Maze

Overrated. That was all I could say, leaving Gordon Ramsay's Maze. Being honest I left terribly unsatisfied. I have visited the restaurant for my birthday. We first, spent 30 minutes at the bar (I must admit that the interior does not look bad at all) before being seated. The wine list is overpriced, and be prepared for quite a shock if visiting the restaurant is in your plans.
We had the tasting menu with matching wines for the meal. The apetizers were indeed, bland and left quite a space for improvment. On the other hand, the wines were what was shining through the experience. They did go well with the dishes as well as on their own. There is a good selection of them with some, shining through as you can find some very bright, unexpected flavours in them.
The entrees were not much of an improvment, however, some of the garnish was truly perfect. A beautiful, colourful bouqet of flavours awaits you in some parts of every dish. However, you do need to be prepared to taste a vast desert of emptiness in a pieces of almost every dish.
As for dessert, it was suprisingly short of perfect. Great combinations of sweetness and some unexpected flavours do speak for themselves on the plate.
I must say that the complimentary house-made chocolates accompanying your tea/coffee have a texture so bizarre I still cannot decide what to think of them. The crispy chocolate cover, jelly inside with a dark chocolate centre is very suprising coming from a simple truffle-like looking chocolate The taste was still very dissapointingly bland, though.
Overall, the experience is not too bad at all. The food is good, although dissapointing if you take into consideration the name it bears. The value for money is dissapointing, I cannot disagree.

Lots of undeserved hype and very over-rated! I'm not a GR fan, but a friend really wanted to go to Maze for her birthday. We were a large group of 12 on a Monday night and had a pre-arranged set menu that was agreed (and paid for) weeks before. We arrived for our 20:30 booking and were told to wait in the bar area as our table wasn't available. Bar service was slow and surly (bar waiter refused to bring a drink to our table as we were being sat) though drinks were good. We weren't shown to our table from the bar area, merely told our table was ready and directed towards it. Server gave us the wrong menu and tried to explain it ten minutes later. The set menu was finally brought and it was then explained to the waiter that this had all been agree weeks ago and to please bring the food (we were starving at this point). First course finally got to the table at 21:45! Overall the food was decent (halibut and duck were great!) but the bread (which we kept getting served due to the extremely long waits (20+ minutes) between courses) wasn't fresh. Service from servers to manager (complained about service twice to the manager) was substandard at best. Luckily the sommelier did a good job and kept us in wine otherwise the night would have been a complete bust. We were finally able to leave at 00:15 and after issues with the bill. This is not an experience I will be repeating.

A certain air of excitement presided over this visit. It’s all about context. More than just my birthday it was lunch with my parents at Maze in London’s exclusive Mayfair district. I prayed that the food and experience wouldn’t disappoint, that my train journey there would be smooth and speedy, that I was about to be educated in the fine ways of dining and echo the zillions of glowing reviews Maze and its head chef, Jason Atherton, had received.

Atherton became the Executive Chef at Maze in 2005 after setting up the French restaurant L’Anis in London. Notable also and perhaps his greatest bragging right, Atherton was the first British chef to work at Spain’s famous elBulli restaurant under the eye of Ferran Adrià.

I entered cautiously, up the steps and through the double doors, beaming with excitement.

The first thing you notice is the expansion of light and chic minimalist architecture by designer David Rockwell (Grand Central Station). There is a luxury to the design, the choreographed mise-en-scene, paralleled equally by the menu and Volume I of the bounded wine list, with as many varieties as the worlds greatest Sommelier could digest.

Voted 2005’s Best New Restaurant by Time Out, the delightful tasting menu works with the picking of 4-6 dishes, all slightly smaller than the three-course A La Carte or Set Menu, with the kitchen selecting the appropriate order of your choices.

Cornish crab mayonnaise with avocado, sweetcorn sorbet and oscietra caviar tasted smooth and refreshing, presented in a tall chilled martini glass, followed by two texture white asparagus, ‘two hour egg’, smoked mussels and brown bread velouté. The second dish was thicker and more filling than the first, while remaining light, and although a clear starter dish I could see why it had been picked to follow the crab.

My mother had a minor criticism of the crab course, “too much avocado” she said, “slightly too much for my acidic taste.” I understood the observation but behind could see the kitchen at work, busy with gastronomy marvels, and her words dissolved on their way over to me.

With fish and meat on the menu I picked a wine that would not overpower the selection of flavours but that would still give me a fruity glow and that mid-afternoon kick. In the French chapter of the wine list and from the Beaujolais variety, a 2006 vintage Fleurie of vibrant red colour and petal characters, smelling to me of strawberry laces. Despite this childish sense, Fleurie remains one of the most elegant of all Beaujolais wines.

Our Sommelier and waiting staff were all prompt and polite, one in particular (I should have asked her name) was top draw, speaking to us about our selections and charismatically adding something else to the overall experience.

Next for me was braised shin of veal, new season garlic risotto and veal kidney powder, that, although tasty, did not take up a great deal of the plate with very little risotto to enjoy. This however was all merely preparing me for my final dish, the cherry on the cake, the meaty and wholesome, hugely flavoursome beef ‘tongue ‘n’ cheek’ with caper raisin and ginger carrots. It was near perfection, one of the finest dishes I have ever experienced. With a small amount of beef, caper and carrot on the folk for each mouthful; I was dazzled by the sources and flavours. My only complaint was that there wasn’t a second dish immediately to follow.

Memorable it was, if not for just reminding me that I’m another year older. The name above the door is “Ramsey” but where it really matters, deep in the heat of the kitchen, the food is stamped with fine authority and the name “Atherton” is what people should remember from their visit.

This is, as elaborate Londoner’s say in their lavish circles, “the hot ticket in town.”

Overrated and over priced – went for dinner with 7 people here – its a complicated and hard menu to order for a large table – it seems over worked and isn't one of ramseys finer establishments. Wine list is far too expensive, food is good but its just not an overall pleasant experience when spending £75 per person on average – better places across the street – the atmosphere is poor and this is more inkeeping with a traditional hotel restaurant for those who don;t know the area

Me and my friends (both a bit of a foodie) were quite excited to visit Gordon Ramsay's Maze. We all tried the set menu. I got the vegetarian degustation, where as my friends got the normal version of it.
The first 4 courses were small portion, somewhat tasteless and bland and nothing special. The main for me was slightly better with the pumpkin risotto with mushrooms… but nothing outstanding about it. The desert was slightly better with the peanut butter and jam sandwich (which is actually peanut butter icecream with peanut butter carmalised crunch on top). The service was average… sometimes the waiter will tell us about the food, something they will forget or seems a little unorganised. Also, they gave me the wrong dish for my first course. I was having vegetarian set menu, and I got a salmon dish. It was slightly off putting. Besides asking us to order more water, and serving us the food, not much service really. I would definitely not go back, and I wouldn't suggest it to anyone either.
How disappointing.

One of the main reasons we visited London was to eat at Maze and it was the most disappointing aspect of our trip. I ordered a steak that was so bland and chewy, I stopped at McDonalds afterword and found that meat more satisifying! The overseasoning on the lobster of our other entree was not enough to overcome its bland taste and tough texture. Extremely disappointing!

We went for a 6 course lunch taster at 1pm. It is now 2.30 and we are only half way there. First course (salmon) arrived at 2 and it didn't even need cooking. Second course arrived at 2.20 (john dorey) and was nice apart from the piece of clam shell that I crunched on. I told the waiter and he nodded but no further comment from him! At 2.30 we asked the waiter how long a lunch meal should normally take as at this rate the sixth course would arrive about 5ish. Reason for delay apparantly a ‘new menu’ and the kitchen is ‘really busy’ and ‘other people have been waiting longer than us’!!! Let's just say I haven't had third course yet but would rather write a review on my iPhone than ask again where the food is. I wouldn't recommend unless you book a half day for lunch.

Having saved Maze for a special occasion, I cannot lie and say that I was bowled over upon arrival. Perhaps it was our fault having visited the day before Valentine's, but the tables are very close together (one imagines to ensure as many people as possible get to experience the delights of the menu) and we were unfortunately placed next to the most unpleasant couple that could possibly squeeze their egos and lack of decorum through the door. The service was also initially confusing as we waited 8 minutes before we were even handed a menu.

Yet Maze has become my number two favourite restaurant in London. Why? Because the food is outstanding. We chose to eat from the Chef's Menu, and each course was an absolute delight. The onion and chicken liver soup to start was amazingly rich and succulent. The pork belly dish was undoubtedly the best meat I have ever been treated to in my whole life. The tonka bean and dehydrated peanut butter sandwich was also a stunner. None of the dishes put a foot wrong, and the ‘tasting’ size of each one is perfect so that you just have room to move onto the next. I'm ravenous just thinking about it all.

Where they let themselves down a little is on the wine. Wine flights are in three's, 125ml glasses only. Our last visit to a similar establishment (L'Autre Pied) treated us to larger glasses and more of them, to match each item on the menu, so having been denied such an experience at Maze we were initally disappointed. Neither did the sommelier have any advice to give beyond telling us our choice of Viognier was a good one, which is a shame as I always enjoy the debate between diner and sommelier because I actually get to learn something new about wine matching. That said our bottle was deliciously fruity and the inclusion of white port on the menu went down well with us.

The final few top marks go to the staff. While as I stated earlier we were confused by their lack of care in introducing us to the menus (a 15 min wait just to read the list of wines?) they absolutely redeemed themselves and more when out from the kitchen popped a white place with ‘Happy Birthday’ written in chocolate and a square of mouthwateringly good chocolate gateau on the side. That such a fine dining establishment such as this could remember from one telephone conversation that it was my partner's birthday just blew me away. The little chats we had with the staff between each course were a definite bonus to the whole experience.

Overall I can't wait to save up the pennies and go back – now I know some of the bugbears I think it will be an even better experience. Forewarned is forearmed.

My wife and i are big GR fans, indeed we have eaten at Hospital Road and my wife collects his books. It is therefore with a heavy heart we have to say we were dissapointed with Maze. We knew what to expect, but the portions were ridiculously small and didn't taste wise really knock us out.

The service was ok rather than special. We also could hardly hear ourselves speak because of the music and generally noisy atmosphere.

On advice from the waiter we both had two starters and two main courses, plus one sweat.

My wifes fish starter barely contained a mouthful of fish and my pea starter was just a bowl of green liquid with no flavour at all. Some of food was pretty decent, but the portions are so small you do feel you are getting poor value.

Most reviews Ive seen are pretty positive and I know lots of people who really enjoyed it, so I don't want to put anyone off. Just we felt £200 out of pocket and very underwelmed really.

Maze was a brilliant lunchtime experience from my foie gras & smoked eel starter to the excellent Portuguese wine recommended. For me the star of the show was undoubtedly the Daurade with shrimp & lobster risotto. My partner’s iron bark pumpkin latte with duck was in the super yummy class too. Staff were efficient, friendly and helpful. My only gripe was that one dish was too cool because it had been waiting to be served before we’d finished starters. However, we had been warned that the dishes are served in quick succession (a bit like Amaya), and we were admittedly rather slow munching through the scrumptious bread and starters, but thankfully the last two dishes arrived at a much more leisurely pace. Also liked the clean modern setting. Dined first time mid Jan 09 and can’t wait to return.

went here in December had chefs tasting menu didn't like the food at all there was one course out of the seven that my husband and I liked and we are both adventerous eaters – the atomosphere is very good but the food was at all to our liking and it was very expensive for what it is.

I agree with another reviewer: The Chef's Dining Experience at Maze was by far the best dining experience I've had the pleasure to encounter. It was probably one the most expensive meals I've had, but it was also the best value for money. It wasn't a meal, it was 5+ hours of gastronique entertainment!
The Chef's table is separate from the main restaurant, and has windows and a door onto the (suprisingly calm and quiet) kitchen. For one course the ‘birthday boy ’ dons a chef's outfit and everyone else wears aprons, and we were given a tour of the kitchen followed by the ‘birthday boy’ cooking the scallops we were about to eat.
As each of the 10 courses was served the chef who cooked it (different chef for each course) described what were about to eat.
It's changed my attitude to going out for meals: no longer will I regularly go for a local pizza or curry, but instead will save my money for occasionally going somewhere as exceptional as this.
If you've got 10 or so people and a special occasion I wholeheartedly recommend that you go.

This place is amazing. I've been twice. Once soon after it opened and then again more recetly. Jason Atherton is a legend!

I was lucky enough to be invited to join a colleague to sample the Chef's Table experience at Maze and have to say without a doubt it was the most amazing dining experience I have ever had. The entire experience is meticulously put together and the selection of dishes is fantastic. We were asked for any likes or dislikes prior to the meal and let the Kitchen team, supervised by Jason Atherton come up with 10 dishes of pure heaven. With a matching selection of wines with every 2 courses a tour of the Kitchen and one of our table press-ganged into cooking one of the courses for us, it was a mixture of dining and theatricals. The price for this experience doesn't come cheap but after trying this culinary delight I think for a special occasion (and considering the excellence of the meal all round) it's well worth it. The atmosphere has been marked very high because of the company I was with and be warned it's a long long meal so go with your best friends and if lunching cancel all your afternoon appointments.

We recently enjoyed an interesting meal at Maze. The food all comes in a bijou form which does tend to leave you wanting but that's not to say it wasn't tasty – which it was. You are encouraged to in effect order 2 starters and 2 mains each which we decided to share and we certainly enjoyed an eclectic mix of flavours. The service is as it should be and the decor and atmosphere all seem to work, but I still don't think the overall experience merited the £200 bill for 2 people.