Felix's Guide's Reviews

Situated in an old bank at the heart of the City this is a massive space to fill. I ate in the upstairs restaurant which looks over the street one side and the carvenous bar area the other.

A classic Green's (Mayfair) menu focusing on seafood / fish but with plenty of meat options. With us oysters preceeded simple, well presented dishes executed with good ingredients – fish and chips (folded, battered plaice, neat stack of chucky chips, mushy mint peas) and haddock, mash and poached egg. Puddings did not disappoint except that the Eton mess had too much cream and not enough bashed-up meringue. Prices pretty fair for that part of the City.

Wine list in price order (bit annoying) has a good amount in the sub £35 level. Service still beding in with some friendly, ‘English as a second language’, unexperienced staff. Management seem to know what they are doing and so should improve this with time.

The groundfloor bar is pretty empty at the moment but hopefully will fill up. There is a rather odd raised private dining area in the bar which I doubt will work – better for pole dancers or a band. Two better, glassed fronted private rooms in the main restaurant.

All in all a brave move that I hope succeeds.

Oh what a disappointment. I love Zuma so much and was wanting the same sort of execution, the same thought of style and the same ‘out of the box thinking’ but all I got was a normal Italian with carpaccio, pastas and pizzas in an ‘OK’ basement. Whilst I understand that they are targeting executives from the nearby dreary Baker Street offices as opposed to the beautiful Chelsea crowd, with pizzas at £12 you need to deliver a lot more. The service whilst keen is simply not trained. Multiple waiters and waitresses came to our table asking the same thing or removing or replacing items (sugar for coffee came and went twice). I’m afraid it is the bar at Alloro for me any time or to sum it up…I would walk over mountains for Zuma but just a block for Il Baretto.

This has always been an awkward room for a restaurant – Petrus only just got away with it. Brasserie St Jacques has ripped out the formal features and fittings and replaced them with a rather artifical Parisian brasserie interior – you get the feel that the designer has read the books but never been to Paris. The orange 'effect' makes for a rather sterile atmosphere.

The menu has all the old favourites that you would expect from a brasserie menu (steak chips, Dover sole, steak tartare, creme brulee etc ) and to a large extent delivers OK on quality when the food arrives. But prices reflect the location rather than the quality – it's a posh cafe rouge in a posh part of town. Doesn't have the buzz of Galvin Bistrot de Luxe which, to me, is a great top end brasserie where you want to have a long winter business lunch finishing at about tea time when it has got dark already.

I just do not get why Sake No Hana has got a following from some celebs – it taking a space that has never really worked for restaurants, you have to go up in an escalator to the room and then down in a lift to the loos! Avoid the sunken seats if you do not want to take your shoes off or suffer backache.

New Japanese restaurant are in a difficult position as they are immediately compared with Zuma or Nobu – while Sake No Hana tries to deliver more traditional Japanese dishes I don't think it beats them for an overall experience. Or maybe it is just that I prefer the 'modern' twist to Japanese food. Service at the beginning was decidedly average but I hear it has improved now. Very expensive – probably just geared at Russians.

A great basement restaurant that serves a grazing menu like Maze. I think this is a fabulous way to eat – giving you about 4 to 5 dishes to taste rather than just 3 and leaves you feeling you have had just the right amount. The basement works well in the evenings but less so for Summer lunches. Does a very good value set lunch menu. An excellent private room in a balcony looking over the main restaurant. Took a party there recently and had their set menu which worked very well as no one had to choose but the Sommelier was too freely opening bottles for the table which escalated the bill unnessaryly – so do not leave it up to him.

Alloro never disappoints – my favourite Italian in town. This is a superb place for a client meeting combining excellent food, a buzzy atmosphere which is not stuffy. The only down side is that the wine list is a bit pricy. My tip is to book a table in the bar area for a cheaper/quicker meeting – I alway have the meat selection (one portion is enough for two) and then the cray fish/tomato pasta, finished with an expresso – a winner every time and good value.

Good food and execution but very much what you would expect at a top London hotel – good for your more formal clients. Tables well spaced so good for meetings.