Gmbklm's Reviews

Being “Easties”, we rarely travel this far west for a meal. Our previous visit had been about 5yrs before, but we felt that a return visit was needed. A good decision. Our late summer mid week long lunch was possibly our most enjoyable meal of 2011. As others have mentioned, the riverside location and large glass wall make it ideal for lunch. Having read them afterwards, I was very surprised by some of the very negative reviews. A complete contrast to our own experience, which was hard to fault.

Food style: Standard Italian style choices, with a focus on seasonal, fresh and simple. All our dishes had super high quality ingredients, and were wonderfully simple and delicious. No pretension, just high quality dishes in good “man sized” portions. Some may not like the lack of design or style in how the food is presented on the plate, but to me this is all a part of the focus on the food not the fripperies.

Since we liked the sound of so many dishes, we decided to go for the “full Italian”: Starter, pasta, main & dessert + lots of wine. Oddly enough, we didn't feel like eating anything that evening ! We had beautifully fresh grilled squid and sardines, followed by excellent al dente pasta ribbons with new season porcini mushrooms. Couldn't fault. This was followed by a lovely large piece of delicious hake and a good size lean and very tasty / gamey new season grouse. Staff very kindly warned us about the gamey taste – but that was exactly what I wanted. One of the most tender and tasty grouse I've eaten in 2011. All topped off by a wonderfully fresh English fruit summer pudding.

Atmosphere: Bustling and relaxed, no background music, and not too noisy (high ceiling must help). Ideal for lunch. Incredibly busy, and not just politicians on PR expenses – what downturn ?

Service: Informal (sometimes the staff actually seemed to be enjoying themselves !!) but professional. Could be perfunctory rather than friendly. Generally not pretentious or arrogant, which can be a big… More

Gaulthier is discretely located in a characterful townhouse, in a surprisingly quiet Soho side street. The downstairs dining room is small and intimate, and has been simply updated and modernised.

Our small taster portions were innovative and interesting variants on traditional French cuisine – very refined and surprisingly light, with delicate flavours. Everything was beautifully presented. Our fois gras fondant and seabass / squid dishes were extremely good. Tasty, but very subtle. Our piglet was less appealing, and in comparison with the other dishes was rather bland. Dessert was very enjoyable. The cheese was good, but not great – I'm afraid I'm a big fan of the big cheese board. Overall, a good hit rate. We received good explanations of each dish as they were served.

Service was efficient and friendly, and there were certainly lots of staff around, especially given the limited space ! We were particularly impressed with the sommelier, who was extremely helpful and informative. His choices were interesting, but most importantly (all but one) were delicious and superbly matched with the food.

Four taster dishes (to be equivalent to a starter + main) will be circa £110 for 2, inc service. Worth trying the tasting menu at c£65 pp. With suitable drinks, expect a total of c£250+. Seems fair value given the quality.

A good choice for a sophisticated and modern take on classic French food, with nicely professional but not over formal service. Recommended. We will return to try some different dishes.

Our 5th or 6th meal in the Hoste restaurant in the last 2-3 years. As always, it was very busy. They have nice large sofa / coffee / lounge type area in a large conservatory at the back, plus a more atmospheric old pub front bar area – although both get very busy.

The restaurant food is quite good, but not great. Some dishes beautifully cooked, others overcooked, but in general did not live up to expectations, given the menu emphasis on best quality local ingredients. We have eaten some very good carefully cooked Holkham Estate venison, but on our most recent visit had some not particularly great tasting crab and sea bass. Normally seem to pay £55-£60 for 2 for 2 courses, inc service ex all drinks, which seems fair.

Over several visits, service has been very variable. Overall, they are all just too rushed and too busy to have any time to even try to be charming or attentive, and sometimes spend too much time being self important. Given the very high churn of customers on a busy weekend, plus the prices, staff really need to concentrate on being very well organised and very professional. Last year, we'd not previously seen so many plates being dropped in a restaurant in an evening. Also, not impressed at not being offered a fresh glass to taste a second bottle of £40 wine, nor offered a bottle cooler for a £50 champagne. OK for a £25 bottle in a gastro pub, which I think is their real level. Perhaps much better at much quieter times mid-week ?

A gastro pub with rooms that has perhaps now expanded beyond its capabilities, and if not very careful is on the verge of becoming much less appealing ?? Clearly a great ££ business for the owners.

Overall, a mixed impression. The restaurant is really a good gastro pub, but no more. Go casual and don’t expect any more – especially from the service, which can be very pot luck and could do with more professional management for the high traffic volume. Hoste prices very much reflect its popularity, but they are not OTT. Remains one… More

We've eaten at Club Gascon every 6-9 months for many years. The main reason we don't come more often is usually the lack of an available table !

The dining room itself is relatively small with a high ceiling, with luxurious but understated décor and furnishing. They usually have impressive cut flower displays !

The staff are always attentive, professional and friendly. The sommelier in particular being knowledgeable and helpful, and the maitre'd always engaging and friendly. A complete contrast to the “attitude” that can sometimes be encountered in high end French restaurants, especially in France. Despite this, the atmosphere can sometimes still be a little too hushed and formal for my taste.

Meals have included some fantastic foie gras, venison and partridge. Beautifully cooked and presented, with wonderful taste and flavour. A sophisticated mix of the traditional and the innovative. Also, dishes are often surprisingly light given the very rich ingredients. Portions are small, but having 3 pre dessert courses is sufficient for all but the very biggest appetites.

The set taster menu with a glass of wine matching each course can be recommended. Very good and sometimes unusual pairings with the food, and you'll certainly feel merry by the end !

We tend to pay £100-£110 for 2 for the pre-dessert courses (normally 3 rather than 2), inc service ex all drinks. Total bills tend to be £250-£300 for 2 depending upon wine. Given the quality and service we regard this as very good value.

A great place for sophisticated and refined Gascon / Perigord food, served by very professional friendly staff. Strongly recommended.

As locals and regulars (circa monthly) for the last few years – and with many meals under our expanding belts, we regard Magdalen as the best restaurant in the southbank Waterloo to Tower Bridge type area.

It attracts a very mixed crowd of diners – friends, lovers, anniversaries, birthdays, business. Despite many clients coming from local offices mid-week, the atmosphere remains very pleasantly relaxed and informal – helped by the staff. It’s also invariably very busy, giving it a good buzzy atmosphere.

The décor and furnishing adds to the warmth, although perhaps more suited to autumn / winter than summer: Dark woods, terracota colouring, thick curtains, a bit reminiscent of a traditional French bistro.

I think I would classify the food style as Anglo-French earthy, with a bias to high quality meat, game and offal dishes, plus increasingly fish. The style is relatively simple and traditional, but the food is always high quality, very tasty and full of great flavour, and sometimes very gutsy. Our favourite starters include superbly flavoursome quail, grouse or pigeon, and English Hertfordshire snails. Over our many many meals, the food has been reliably very good – very very rarely having an unenjoyable meal. We’ve had some excellent French style fish stews, with lots of big chunks of quality fresh fish, some of the best rib-eye we’ve ever eaten, plus a superb tasty suckling pig, with moist meat and a great crispy skin. However, such meals are probably not suited to a quick light snack !

Front of house and service is almost always very charming, friendly and professional, even when very busy. Not at all formal or pretentious.

The wine list is good, although it could do with more choice at the £25 /£30 end. We normally spend £35-£50, although sometimes more if we feel like a splurge.

Pricing seems very fair, and represents very good value for money given the high quality – and considerably better value than any other nearby restaurants, which we also know very well… More

Eaten here a couple of times. With the unusual arrangement of serving a set menu (a la Sally Clarke) at a set time 8pm, with (effectively) oligatory pre-dinner drinks and canapes at 7-30pm, it is never going to be a standard restaurant evening. Everyone is shown through to their tables within minutes of each other – a formal procession being presented to the head(chef) !?

Service was reasonable, efficient and pleasant. However, it noticeably lacked the sophistication or refinement of the dishes, or what you might expect at Mich star level and prices. The simultaneous food service also constrains any enagagement with serving staff. On one occasion, at the end of the evening, staff disappeared pretty rapidly, and we had to hunt out someone so that we could pay our bill and leave. The “weakest link”.

Our meal included quails egg, asparagus soup, gaspacho, deep fried cod and duck. All was very well cooked and tasty, with some dishes being more imaginative than others. Good or very good, but other than our duck, nothing special. The duck was really excellent, and beautifully undercooked, so very tasty. As a “cheese-ophile”, I was a little disappointed at the cheese serving. Wine choices good and fairly priced.

£55 /£60 per person seemed fair value, although London prices. With wine and pre-dinner drinks expect a total of circa £200 for 2.

Overall, a good experience and definitely worth trying if you're in the area. Having eaten at most good restaurants and gastropubs along the north Norfolk coast several times, Morston is clearly the best. However, the slightly annoying pre-dinner seating and drinks, set menu and set service time are clearly for the benefit of the restaurant, and of no possible value to customers. Whilst it remains the best restaurant along this coastline, like others, we will return.

Eaten at St John 3 times in the last 18m. Our most recent visit was April 11, having not eaten there since early 2010 (always booked up). Its pretty much unchanged, and every bit as good, with its focus on simple high quality English dishes, especially the “unpopular cuts”.

The main white walled dining room is rather stark and cold, especially with its warehouse style lighting – but perfect abattoir décor ! OK when busy, but it must be very “cold” if there are times when the restaurant is quiet.

The waitress and serving staff were very professional and knowledgeable, able to properly answer questions about the menu. However, not particularly friendly or charming. They coped very well with the very busy restaurant.

We love the simple high quality, very tasty and very earthy style of the dishes (eg fantastic pigeon), unusual off-cut and offal dishes (eg chitterlings). Our venison offal was a little uninspiring; mainly liver. However, on a previous visit, it would have been difficult for the very gamey grouse to have been any more “red”, which might not be to everyone’s taste. The menu really focusses on the gutsy stronger tasting cuts and dishes.

We had absolutely delicious trifle and apple cake for dessert. Possibly the best restaurant trifle I've eaten – Following on from Gary Rhodes great achievement 10+ yrs ago with Shepherds Pie ?

We liked the wine list, with its unusual bias to well selected regional French.

Great value at circa £75 for 2 for 2 courses inc service ex all drinks.

Overall, a great restaurant, with professional staff serving very tasty and sometimes very unusual dishes. Long may it continue.