Nick's Reviews

Ironically you cannot book a table at the Booking Office. Luckily for us we arrived and there were just a handful of other diners/drinkers.
There were 4 of us stopping by for a late lunch. The hotel entrance is the epitome of grand and we were greeted very politely by half a dozen hotel staff before getting to the Booking Office itself.
The design is clearly geared towards feeling like a bar and succeeds in this, the tables are at a variety of heights, some with arm chairs, some with stools and some with couches.
The room felt very empty, despite their being other guests. I think this is down to the enormously high ceilings and the scale of the room itself. This makes you feel quite small, but the service was excellent and very attentive. I feel sorry for the waiting staff who probably cover a fair few miles from one end of the bar to the other every day.
The menu has some excellent options for a casual lunch, all with very good ingredients to elevate to a luxury hotel standard. Between us we had the burger, Caesar salad and fishcakes.
We were all quite let down though because the food that arrived was not at all special. The Caesar salad had just 4 pieces of anchovy and the croutons could have been brought in. The burger which arrived did not reflect the price and was no better than a good gastro pub burger. All dishes were cooked well and tasted good, but were not as special as the surroundings hint they might be.
We were quite happy with the desserts we received, but again these were straight forward hotel bar menu desserts.
I was by no means expecting a fine dining extravagance, but the location, menu description and price suggested that the food would be better. Maybe the price reflects the location not the food.
I would recommend any body who is in the area to visit the Booking Office, but do not expect anything other than a good bite to eat and a slice of wonderful architecture. The overall package is probably the best in the proximity of the station because the… More

This is truly a fine dining restaurant that you could visit over and over. The value for money on the weekday lunch menu is criminal; would have been happy to pay twice the price.
The service is spot on; the water and wine were only topped up when glasses were running low.
We didn't feel pressured in any way, the staff have a real understanding of delivering everything at a pace that suits the guest.
The menu is suitably easy to understand and the maitre d' is on hand to confidently answer any questions. The choice if dishes available on the discounted lunch menu is fantastic.
The food we ordered was cooked perfectly and tasted excellent; all the flavours of the pork loin salad starter and the veal rump main course were well balanced and delicious.
The only criticism I have is that 3 dishes came with doilies as a liner between the plate and bowl. The rest of the restaurant doesn't come across as old fashioned and I am sure there are ways of presenting modern cuisine without using doilies.
Apart from that one (rather minor) criticism this is a restaurant we will be going back to and hope to try the other sister restaurants too.

Doukan is so much more inside than its external appearance suggests. The interior and atmosphere are comfortable and offer a real Moroccan feel. The restaurant stretches back and has an open fire section which is extremely cosy. It was great to see the owner in the restaurant throughout the evening. He provided a warm welcome to every customer and checks every dish leaving the kitchen. All the tables have ample room around them and are perfectly uncluttered.
The service is very efficient and always delivered with a smile. The menu knowledge of our waiters was very confident and suggestions and descriptions were very helpful.
The restaurant filled up slowly through the evening and the atmosphere was fantastic with waiters attentive at all times and checking on us at just the right time.
The food was top notch, the flavours were traditional, but the style of dish very modern. Between the four of us we tried lots of dishes and all were faultless. The tagines were well spiced and were generous with the amount of meat. The cous cous was delicious and perfectly balanced with the tagine. The portion size wasn't comparable to being in Morocco, but the flavours delivered and all of us were satisfied.

Overall an excellent experience. Luckily I live locally, but would definitely travel some way for a restaurant like this.