accept that I may not have benefitted from the breadth of the a la carte menu as I witnessed food being delivered to other customers. Nonetheless we were provided with a small menu which had two options per course (3 courses).

The venue is not difficult to find especially if you know where Gordon's Royal Hospital Road restaurant is. The decor is interesting with heavy drapes as you enter and dark interior. It is a lot smaller than the Narrow which enjoys a larger bar area and decking for al fresco dining — no such options exist here. It is however small but not cramped.

I had a veal and pork pie to start and my friend has a vichyssoises. My pie was actually a slice of pie, more like a slice of terrine wrapped in pastry on three edges with a chutney. This was rather enjoyable and I was disappointed at the end with the smaller helping, my friend thoroughly enjoyed her soup. She had the chicken and mushroom pie for a main which came with generous (not northern generous but London generous) amounts of flaky pastry and I had two rather nice (but again small) fishcakes accompanied with salad. We both had dessert, she had a chocolate brownie with ice cream and I had a treacle tart slice which was thoroughly enjoyable.

I would definitely go back to Foxtrot Oscar. I don't think that is compares easily to The Narrow or other gastropubs that I have been too. Despite the food that arrived, it wouldn't say that it is gusty gastropub food and walks that fine line between gastropub delivered in clean lines like fine dining. We did not see the wine selection so I cannot comment on this.

I thought the service was attentive and not smothering like The Narrow and despite the small restaurant I did not feel like I was sitting with another couple at the same time. While this was probably the ‘simplest’ place I visited during London Restaurant Week it is probably the only one that I would go back to. It is very casual. Think knitwear, collared shirts, jeans and brown shoes — probably befitting of the residence in the area. It is a cozy place which was great for a catch up with a friend on a Tuesday night.