Andrea's Reviews

Dont bother

A group of us went there on a Friday night and the few empty tables were indicative of the fading fortunes of this resaturant. We were sandwiched between a table of suits and lookalikes from The Only Way is Essex. We had all been before a long time ago and this visit was very dissapointing – both in terms of food and service.

We started by asking three different people for wine and half an hour later, found the waiter that could actually take our order. Water is a rare commodity with empty glasses having to be asked to be refilled several times.

The whole theatre of the display of the different beefs tableside, was made a mockery of when the food arrived since two of our four steaks were hugely overcooked and when they did arrive correctly – one of the fillets was hugely fatty. We therefore ate our meal in two sittings – two of us whose steaks were fine and then the other two. Clearly not what you want and with sides getting cold etc, really not great.

Small plates of salt and pepper squid were nice and we didnt have dessert so cant comment on that.

In terms of ambiance the dining room is nice but the the 90s dance music was odd – don't know if they are going for a restaurant / disco feel but it's the oddest choice and doesnt fit with the ambiance or the style of the place. Felt like someone was going to clear the tables and produce a dance floor.. Bizarre!

At the end of the meal there was no apology from the manager – so we asked to see him and he said he'd take the service off the bill. Although the service wasnt great, didnt see why the service should come off as we didnt want to pay for the substandard steak so he removed this at our request but still, at £65 a head, there are much better places in London to eat steak.

Evening was topped off by a long wait for our coats so needless to say we wont be going back. Mr Ramsey ought to pay attention to Maze Grill before it becomes a kitchen nightmare.

Went for a business lunch here recently, and it truly is a beautiful place. From the sofa's outside to the upstairs dining room every detail has been thought of. Service was impeccable and the breads that arrived were delicious. Everyone in my party had steak, my sirloin was unusually fatty and difficult to cut but I was the only one on the table so I think it was just bad luck. Sides were interesting and offer more choice than the usual ‘chips’ – the traditional Argentinean corn side dish was delicious, as were several different vegetable dishes.

As others have said it is very dark, so perhaps not somewhere to go on a sunny day. Definitely one for the boys – I think we were the only female table in the restaurant.. so a great place to take male clients (and there are other things on the menu if people don’t like steak – although it’s a bit of a shame to go there and not try their speciality). The steaks do come up on the rare side – just something to bear in mind for those who aren’t keen on blood – a medium is more like medium rare in other places.

Dissapointing. Perhaps it was my expectation that let it down having read great reviews and walked past the ever-packed bistro style restaurant on Lexington St, but I would most definitely not go back. Willing to forgive the offer of ‘ I suppose we could get you a drink’ as we were very slightly early for our table, the meal was distinctly average and accompanied by a very long (45 minute) wait. Starters were good, a nice ham terrine and tuna sashimi – but the mains were distinctly average (a very fatty, dry, salty un-crispy confit of duck) . Mains are between £15-20 which, in my opinion, isn't good value for the quality. The staff's knowledge of what was a very good wine list was another dissapointment – as was the half an hour wait for the bill as all the waiting staff seemed to dissapear.

We sat downstairs so perhaps the upstairs experience is different, but my expectation was good, solid, unpretentious cooking accompanied by a great atmosphere and personal service which was far from what we received. At least the atmosphere was good, since we were in there for two and a half hours for two courses. Such a shame.