Didn't travel well

My 3 friends had lunch last saturday. Ok I can overlook the fact that it looks like an expensive Cafe Rouge but the food is truly terrible and that I cannot overlook. The starters were awful. So awful that I get angry when I think about it so to help my blood pressure I will caution you: don't order the pate or the tart. yuck.
For the main course, I ordered the seafood linguine . It was awful. I can't describe why because I have no idea what it was trying to be. Yes there was linguine and yes seafood on top. But where was the lovely oil to bind it together? Instead it tasted of marinated dishwater.
My two friends ordered Eggs Benedict. Instead of canadian bacon or its british equivalent it had rashers. Why? The rashers were undercooked and flabby. The sauce looked like it came from a boil in the bag. This was the UK's idea of Eggs Benedict 30 years ago. If they can get it right in NYC why can't they bring it over the pond in 2013?

For dessert we ordered the rhubarb souffle and the Chocolate souffle. Both arrived undercooked.

If it were not for the service which was very good,( there was a mistake early on which they quickly fixed and dealt with beautifully) , this restaurant would be a total write off.
Sadly because of its name and location it will thrive when it should be an epic failure.

This place is surreal . Its like eating steaks in Aladdin's cave. The service was lovely but you know you are in trouble when the first wine in the wine list goes for £300!!! We felt that the £50 Chilian we ordered was slumming it when compared to what was on offer but I do have a mortgage to service.
The cooking is first rate from the cheeses sticks and tiny little hamburgers to the bread. I had a breadroll which has to be the best bread roll I had ever tasted-it was the king of breadrolls. Given that all the aforementioned was offered before I had a chance to order , I decided to start light with a salad. It was stunning with soft lettuce, avocado and tasty ripe tomatoes and blue cheese. I would come back just to have the salad! My guest had scallops which he enjoyed-we both ordered the US filet which at £32 was reasonable compared to the pricier cuts -well seasoned and tasty if a little over cooked for medium rare . We were so stuffed that we skipped dessert but given yummy cookies with the coffee. The meal was really really lovely but come prepared for sticker shock as it does not come cheaply: £260 for 2 courses . I almost wish they would move to less glitzy surroundings so that i could eat there more often. The service was lovely and friendly although we did have to stop the waitress from filling our glasses with the next door tables wine.

Maybe I am getting old but I really really didn't get this restaurant. I loved the bar downstairs and thought that the cocktails were unusual and tasty . The barstaff are really enthusiastic and friendly. But the cooking upstairs is pretty mixed. We had the halibut , the salmon, the pork and the lamb dishes and for me only the pork stood out -it came with acorns and frankly tasted like upmarket satay. The other dishes were fairly bland and unmemorable. The cheese course was so small that I could have ordered it 3 times over and then just been given the portions that a Chez Bruce serves on their memorable cheeseboard.

They also tell you up front that the portions are small so one should order 3-5 starters and 2-3 main courses each. This is nonsense . You can easily just order half that amount and be full.

Its nice cooking but nothing earth shattering.

This restaurant is what Chez Bruce was before it expanded and went downhill. Not surprising since most of the front of house came from Chez B. The food is wonderfu not as country as Chez B a bit more refined : The white onion soup is rich and creamy and very rich . The Tuna Tartar fresh and unusual . the steak wonderful. The room is charming and the serious friendly but not overly familiar. A really lovely restaurant.

This is such a charming wonderful restaurant that I have no idea why I am sharing this especially since there are only 5 tables . The food is wonderful. The grilled chicken is marinated in spices and juicy and tender. The chicken liver sublime. The lamb succulent. The cold starters from grilled smoked aubergine dip to various tomato and chickpeas are yummy. The owner charming. This is a jewel of a restaurant.

My daughter and I visited this restaurant last night after a Texan colleague recommended it. Wow was she right. Finally after living in London for 24 years, a proper Tex Mex restaurant with fabulous Margueritas has come to town. I know some of the reviewers belowthink it is expensive but I think that £8.95 is actually a decent price for a marguerita given that it was so large it lasted the entire meal. I have been known to drink at least 3 of these in other places when I can stomach them. They were so bad in Cafe Pacifico I actually went behind the bar to show them how it was done. No problem here.
The Guacamole was excellent-and repeat myself but how can anyone complain about paying £6.95 for a hugh bowl with complimentary chips (unlimited) and salsa too? Wahaca charges less but the amount is about a quarter the size and you have to pay for refills. Not here.
Ok a restaurant is not just about size of portions . The food was really wonderful. I had chicken mole which was spicy and rich. My daughter had an enchilada which she loved. For dessert, the brownie and the apple pie excellent. The former was so rich ,almost like a block of fudge, that we could only eat a tiny bit, the apple pie and cinnamon ice cream-just yummy.
This is a fabulous Tex Mex restaurant . I have absolutely no idea why anyone could give this place a bad review. Maybe they work for Cafe Pacifico and feel threatened.

My husband and daughter went last Thursday night for dinner. We had tried before to get a table but were only offered 6:30 and 10:00. 3rd time lucky – we were given a 7 pm table. From the previous reviews I was dreading the room but when we arrived I was pleasantly surprised. The ceilings are low but the room was still pleasant and warm. As we walked to our table in the front room , I noticed that the clientale consisted of the daughter of a Royal Duke and her family and various surgically enhanced women of a certain age with their families and friends. The other diners were mostly in trainers and casual clothes and looked like tourists who got lost on their way to Harrods. But I guess restaurants in hotels are like that.
Anyway our french waiter was a delight and urged us to have the special rose before we ordered. We did, it was lovely. My husband and daughter had the piggy and french burgers which they said were the best that they had eaten in London. I chose the fish-it was awful-over cooked with too much sauce. But I got ahead of myself. If you have to eat anything have the large charcuterie starter. The various terrines and pates are wonderful and really worth the vist. Desserts were not memorable especially as I really can't remember what I had.
I will come again but stay on the carnivore side of the menu. One thing that I didn't get the whole time that we were there,the place was more than half empty but when I made the reservation and asked for a 7:30 table I was told that they were fully booked. What's that about?? .

My husband and I ate here only 3 days after it opened. You know how you just want a restaurant to do well because the staff are so helpful and dedicated you can tell they want it to do well too? Well this is the place. We are great fans of the food of Locanda Locatelli (not the room mind you which I hate, just the food ) so when we heard that this place was being sponsored by the Locatelli's and involved old staff we booked immediately. We were not diappointed. Whilst the menu is limited it offers some lovely options. The small eats , a sort of Italian tapas was excellent-, and in particular, the string fried zuccinni . The main course of seabass in a celeriac mash looked rather plain but tasted sublime. For dessert I had Tiramisu and my husband had cheese. Again perfect. . Coffee folowed with lovely little Tuscan beignets. Lovely and all for about 120 quid with wine and 2 glassses of champagne. Will definately come back if I can get in.

My daughter is studing French cuisine at Leith's so we thought that we would bring her here for her 17th birthday to taste great french cooking. My husband and I ate here last June for our anniversary and had a fabulous meal. We couldn't wait to return. Well what a difference a year makes. It was so bad we walked out after 2 courses.
For the first course my husband and daughter had the cheese souffle and I had asparagus with parmesian shavings. The souffle which my husband talked about constantly over the last 12 months and couldn't wait to order again was served on a plate (we thought the year before it came in a ramekin but the waitress said that it hadn't) was a runny watery mess. My starter consisted of 3 tiny skinny aspargus hidden under a blanket of parmesian as if they were trying to hide the meagre vegetable so that I wouldn't notice how thin and striingy it was. Heck the ones at M&S taste better and they cost £3 not £28 !!! Okay we thought , the next course will be better.
Wrong!!!.
My daughter's lobster was rubbery and overcooked . My salmon was the size of a small matchbox and was also overcooked. The vegetables were burnt.- not black at the edges -totally burnt. My husband's beef was ok.
At this point we asked if Mr Roux was cooking. He wasn't. We asked for the bill ,paid the service and wine then sped over to the Square where we concluded the meal with a fabulous dessert and rescued my daughter's 17th birthday.
Mr Roux must be temporarily occupied with his new restaurant but we will never return to see if that was the case.. I have never ever walked out of a restaurant before and am angry that they feel that they can charge 3 star prices for no star cooking. Very poor. very very poor.

My husband , daughter and I visited this restaurant last Sunday. It was a sunny clear spring day so we started the meal with drinks and canapes on the terrace and moved into the restaurant for the main meal. The restaurant was full . The clientele badly dressed mostly British and Asian families looking to celebrate. I spotted 1 Birkin the rest of the patrons seemed to obtain their wares from Primark. This surprised me because given the expense of the restaurant I would have expected better dressed / better heeled patrons. But lets face it one comes for the food not the glamour which this room certainly lacked.
Can't remember the starters but my husband and daughter shared the beef and I had the salmon. It was all very nice but frankly not very exceptional which is why I can't provide more of a description. In fact it was slightly better than a meal I recently ate at the Grosvenor Hotel during an awards dinner. But this is a supposedly 3 star restaurant.
For dessert we had the rhubarb souffle and my daughter had the 6 small desserts . The latter looked like minature versions of a dessert trolley that tacky restaurants wheel out after the meal. They all had that slightly over fridge look to them and tasted a bit old. The Square serves a much better version. We had 2 bottles of fairly unexceptioal wine. The bill came to over £650 for 3 people- for lunch.
There are far better restaurants in London which cost half as much. They may not have the view but with the money you save you could have a weekend in Monaco where the clientele is certainly better dressed and the view just as nice…

I love this restaurant. I have eaten here for over 10 years as I am a Wandsworth resident and it very rarely if ever disappoints. Last Thursday I again had a fabulous meal. My starter was Gaspacho with almonds and basil oil and it is the best Gaspacho that I have ever tasted having recently suffered through Murano's and St Alban's rather tasteless versions. It was confirmation that when made correctly,it is a fabulous starter for a hot summer evening. I then had salmon salad,sauce vierge and crushed potatoes. The flavours mixed beautifully, my only complaint being that the portion was very small or at least looked it on the plate. Desserts to me are always a bit of a disappointment at this restaurant and I usually go for the cheese board but the salted caramel ice cream was outstanding. The restaurant as always was completely full by 9:00 making me wonder if the credit crunch truly exists or is a function of Robert Peston's imagination. The service was excellent,attentive not overly familiar and helpful. Most times when I venture north of the river I am disappointed I think I will stay here and save a few litres of petrol

I love this restaurant! After working in the City for over 20 years I can finally eat well , in nice surroundings with attentive service and not have to flee to the West end to do so . The food is consistently good whether it be the fish , pasta or souffles. The prices are not cheap but neither are they astronomical .The service is attentive but in a discrete way. If I had to gripe about it, it would be that the waitresses are too model like thus causing me to choose healtier options than I normally might as what woman could ever order pasta when size 8 hips and razor cheekbones are taking the order ? Seriously though the food is lovely and the service excellent. In fact my coat was waiting for me on my way out and I was greeted by name on the way in even though I have not been there for months. It is always very busy at lunch so much so one could be excused for forgetting there was a credit crunch. In between visits , I crave the fried zuccini,souffles and the organic salmon. Frankly , I think the food and ambiance here is far better than Zafferano and Locanda Locatelli.

Whoops almost forgot to mention that the restrooms have Jo Malone scented candles and products -maybe this luxury is their make up concession to the women patrons for having to suffer the model , sorry I mean waitress staff's beauty .

This place is just plain awful. I have eaten at the Palm in NYC many times but not for many years but from memory this is an extremely poor version of it-.The prices are off the richter scale. Firstly the portions are far too large for the European palate and are not appreciated as they are in the States. The steak is ok but nothing exceptional- I really believe that Gaucho is better, the crab cakes are passable flakes of crab in a creamy sauce-I can do better at home, the blackened tuna is dreadful, overcooked ,overseasoned by spices out of a jar – tastes like something BA would serve in cattle class. The carrot cake was cold and greasy. Awful awful awful. This place deserves to fail it is just plain awful.

July 29th
I returned last night for another dinner with American friends. Their suggestion. My British husband called me 3 times during the day begging to change the restaurant. He hates the food and ambiance that much. He does love steak just not here. I wish I could say it has improved , it hasn't. Fries still greasy, fish tastes old (I had the tuna starter which looked like it had been in the frig for days-£13 by the way) . Crab cakes ok. Portions stiil too big. The only change to note is that the service that used to be so smiley and friendly seems to have become downtrodden as if they know how bad the food is and are embarrassed to serve it. Nevertheless place was very very busy. Full of Euro trash ,less so of Americans . Why is it so busy? I will not go back . Rather not see friends then eat here.

What is it about Gordon Ramsey and his heavy handed approach to dining ? We booked Murano for a table at 7pm. On the day of the booking we were told they needed the table back at 9:30-that was no problem. On the day of the meal they called us to confirm that they needed the table back by 9:30-again no problem. We promptly arrived at 7pm for our 7pm booking. The first thing that was said as we entered the dining room was “ we need the table back by 9:30”. I am not exaggerating.There was no “Good evening- no nothing”. As far as I am concerned, if I arrive on time to a restaurant ,when they get the table back becomes their responsibility not mine. I felt as welcome as a nun at an orgy with that greeting. I certainly did not feel like a valued customer. CChurn and burn was more like it.
We then sat down when a waitress came over and asked if we needed help with the menu-we didn't but she wouldn't take no for an answer and proceeded to explain that the starters were on the left hand side and mains on the right. Well duh!!! When this happened all the bad memories of Ramsey's heavy handed service of past restaurants came flooding back. Once at Aubergine, the french waiter told my very british husband without being asked ,that a poulet was a baby chicken-I thought my husband was going to belt him. Why does Ramsey treat his customers like idiots? I also despise the overly friendly service. I want service to be there in a discreet fashion like Le Gavrouche-I do not want to “chat” with the staff. I have come to eat with my family not them. The food however was sublime. It would have to be.