Tanya's Reviews

I am still yet to understand how Beach Blanket Babylon justifies its prices, they are always £25 for most mains which to me is identical to what you pay in Michelin star restaurants and their food is very hit and miss and not very interesting. Years ago they did offer more eclectic modern European fare whereas now its shifted to boring English and a hamburger?! Scallops with asparagus and a citrus butter had zero taste and at £13, were the most embarrassingly minute, tasteless things Id ever encountered, what a rip off! The main course of monk fish was delicious but the spinach that came with it was frightfully salty. Overall, we all found our starters over-priced and boring. The main courses fared better but the chateaubriand was over-cooked, asked for medium and it was very close to well done. Their cocktails have alwasy been horribly over-priced, averaging about £12 but they are delicious so I would suggest that if you want to go and see the restaurant, just go for a couple of cocktails and head somewhere else for better food for your money. Oh, and what is this ridiculous thing of adding a cover charge of about £2 a head for bread and butter?! Im pretty sure that before you give people something that you are supposed to inform them beforehand that they will be charged. I would suggest that as punishment for this little trick since your waitstaff dont inform you that you remove the automatically added service charge.

Wow, the food was incredible, we went for the £65 tasting menu and apart from the broccoli dish which was sickly, everything else was stunning! You know that feeling when your taste buds get all excited with each thing you eat, and you each bite is different. Some interesting non-traditional Indian food and modern twists on traditional dishes made it all very interesting. Our waitress too was informative and honest about what we ordered which was a nice change. What lets Amaya down is the decor, I felt like I was in a canteen, nothing at all like the gorgeous Veeraswamy and at these prices, the canteen look with uncomfortable chairs is not acceptable. Also, the wine list was terribly overpriced for the standard of the wines on offer, the Barolo we ordered at over £70 was the worst Ive ever had and I instantly regretted paying that much money for it. I love Veeraswamy's decor and Amayas food, if the two were combined it would be sheer bliss!

I love this place, we went in a group of 6 girls (and I would definitely recommend that you go in a group) and from the cool decor as you walk in, to the very attentive and helpful service, to the way the tables are laid out giving you plenty space to be comfortable and a good distance between the next group, the gorgeous cocktails and extensive sake list, the moist and divine sushi ending with the very reasonable bill, this is place was wonderful. The only dishes I would not recommend are the crab wrapped in seabass, its tiny and tasteless, and tempura but thats because I just cannot see the point of this oily tasteless dish at any establishment. The aubergine with sesame was the surprise dish of the day. The wine list was reasonable, we ordered a lovely Vouvray for a mere £27.

Hmmm, I certainly wouldnt describe Sumosan as chic, it as the ubiquitous IKEA styling of block furniture and browns and creams. The sashimi and sushi was fresh and tasty but the platters were horribly over-priced, for the amount on each platter, in any decent Japanese restaurant Ive paid about 20-25 quid whereas here they were 30-35. What I was impressed by was the fresh fruit platter, exceptionally generous with a beautifully presented plethora of fruit, never seen anything like it in a London restaurant. Lovely cocktails but these too were over-priced for what they were. Shame really because from a value for money standpoint, I wouldnt go back.

Galvin at Windows may be just a little over-priced but the views and some of the dishes make it totally worth it. If you are going, have a drink in the bar beforehand and then sit down to enjoy a tasty seasonal menu. Our only complaint from the night was the mullet with artichoke, the artichoke has obviously been marinated in vinegar rather than olive oil so the vinegar flavour kept creeping in so I wish Id sent it back. The pear tart -tatin was way too big for even two people, four of you could share it. All the other dishes were lovely.

After much anticipation of returning to Le Gavroche having not been for a few years, I can only say that I was gravely disappointed. On other occassions when Ive been, the food and wine have been out of this world, my taste corpuscles would rush to the front of my mouth desperate to absorb the next exciting flavour in my mouth. There was not one memorable dish out of the menu gourmand, nothing that I would dream about eating again. In fact, a couple of them were hard to stomach especially the chocolate dessert which was totally destroyed by the chemical taste of the rum. The beef looked unappetising, was dry and tough to eat, when we complained, we were told this is how its supposed to be, that has been cooked in wine for several hours. Thats all well and good but surely the aim is for it still to be edible???!!! The service as always was faultless and what I mostly love about Le Gav is that for such a formal restaurant, people seem relaxed and there is a good buzz. But as far as the food goes, your money would be better spent at Pied-a-terre or L'Atelier De Joel Rubichon, or you dont even have to spend as much money and go for the non-Michelin starred places like Galvin, Pearl and Mu for food that is equally good and better value for money. I think after this experience and the disaster and blandness that is Nobu, Ive lost all faith in the Michelin star system.