Go for the drinks, very good, the atnostphere, what you would hope for in a bar, and the decor, wacky and fun, not the food, over-priced and very ordinary. Take twenty-something friends and relatives, don't take anyone who is more at home with a pint and packet of pork scratchings.

Haven't been in years and went last week after seeing Dominic West at the Donmar. The staff look like they have all just come of the set of Mad Max or some other equally apocolyptic film. They also communicate via walky talky which for reasons I cannot fully explain, added to my sense of unease. If you haven't booked then you are held in an area which they call a bar, but believe me feels more like a holding pen. Credit where credits due we were told the table would be ten/fifteen minutes and it was five.
Downstairs is long benches and cages full of bottles of beer. Their thing is mussels and frites and I wanted to be impressed with both but sadly wasn't. Too many very small mussels and frites that just weren't very tasty or crisp. The service was brisk but not terribly bothered. It was very busy and its a young crowd, lots of people sharing stuff which is nice.
Good for taking teenagers and students who haven't eaten for a while.

Been many times over the years and it is one of those places that rarely lets you down, in fact since the Oyster bar was added its lifted the feel of the whole place.
No point really in going if you don't love fish or sea food, it kind of what they do and they do it very well. The menu is one that makes you feel immediately comfortable, its not innovative or exciting but there's a lot of comfort food on offer and the execution is very good indeed. Never been day or night when its not been anything other than very busy, so there's a buzz and a vibe that is very appealing. Service is always good and they are always on top of their game. The wine list is very good indeed- the bar has a fantastic selection of champagnes and sparkling wine including a couple of Englands finest.
Its very popular with the luvies so there is always a good chance of bumping into someone famous who has just come off stage at The Geilgud or The Lyric.

Its got a great feel, light, contemporary, stylish, a bar that seats I am guessing up to 12 people, opening out at the end of the room into a very well put together dining room. The kind of place that makes you feel good the moment you set foot inside.
The service was attentive right from the moment I was seated at the table, menus's and water arrived quickly. Much has been made of the fact that they offer many of their main courses in a small portion, I have to say it didn't seem to me that there were more on offer here than at most good Italian restaurants, I am thinking particularly of Cucconi's.
The menu itself offers up rustic regional Italian dishes, and for me at least, not that much choice. Definately one of those places where you should look on the web site before you book a big celebratory bash. I had a fabulous rabbit and pigeon ragut, packed with flavour. An Italian wine list tends to major on the reds but it's well balanced and stocked by some good producers.
I was in for just over an hour and wasn't made to feel rushed on a busy week day lunchtime, which speaks volumes about the service.
Good for those who are prepared to go off piste with their Italian bad for those who want a carbonara.

Well if Giles Coren, who lives down the road by the way, says it’s good you'd be a mug to not check it out. The ‘famous crab toast’ is indeed gobsmackingly good, totally reliant on the quality of ingredients which are first class. The menu is small and sometimes doesn't cater for those wanting something other than a meat pie, offal or a cut of meat that you have to look up. The service is not only very efficient, staff are accommodating, warm, friendly and knowledgeable, very few restaurants have staff that tick two of those boxes let alone all five. The wine list is small, as you would expect from a gastropub, but offers good value and is interesting. Atmosphere is lively as you would expect and informal with great views of Hampstead Heath if you are sat at one of the tables by the large front window. All in all very good.

June 22

Been back a few times most recently last weekend. The menu now offers more variety, still got some St John style cuts/dishes – caramalised pigs head, very good-plus more tradtional fare. The charcuterie is outstanding, and I hadnt noticed Chatueau Fillot on the wine list before which at £7 a glass is almost a bargain!
They have also opened a dining room upstairs and are proposing to offer hampers for those who want to eat over the road on the heath. An enterprising bunch.

20/10/09

Love this place, their scotch egg particularly when its warm is a thing of rare beauty. Don't though eat up stairs if you can help it, did recently for dinner with friends, and it took an eternity! if the bloke who owns half the decent restaurants and clubs in London, Richard what's his name? hadnt been sitting opposite we would have complained far more loudly. Another recently discovered gem on the menu, Ferrero Roche flavoured ice cream…unbelievable.

One of my favourite restaurants in town. The set lunch is probably the best value for money lunch anywhere, the food is never anything less than sensational, the service a little formal and old school, though this is one of the reasons why The Square feels a little lacking in atmosphere. Since Jacques (the maitre d’) left, front of house has slightly lost its way, but I am sure that will improve. Phillip Howard is a thoroughly charming man who should, in my humble opinion, try and find the time to come out and say hello more often to his customers; his food is spectacularly good and unlike many chefs Phillip doesn't carry an ego the size of a small planet.

18/01/09

Having received a Xmas card from Phillip and his staff – old fashioned but a nice touch – I felt it was important to show my face. Somebody else was paying, which always makes the food taste better. The set lunch has got even better: the kedgeree starter was out of this world, with large flakes of beautifully smoked fish. The cheese board remains solid, although I was disappointed that there was neither a Vacherin or a Reblochon.

20/10/09

It just gets better and better! My good friend Mr Jones thinks its a bit old and stuffy and he has a point, at lunch time it is the canteen for the mature end of the property market, but the food is sublime! If there is a better value set lunch on London then let me know.

A friend of mine comes here regularly for Sunday lunch which he says is excellent and I can believe it, what a great venue for Sunday lunch! the longest drive way I have ever been down leading you to a manor house built, I was told, for the most part at the turn of the last century in fabulous grounds.
Inside you get lots of wood panelling, all of which came apparently from the estate, the staff in case you think I conducted some in depth research, are the font of all knowledge.
I was there in the evening for a farewell diner for a colleague. The log fires were burning bright and the only thing missing were fellow guests. The sitting room and bar are places you could happily spend hours on your won just soaking up the atmostphere and the heat. The dining room on the other hand is a room that needs people.
The menu, both set menu and a la carte, are the kind that get your pulse racing, its fare that you get in only a handful of places, very imaginative with a wonderful local and seasonal feel to it. The food is beautifully presented and is as good as any I have had, wonderful. The wine list is, like many, too French, and its tough to find value under £40 a bottle. Setting aside the misunderstanding on the Rully – I asked for the white not the red which they didn't have – was very good.
It's not cheap but you will be hard pressed to eat better food anywhere and I suspect my good friend Mr Jones is right, a very good place to come and have a leisurely Sunday lunch.

Don't know why its taken so long for me to go, well I do I live in North London and its a schlep! Having made the effort I appreciate what all the fuss is about. The menu is more imaginative than you get at a Conran restaurant, except The Orery, not up there with The Square, but some where between the two. What they do they do very well indeed. Staff are charming, efficient and know what they are talking about. I was there for lunch as local restaurant suspect its better for dinner, but was pleasantly surprised by how full it was even if a large number of my fellow diners were on the mature side.
Especially good for romantic couples of any age in the evening and since it is within a stones throw of Wandsworth Common BR, even good for those coming from further than the other side of the common.

I'm a Conran fan, it might be a bit formulaic – I think it would feel like “GroundHog Day” if you went to lunch at Boundary one day followed by Lutyens the next – but for me at any rate its a formula that works: good food, served by knowledgable staff, in stylish premises, whats not to like?
Have been to Lutyens a few times, for lunch and for dinner, its a much better lunch venue, its easy to forget how dead that part of town is in the evening, lunch time the place is buzzing!
You will be greeted, at lunchtime anyway, by a well dressed man who looks like he's been in the business of greeting diners all his life, and as such he's rather good at it, making you feel immediately very welcome. Once inside the bar area is a bit non-descript but the dinning room is a fabulous room, light, open and vibrant.
The menu is typical Conran, not the most imaginative but full of family favourites, seasonal and well balanced.
The wine menu is a but too French which, since the sommelier is Italian, is strange, but there is value to be found. Service on two occasions was a bit slow, you shouldn't have to enquire after your food, but when they come they know what they are talking about.
Good for most people, except vegans, at lunch time, in the evening mid week, good for those who like a more hushed atmostphere.

The first thing you will do when you arrive at the Goucho in Swallow St is thank the staff for ensuring you have not stumbled into a guest or drinks laden member of staff in a blind state of panic, lighting doesn't get much lower, which doesn't much matter in the evening but at lunchtime on a bright summers day poses a real challenge.

The courteous welcome at the door is entirely typical of the service you will get throughout your time at the Goucho, staff are attractive, pretty knowlegeable, friendly and attentive.

The bar area is cool and…dark,serving a mixture of cool cocktails, beers, wine by the glass but not, shock horror, sherry!! My companion and very good friend Mr Jones, said “Why would it, Argentina doesn't make sherry?” Me, I think that's taking things a bit literally, if vodka and gin are available then…

The menu is a very silly size and shape, two feet tall and conertined like a fan. The dining room is up stairs via a lovely, dark, stair case.

We were shown to a table right next to the grill, which we didn't like and which they were happy to change without fuss.
Uncooked meat was brought to the table for us to admire, we chose 300grams of Argentinian ribeye medium rare, rare was discouraged. We had a meat charcuterie and a couple of Argentian pasties for starters. I wasn't keen on the pasties, a bit non descript, pasties have there place but not I think in a restaurant that aspires to offer a fine culinary experience.
The wine, a pinot noir, was offered to us in the same size and style of glass as we had enjoyed the rose, in my view 99% of red wine, good or bad, should be shown off in a large glass, we asked and they were happy, after a brief lecture on why a pinot noir strictly speaking didn't need it, to oblige.

The food, when it arrived, was I am afraid average. The steak, which is after all the main event, we both agreed, did not burst with flavour, nor was it very tender, plus no steak knives. The salad was over dressed and too salty. The chips/french fries were good.

Its not cheap, you can spend less at a several places in town and get much better quality steak and chips.

A final word on the clientelle and the music: the former mostly youngish and well dressed, the latter too loud but as very possibly the oldest person in the room I would say that.

Now comfortably offering the best food on the island, Michelin starred and deservedly so. Down the road from the much more established Royal Hotel, The Hanborough has arguablydone more than any other establishment to put the Isle of Wight well and truely on the hospitality map, boutique contemporary hotel, that I havent stayed in only because I have a house no more than five miles down the road, it looks like it caters for a demanding crowd. The current Head Chef, whose name escapes me, has been in situ for a little over a year, has taken the restaurant on to new heights. Very imaginative menu using mostly local ingrediants, incredibly skillfully cooked, plus a sea view, what more could you ask for! The atmostphere is a little quiet, not sure what they can do about that and not a place for children. Very good wine menu, lots of variety and value. Service was efficient and friendly.

I have been coming to Isle of Wight for almost 20 years, no I don't have a relative serving a long stretch in Parkhurst, my wife has family on the island and for the last couple of years we have had a second home. In that time I have dined at The George countless times and seen various changes made to the bistro, various chefs have come and gone. Something that has not changed is the location, there isn't a better located restaurant on the island, particularly for dinner, when you watch the sun setting over the solent.
Right now I think its going through a bad patch, prices are high even by London standards and the quality of the food and the cooking doesn't merit the price. The highlight of my most recent experience there, was a friend sending a £28 piece of steak back twice! Its difficult to mess up a sirloin steak once let alone twice. Add a risotto that tasted of nothing but mint and an entirely flavourless piece of brie and it was close to being the worse dining experience of the year to date.
Its been very good before and I am sure it will be very good again, but there are now alternatives on the island so it may be a while before I return…sunset or no sunset.

It's not a good start to any dining experience when the restaurant keeps you waiting for your table for over half an hour and doesn't seem that concerned about it. I have had lunch here several times, I am a local, and the service has never been better than average and more often than not very poor with an attitude that appears to value the cutlery more highly than the customer. Yes the fixed lunch menu represents outstanding value for money and yes the food is very good when you get it and the atmostphere buzzy, but it doesn't deserve to succeed and I doubt it will until they sort out their front of house and the quality of their serving staff.

First time I have eaten in Gerard St for decades and what a very pleasant surprise! The room is very narrow but provided the quota of American tourists is low, just about avoids feeling cramped. The sevice is very efficient, quick, smiley and knowledgable. There house rose was perfectly drinkable, not a big wine list to chose from but reasonably priced and a thoughtful selection. The food menu has, a befits the background of the two main chefs, a Kakassan feel to it and it dosesnt disappoint. Crispy duck with pancakes was prefect, wafer thin pancakes and duck that was crispy without being dried out. Soft shell crab was fantastic. Signature dish of Champagne cod was spectacularly good, big thick juicy bit of cod, perfectly cooked.

Will definately be going back, highly recommend it to anyone.

Can only speak about the downstairs experience. Now looking a bit tired and faded. The food is good but it’s expensive, the wine list equally so. Service is fine, the atmosphere is very vibrant the clientele mostly young. I have never left feeling I got value for money.

June 24th

Lunch a couple of weeks ago upstairs. Had the tasting menu, extremely good, beautifully presented, lots of different flavours and well balanced. The fish dishes were particularly good, the sashimi was outstanding. Service was a little slow at times.