I'm going to cut them a bit of slack here, apparently management has just changed. Because of that they don't have a liquor licence yet, so you can't have a drink with your meal – they quite happily told us we could bring our own, but didn't know where the closest place to buy anything from was (and neither did we). They are also obviously going to change the menu, as a few dishes had been crossed out, which were of course, the one's we really wanted. Overall the food is ok, nothing to write home about but it is pretty good value for money.

Having now been to Terroirs a couple of times, and been seated both downstairs and in the bar – I highly recommend this place ! If you can, eat downstairs as the menu is much more comprehensive and still has all the lovely bar snacks from upstairs available.

My standout dish without a doubt (fork stabbing was involved when someone tried to get one !) was the cantabrian anchovies. Such a beautifully simple dish and just amazing quality. Anchovies, butter, finely sliced shallots and bread. Could have done with a bit more bread, but apart from that…I even tried to find out where they sourced the anchovies from, but they were keeping that secret to themselves. Another standout was the pork and pistachio terrine. Followed up by the chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, I was in pure heaven.

The wine list is ridiculously long, almost tempting to close your eyes and go “meanie, minie, mo” especially if you're not that good with french wines – otherwise do what we did and go with someone who is. However, this is probably not the place to take someone who's not a meat fan, very limited options.

Now I just have to find another excuse to go back for another visit. Which I will definitely be doing.

This is a tricky restaurant to find. Up the escalators, round the corner, up another lift. The views are pretty good, funny listening to an american couple state “how wonderful, you can see St Paul's and Big Ben!” Not quite in the same vicinity really. Whilst there were no complaints about the food being underdone like the previous review, I did think it was extremely overpriced. Sure, it's quite acceptable and very nice, but the prices are up there with some seriously better restaurants. So, go for the view and enjoy a cocktail or two, but I'd give dinner a miss. My other complaint would be the toilets – there is nothing else on the top floor apart from the bar and restaurant – however the toilets were pretty dire, much like public toilets.

This place is a real find. Not the place for having a long leisurely dinner, even though we did stay for quite a while. All very fresh food and the weasel coffee is a must try !

Came back again on 30 September with my parents, sister and partner. All top notch again, especially with 50% off the food (makes it the same price as MacDonald's really !). Great noodle soups, heaps of starters to share, all fresh, tasty and moorish. However, the weasel coffee this time seemed to be a lot weaker than the last time we went, which was a real disappointment. It appears that they are now grounding the beans onsite instead of having it bought it – perhaps that is the difference. So, I now wouldn't recommend trying it for the price. But for everything else, spot on. Brilliant restaurant given its proximity to Oxford Circus.

For my husband's birthday, this was his choice given that he's been there a couple of times and I never have. 5 of us in total, and we had a huge wooden table to share. It's not a big menu but we all managed to order completely different starters and only 2 had the same main course. The piggy plate is a winner, which I believe changes depending on what's available (so says hubby, who's had it several times). I'm not a fan of black pudding, but did try it and it was very good, the fromage blanc provencal was also a hit. It was huge so everyone got a taste at the table. Strange idea, sort of a mix between a cold fondue and soup, however it did work. One main was sent back for a bit more cooking as it came out rarer than expected for a medium steak, but that was the only issue. We were shown a dessert menu, but then nobody came back to ask if we wanted anything from it, probably a good thing considering the size of the dishes. Would have been nice to be asked though.

The only downside is the toilets. Or lack thereof. Only one (for both sexes) to share and I really wouldn't have wanted to be the couple sitting right outside it ! All in all, very respectable prices, and the house red and white were better than expected. If I was in the area, I'd definitely go back.

Wow, just wow. The Square really does tick all the right boxes. From the fabulous canapes to start with all the way through to the puds, I don’t think there was a thing they could improve on with the food. The black rice crisps with taramasalata as a canape was a winning combination. I will never go back to the glaring pink stuff that we normally get (and, by the way, can I please have that recipe???). The other 3 canapes were also excellent, and this was followed by an amuse bouche of mushroom with a pumpkin veloute (well, I think that’s what the waiter said), which was delicious. Then onto the menu proper !

All of us had the lasagne of dorset crab, and I fully understand why this is one of the dishes that they are renowned for. Seriously, if I’d had that plate at home I would’ve picked it up and licked it clean it was that good. We did all contemplate doing so anyway ! My husband and I had the grouse as a main. He loves game, I’m not a convert but decided that if ever I was going to try it, this should be the restaurant to do so. Needless to say, I might give it a bit more of a try in future. The beef also looked excellent. This was followed up by a pre-dessert of tiny beignets on a shot glass of something. Really, by this time I’d stopped listening to the descriptions the waiter was trying to tell me, far to busy with the spoon, ready to dive in……

Onto the dessert – again, hubby and I both had the same the – chocolate caramel pavé with chocolate sorbet, rock salt, olive oil and espresso. (I was beginning to suspect by this time that we were both ordering the same dishes so we didn’t have to share). Whilst I couldn’t taste the olive oil in the dessert, maybe it was one of those things that you would have missed if it wasn’t there. However, the salt worked really well with the chocolate and caramel. Yum.

About the only slight hitch for the evening was the service. They were obviously training a brand new member of staff, who did make a couple of small errors. However, this was very quickly rectified along with profuse apologies. I’ll forgive them that.

The best indication of how good this was ? 2 of our party are going back again this week for the tasting menu. Sadly, I’m not invited to that one !

We hosted a function at Bambou last night for 11 people. From originally thinking they'd lost our booking for the private room (had actually put us as a group in the main restaurant), I was a little concerned. The event team were great, we did get a private room and the evening was a big hit with everyone.

I've been here several times before and my biggest concern with Bambou has always been the size of the dishes, my husband always leaves feeling like a snack on the way home. So, as we were having a set meal, I deliberately went for the more expensive option thinking we might all get enough to eat. With spades ! Heaps of leftovers, which left me feeling a little guilty – but if they can do that for the dining room menu's, why can't they make the dishes in the main restaurant just a little bigger ? The standout dishes were the fish cakes (no rubber there) and the chocolate spring rolls for dessert. Don't think any of those got left behind…

The service was excellent, the bar is a great place for pre or post dinner drinks. The only thing to beware of is the step getting to the toilets. If you don't take care coming out, you could easily tumble down a flight of stairs.

How sad is it that we pick a restaurant we want to try, and then plan a holiday around it ? Which worked amazing well in this case as north Norfolk is a fabulous area to visit. Whilst we didn't stay at Morston Hall overnight (tempting as it looked) we stayed close enough to be able to get a cab there, instead of having to drive.

This place is run to absolute precision and the service is impeccable without being pretentious. Everyone shows up at 7.30pm for 8pm, has a pre-dinner drink in the conservatory or the garden if the weather is nice, then everyone goes through at the same time for dinner. And everyone has exactly the same thing, which they do tell you about and ask if you have any dislikes or allergies.

As to the food, everything was spot on, from the canapes of smoked salmon puffs on guacomole with our pre-dinner drinks to the cheese board with its comprehensive list of all the cheeses. The highlight for me was the very clever parmesan mousse with peas and smoked bacon, but all elements of the meal were excellent. I was even more impressed that they had one of my favourite wines too, from a small vineyard in Western Australia.

They've also caught on to the tap water debate, and have added that to the options of still & sparkling, which was great that you aren't made to feel cheap by asking !

Would I go back – absolutely in a flash. And I'd stay the night, or maybe even two.

Its been a while since I ate here, but the memory lingers on. I can't believe this place constantly gets rated so highly. Truly abysmal food on the night we went. Razor clams were completely cold, so we sent them back. Out came exactly the same plate 5 minutes later (you could tell by the bite marks!). The result was rubbery and almost inedible. The roast beef was so well rested it had a cup of tea and a lie down. The only accompaniments were horseradish sauce and a few bits of spinach. All in all, completely overpriced.

However we did like the touch of putting a pair of binoculars on the table, great for having a birds eye view of the river and surroundings. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who really rates their food and if you're after a view, try the Oxo tower instead !

It's quite refreshing to find a Japanese restaurant that doesn't break the bank like the majority of them in London. I've been to So a few times now and haven't had a bad meal yet. We did manage to make it quite an expensive meal this time by buying a bottle of their plum wine (ume-shu) which is highly recommended (after perhaps one glass too many over dessert!).

The lotus chips as starters are excellent, the mains are good but nothing amazing. However the real hightlight was the dessert, which consisted of several different ideas involving green tea. It was the dessert that bought us back the second time. Definitely try to get a table downstairs, its much nicer and not quite so bright. Try for a 50% off voucher to make it even easier on the wallet – and spend the extra on the ume-shu.

Archipelago is a very interesting venue. Quite an out of the way location, a bit of a walk from the bustle of Charlotte Street. The decor looks like a complete jumble of strange mismatched items, but seems to work without just appearing like it needs an overhaul by the House Doctor. A bonus point for the decor – if you've run out of topics of conversation with your dinner partner, there's plenty of stuff around to either look at or comment on. I quite liked the presentation of the menu and wine list (rolled up in cases), especially that the menu was left on the table for the night. Always good to be able to refer back to in case you've forgotten what you ordered.

The menu is certainly not something you come across every day, what with zebra, gnu, crocodile etc. I tried the zebra and my husband had the gnu stew. Both were very tasty, however we both agreed that it really could have been beef and neither of us would have been any the wiser ! Good wine list, with quite a few cheaper bottles, however a G&T at £8 I think is a little steep.

All in all, we had an enjoyable meal, and I would recommend Archipelago, especially for a group, as there are both vegetarian and “normal” options on the menu, apart from the exotic zoo.

Tip: do ask about the toilets, there is no sign on them to distinguish male/ female, just a drape of material in different colours.

This is not a cheap restaurant. However, it is certainly worth at least one visit. The food is quite innovative, some hit (brilliantly clever sorbet), some miss (the lamb was overpowered by lemon). The service is excellent, the setting is lovely – I do wonder if you can sit outside when the weather is nice though, which would be great. The wine list is almost silly in its size, and it certainly doesn't have too many wines on the lower end of the scale, but a huge amount of extremely expensive wines are contained within. Do go on an expense account if you can, otherwise make sure its a special occasion !

I finally managed to book the chef's table for a work function. Great set-up. Really enjoyed being able to stand around with a glass of wine and chatting to the chef. Everyone got into the spirit of asking what he was doing and checking out all the pots and pans. The food was very good and the service excellent. The Beef consommé with herb pancakes & bonemarrow was especially good. Would definitely recommend and will go back to try their normal menu. The only complaint I heard was the 3 flights of stairs up to the private room !

This really is an “establishment” restaurant. I'm sure I should have recognised some of the people in there too. However, whilst the ingredients are obviously of an extremely high standard, the presentation is a bit lacking, especially given the price. The potted shrimp for a starter looked deceptively small, but they really had packed the prawns into it. The crabcake for a main course was lovely, but at £24 I would have expected to have something else on the plate apart from just a crabcake, instead of having to pay for additional sides. My glass of wine was forgotten about too, even though they apologised profusely for it and realised before presenting us with a bill with it listed.

All in all, I can say I've been to one of the oldest restaurants in London, but probably won't be rushing back. Would be an ideal place to send business visitors too if they've never been to London though (and on an expense account!).