Arbutus

Consistent food quality, safe choice for a small party

I have been to Arbutus whenever I visited London during the past 4 years. Food quality has been consistent. Always use the seasonal fresh ingredients. Reasonably priced. I visited on a Saturday evening. It was very busy so we were not getting the right attention from the waiters & waitresses as much as one would normally get. I had 3 appetisers as opposed to 1 and a main dish. I would have thought that the three be served one after another. They ended up being served all at once so my friend and I had 6 plates sitting on the table. Food was good but definitely impacted our enjoyment of such. The English asparagus with Caeser mayonaise was rightly favoured. Caeser was not overpowering so we are able to enjoy the natural sweetness of the asparagus. Recommended it if they were in season. Dorset crab was refreshing and nicely served with peas, peanuts and avocado guacamole which provide a variety of textures. No surprises from the beef tartare but I did enjoy having this to finish my meal after the previous two lighter dishes. Will I go back to Arbutus when I am in London again? yes.

Great flavours with interesting menu items

For dinner midweek the menu offered a limited set of choices, but good variety. Across 4 diners we covered the menu options – the specialty starter of crispy pig's head actually came out as 2 marshmallow-sized nuggets, tasty and hot, reflecting lots of kitchen work to produce. The meat dishes (lamb, beef and pigeon) all looked good and tasted good too. One cavil – the cheese selection at £3.25 a portion produced 2 see-through slices and a piece of rind! The glass of port at £10 was a bit rich too. Wine choices were indeed reasonable and having the carafe option is a great idea.

A good choice in particular for pre or post theatre in Soho. Food options and quality leave you satisfied (but likely not excited) with a very good and versatile wine offering

Until today, I hadn’t eaten at Arbutus in at least 18 months. I feel like a total chump. What a gem it is; streets ahead of every other central London place in the same category. Prices are on par with bistros and gastropubs yet the menu is a blast of mind-bending originality. Amongst the starters: crab with lychee; squid & mackerel ‘burger’ with razor clams; warm crisp pig’s head. Amongst the mains: cod fillet with chicken wings; lamb’s tripe, shoulder and trotters. For those of a nervous disposition – in particular, my fellow diner – there were plenty more conventional choices, such as scallops with vegetable tartare as a starter and sea bass with mussels and cauliflower as a main.

At the recommendation of the well-informed waitress, it was pig’s head followed by lamb offal for me. The pig’s head came as a terrine that had been pan-fried. The flavour was (strangely) just like the loveliest bit of crunchy, fatty, salty roast chicken you’ve ever tasted. Brilliantly it was accompanied by mandolined slices of sweet pickled turnip to offset the fatty taste of the terrine – such a smart bit of cheffing. Terrific.

The lamb came in three ways: minced shoulder, a white bean stew baked with slivers of tripe, and some chopped trotter on toast with salad leaves to give some respite from the meat. The stew was staggeringly tasty, with unexpected flavours of coriander and lemongrass, plus crunchy, garlicky breadcrumbs. Shoulder and trotter were both much more enjoyable than I ever expect from offal, although the former dish had some strips of tripe on top that gave off a bit of an odd smell. The waiter explained that the chef insists on using unbleached tripe, which I’m definitely filing under “too much information”.

My fellow diner started with sprouting broccoli cooked two ways: grilled and tempura deep fried, and very effective they were too. They came with a lurid orangey Caesar mayonnaise that added a lovely texture but whose flavour didn’t quite punch through. She was happy with her main of 24-hour slow-roasted pork, although it wasn’t going to win any prizes for its appearance: long, pale, slightly fatty strips of meat.

We had little hesitation in sharing desserts. Chocolate aero bar was a clever confection that I’m guessing required the use of some molecular cooking device: the chocolate was melted, aerated and then set, filling it with bubbles. It came with a witty ‘canoli’ made of thinly sliced pear and filled with salted caramel mousse. Two apparently miserly slivers of vanilla and rosewater cheesecake actually turned out to be just the right portion size, given the richness.

The room is noisy, given all the hard surfaces, but that’s what I expect – even demand – in Soho. There were a fair few suits in; I can’t think why, as Arbutus is low on formality, despite the fact that they’re running a very professional operation.

The total bill for three courses, a 500ml carafe of wine, water, coffees and service clocked in at under £100 which for cooking this surprising, fun and tasty is superb. The only disappointing element to the meal was that my guest, a high powered young agent, embarked on a long anecdote about a client of hers, only to hit the punchline by revealing he was a former soap star; I shooed her out of the place with an order for A-list gossip. Nonetheless, on the basis of today’s lunch, I feel frankly ashamed I’ve been dining elsewhere in Soho the past two years.

I have eaten many times at Arbutus, and each time I have gone for the set lunch. Fabulous value and brilliant food. The service is always impeccable, not at all irritating but friendly and efficient. The dining room is very stylish without being fussy, lots of natural light which I think is lovely. The rabbit stew I had last November has to be the highlight, and in general I would say the more gamey, strong meaty flavours are their most effective dishes. I think that Arbutus is one of those places that you can go to for pretty much any occasion. Work/date/family/friends. So useful, and one of those places I just keep going back to.

Having visited on Arbutus's widely treasured amazingly priced set lunch menu back in the snow clad streets of London over a year ago, our next visit was well past due. As i starved myself through a gruelling 10 hours at work, nibbling on bland workplace basics in preparation for the rich delicious treats to come I was TRES hungry by the time i arrived on Wednesday evening and practically salvating as i was handed the menu whilst my coat and bag whisked from my hand and seated.

Gleefully greeted by another waiter within seconds, the bread basket whipped in front of my nose, i tucked into some of the softest soughdough, with pleasingly crunchy crust. The butter unsalted and a mill no where in sight; as a stickler for salt, my kidneys are most pleased, i could not fault this minor detail. I took in my surroundings whilst waiting for my fellow diner, clean lines, sparking granite; modern with a tapas restaurant style twist – a bar area for informal dining and a seated restaurant around the back. We were seated on high stools and a grantite table, the very one in the picture above. Private yet bustling.

On the menu – starters with a loud shout to summer; crab, tomato, avocado, lemon, seasonable and fresh i pumped for the tempura courgette flowers with goats cheese and tomato confit; it came within minutes; amazing. When i was over the shock at a) how beautiful the dish looked; summer garden on a plate and b) how small it was i started eating two mouthfuls it was gone, three pieces of bread later my fellow diner was still eating her scallops with potato gazpacho; a mound of creamy, rich, peppery gazpacho, scallops delicately bedded within, four, five, six, never ending! To say i was slightly disappointed would be a lie as the delight of the zingy lemony confit cutting through the creamy soft and even woody goats cheese prevailed and i looked forward to my main.

30 degrees outside, fish was the only choice for me; a pleasing lump of meaty roast cod, half an onion and a lemon confit. Two spinach leaves. Where was the rest, i can't quite believe that i was still hungry!! My friend was greeted by one, two, three parts to her Lamb tripe; trotters on toast, caseroled tripe wth breaded crumb and triangles of stuffed tripe. A delicacy to some, not to others but delicious. No greens, no carbs it is a veritable meat feast. I just wished there had been more of mine. Dessert was a definite for me, and less pleasing to my wallet.

Raspberry Pavlova it had to be; disappointly ‘deconstructed’ it looked like an Eton Mess that had forgotten most of the ingrediants. Not impressed and i am embarrassed to say still hungry. some may say an error for choosing the summer options on the menu rather than the hearty rabbit or steak, but surely summer portions should still warrant more than a speck or this and a dab of that.

Service impeccable, the waiters all well versed in the wine list made ordering easy, recommending a Pinot Noir to accompany our combo of meat and fish main. A small wink, the odd flirt saw our glasses topped up. Simply the best dessert wine i've ever tasted – i even snuck a picture of the label as he left the bottle on the table (tempted to top up again but we're too honest!) Clos Thou – Jurancon 2010.

In all fantastic food and enjoyable evening, made so by the attentive waiters and cool environment, i just wish i had left full and content rather than wondering if i had ordered better i would be contentedly full and smugly tiddled.

With the current craze being for reservation free dining, unless you're actively surfing ahead of that zeitgeist or are prepared to huddle in the cold for 45 minutes minimum even for a table at 7, you'll be left wistfully wishing you'd got ‘it’ before Twitter did. New dining is about social support networks, and by the time you read about it in the old media, it's probably already jumped the shark.

Thankfully you don't have to try and corral your less cool friends into the latest reservation free pop up as the plethora of these has thankfully given you an excuse to revisit slightly quieter options that don't feature on the Twits radar.

Arbutus is one of these. Just off Soho Square, it's a clean contemporary dining room serving clean and contemporary seasonal Modern European food. They specialise in some of the biggest of flavours, put together with the lightest of touches. I start with a contender for best starter of the last few years; squid and mackrel ‘burger’. Infinitely better than it sounds, it's an absolutely joyous hockey puck of freshest seafood that absolutely hits the back of the net for me and my Cordon Bleu trained dining guest.

If you prefer dining out to involve a bit more effort on the part of the chef than just piling good ingredients on a plate then you'll be pleased. There's a real sense of craft demonstrated here that stops short of showing off.

Chef Demetre delights in multiple incarnations of ingredients in each dish, in this case rabbit for Cordon Bleu and tripe for me. To be honest, the portion sizes got a bit messy. I know offal is cheap but I literally have four large plates to plough through. Slow cooked as an enormous cassoulet on the side is marvellous melting and soft. Topped with crisp parsley crumb, a distinctive uric tang rises with the steam. It's not that, but the portion size that defeats me in the end.

Less successful is the small plate of slightly soft chewy crackling served alongside. It's a fatty afterthought that doesn't add much to the meal and is mostly ignored. The main dish was a Marsailles style rustic dish known as Pieds-Paquets, tripe stuffed with chopped ham, garlic and herbs, rolled into little parcels and simmered for 6-7 hours. Just when I thought I was done, a final meaty flourish gave me a toast topper of fine chopped garlicky tripe. Superb, but I had meat coming out of my ears.

By contrast Cordon Bleu's shoulder pie and saddle of rabbit were positively Lilliputian. They seemed to go down well, he was scraping the tiny Staubb receptacle clean while I was still ploughing gamely on. It's a good thing he talks more than I do…

Their set lunch is one of the best business dining options in Soho and at £50 a head including a decent bottle of something ertzatz and Italian, dinner doesn't need to break the bank. In a pleasantly surprising touch, a cheaper bottle is recommended when our first choice isn't available, I only wish more restaurants would dare to do this. Another nice touch at the three restaurants in the group is the vast number of wines available by the carafe.

Arbutus may not have the blistering white hot buzz of nearby transient neighbours, but it sure as hell competes on quality. Take advantage of the fact that everyone is currently queuing outside somewhere else.

As part of our birthday treat my friend booked a pre-theatre set menu meal at Arbutus. When we arrived the staff were friendly and welcoming, they offered to talk our coats to the cloakroom, which we declined but hindsight we may have used this service as we had very little room at our table.

The table we were offered was very closely placed between two couples trying to enjoy a romantic evening. We found it very difficult to hear our own conversation as everyone else has to speak very loudly to hear their partners.

We were left for a considerable amount of time before anyone came to take our order and when they did they were not as friendly towards us compared to the service other diners were receiving. When our wine finally arrived they had given us a caraffe rather than a bottle as requested. Our veggie starter and main courses were okay, but nothing amazing. However when it came to order the cheese cake (which is what we were really looking forward too!) they had run out and the alternative options were very poor. We ended up with poached pear, toffee ice cream sprinkled with burnt sesame seeds. I also received my dessert 20 minutes after my friend.

No attempt was made to explore my reasons for refusing to pay the service charge. It felt like this restaurant wasn't bothered about our experience and we left feeling very annoyed about the service which we received at Arbutus and will definitely not be returning.

One to avoid…

I invited a friend along to join me for lunch at Arbutus this afternoon in celebration of the commencement of 9 week's off work. And it did not disappoint. I dined on the lunch set menu (most of the 9 weeks is unpaid!), which is very good value at around £17 for three courses. Choices are, of course limited, but if you don't want to break the bank the set menu is the way forward. I probably ate the richest three combinations of starter, main and dessert, but didn't come close to being bloated. I just came away feeling nicely full, and very glad that I'd finally tried it out.

Anyway, the meal…

My weakness is always the aperitif (I rarely say no even when having a ‘virgin’ lunch). The £9.95 for the prosecco with clementines and campari was very steep – for that price though you would have thought they should have served it with champagne! Didn't stop me ordering it though, and didn't stop me enjoying it.

For starters I had a divine slow cooked belly of lamb which was very thinly sliced and arranged on the plate in the way that beef carpaccio usually is. The flavour was beautiful – absolutely no mistaking that it was lamb – really tender. It was served with a lightly spiced aubergine and yoghurt concoction described as “Iranian aubergine – kashk bademjan”. If you're into your middle eastern food then you'll love this dish, and if you don't know if you like that type of food or not, then just give it a go as I don't think you'll be disappointed. Incidentally I noticed that this was also on the a la carte lunch menu so thought it was a good option.

For the main I ordered roasted rabbit with savoy cabbage and pancetta. The jus it was served with was delicious, as was everything else on the plate. If you don't like meat on the bone, then this is not the dish for you. The rabbit was also served slightly pink. Clearly, none on this bothered me. It was very, very good.

Dessert was the only disappointment. Bitter chocolate mousse – served with what I think was broken pink sugared pistachios in a metal bowl. It wasn't that it wasn't nice – it was. It just wasn't 'Wow, love this". Just a bitter chocolate mousse, made better because of the texture of the crunchy pistachios.

Ended the meal nicely with a black coffee.

Paid £35 including tip. So I managed to pretty much double the fixed price menu by ordering the apertif! Oh well, no regrets to be honest. Great way to catch up with one of my closest friends – a good excuse for her to take a long lunch.

Smart but casual restaurant. Beautiful space, and very bright, but in a really good way. I could tell it was going to great from the outside looking in. Great place for lunch. Would love to try it for dinner!

Can certainly recommend Arbutus as a great place to get away from the hell that is Oxford Street to enjoy some great food in lovely surroundings. You don't need me to tell you to go there though – it's already got 3 square meal stars!

I have been a fan of Arbutus for years and eat there regularly. The food and service is always good, especially the service – which is personable yet professional.
My visit there yesterday totally destroyed everything I've admired about their staff and ethos. It was a busy evening at about 7pm and we were seated readily. Our waiter was very nice but also very stressed. He was perspiring and sweat was literally dripping off his head. He tried to be calm but he was in a hurry when describing the menu to us. My dinner partner and I felt stressed.
My dish the Fish Boulabaisse arrived and the fish wasn't cooked through. I sent the dish back only for it to return looking like another dish. The chef has decided to fry it rather than poach it. The dish had a layer of oil floating on it. I explained to the waiter that this dish wasn't right and he tried to explain that the dish is cooked this way! I've eaten this dish numerous times and as a chef, I know the difference. The manager then came and he explained that because I had complained the fish wasn't cooked (the middle of the fish was raw!), the chef had decided to grill it because poached fish cannot be poached again.
My understanding of a Michelin Star restaurant is that the service and quality should be of a high standard and pride?. Shouldn't the chef re-cook the dish then? The manager said he could ask the chef to make me a new dish should I request so. I declined as I had lost my appetite by then. The manager and waiters then avoided our table like the plaque while I watched my partner consume his meal. When he finished his meal, the manager came to clear the table. As he was in the act of clearing the table, he told us our meal was on the house and to feel free to order some dessert to make up – all this while, he never established eye contact at all. It felt like they offered unwillingly and made to feel like we were being unreasonable.
If I was dining in a greasy spoon, I could probably accept this level of service, but this is a Michelin Star restaurant! I was very sad that a restaurant that had such quality before is now so poor. The setting was not relaxed or inviting – the lighting was bright, there was no table linen, the quality of the tables and chairs looked cheap. What's happened to the real Arbutus? OH, the pictures in this website doesn't reflect the new look of Arubutus.