Pied a Terre

My boyfriend took me here for my birthday dinner and it was smashing!

The service and staff were amazing throughout and were really friendly. The sommelier was great, taking on board what we were looking for and recommending a delicious wine.

We sat by the window onto the street and it was lovely - although we did arrive for a 7pm seating and it was a tad quiet with no music and we were one of only 3 tables in the area. Some music might have made it less formal - although they did turn it on later.

We opted for the tasting menu at my instigation which was wonderful - carefully presented, sumptuous flavours and waiters who were excellent at explaining exactly what everything was. Delicious! I particularly liked the seared tuna, sea bass and lamb. Everything was very delicate and small but tasted amazingly fresh and distinct.

I really enjoyed it here and felt it was a memorable experience. My only slight annoyance was that as we had to give the table back at 9pm - it was suggested to us that we might enjoy our coffee and petit fours more comfortably at the bar upstairs which was fine, but if you opt for the tasting menu and they want the table back - perhaps they should just serve you faster or give you a slightly longer window. That said the food was delicious.

Next time I would opt for the a la carte - as the tasting menu is quite expensive and combined with £8 each for a gin and tonic - the bill did mount up.
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Leah - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Visited for the 1st time for Lunch on Tuesday. Impecable service, super presentation, superb food and flavours. And Terry Wogan a few tables away.

BUT £13.00 for a Vodka and Lemonade? and having spent £125.00 per head, including wine still slightly hungry. That said i'd rather feel i'd overpaid for good food than received bad food at any price.

I'd advise a visit but make sure you're credit cards ready for it.
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Andy Roberts
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Friday, April 25, 2008

i agree with your reviews that the apperiance of the restaurant look romantic, and the food is served lovely and carefully. In my opinion service of food is a small portion and fares are pretty high, but plenty of flavors.
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eladio
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Friday, April 04, 2008

The restaurant is very modern in appearance, with gray leather banquettes and a dark wood trim.

Being early, I am lucky, and they seat me up front, next to the windows of red, gray & clear shattered glass.

There are fashionable recessed halogen lights, but not enough of them to make reading the menu easy.

The serving plate is of speckled clear glass with a wide, curved up silver edge and a handpainted red sunflower on it. Ther are have glass water tumblers, and white linen tablecloths.

Very little English is spoken by the waiters, they mainly speak French.

A small plate of green olives is brought.

There will be an eight course meal tonight, and the menu has a notice that one pound (Two dollars at today's currency translation rates) is added to every bill and given to charity for Action Against Hunger.

There is stamped unsalted butter accompanying a bread basket of 5 choices. I have both the plain and the tomato, both freshly baked, delicous and light.

The amuse bouche consists of 4 bites of ??? I can't understand what the waiter says. They are also presented on a shattered glass plate in the shape of a small, raised rectangle.

a ragout of chick peas begins the meal, followed by avacado carpaccio, carmelized endive salad with watercress gelee, parpadelle pasta with camembert sauce & cucumber balls, and a puff pastry with mushroom & black truffle.

A cheese course is next.

The first dessert is a walnut passion fruit mousse. It is superb, creamy, just sweet enough, lovely. I wanted another...

Then comes a chocolate tart with macadmia nut mousse.

I end the meal with a delicious hot mint tea, and the waiter brings the final treat. 6 tiny bite desserts on a curved shattered glass tray.

The presentation at Pied a Terre is lovely, but on the whole, the food was tasteless - I would not eat here again, despite its Michelin 2 star rating.
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Loving Annie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Thursday, April 03, 2008

I went last night with a friend whom I fine dine with just twice a year. I was a little bit apprehensive that it wouldn't be of the same standard as the Ramsey dynasty. We opted for the taster at £80 and the accompanying wine for each course. The staff were all very friendly and the standard of service was excellent. The first course of herb poached tuna, fennel and ginger cream was absolutely divine a taste sensation. The tuna simply melted in the mouth. I was relieved at this point that I had chosen wisely. All the following courses were of the same high standard and extra requests made by us for fruit with the cheese course were happily fulfilled by the kitchen.The only downside to the evening was the space between the courses - I personally like to have a bit more time. I am only talking a extra 30 minutes across the whole 8 courses but it would have made a great difference. In comparison to our recent visit to Petrus, from which I left completely sated having sampled their taster menu, last night I did not feel quite as full but I was satisfied by the range of exciting flavours I had sampled - I would return.
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Amanda
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, January 12, 2008

We visited Pied a Terre on Thurday December 19th and had lunch a la Carte. This was our second time at the restaurant. We sat at the small room on the left, which was not too bad as the main restaurant sounded quite noisy as a result of several large parties celebrating the season. There is room for 4 tables for two people at the small room and all the four filled up despite we were at the late 2.15 pm slot. Freeby of pumpkin and ginger puree got high marks and we were ready for a wonderful meal. Starters were correct but not extraordinary. I had crayfish raviolo, which was blander than expected, and my husband quite enjoyed his breast of small wild duck. The main course, on the other hand, was superb. We both had plaice with apple and king scallop puree, linguine and smoked eel. Absolutely wonderful. The desert list did not appeal to us so we jumped straight to coffee and petit fours, which were fine but we have had them better elsewhere (Tom Aikens for instance)

Our neighbours on the right were known to the house, as showed by several displays by the sommelier. They actually had a very similar meal to ours but we were rather "amused" to realize that they enjoyed TWO extra freebies from the chef. One after their starter and one previous to their desert. No excuse for such an un-egalitarian behaviour!! Noboby in the other 3 tables benefited from that. I find it inappropriate to so openly treat customers differently. We like to enjoy the delicacies from the chef as well even if we do not know the waiters by their first names!!! I did not like such a behaviour, never found it anywhere, and I therefore give Pied a Terre 0 marks for service.
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Susana - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, December 23, 2007

Took my wife here for her birthday last Thursday. We had the menu gourmand which in my case was accompanied by the accompanying wine selection. The staff were happy to replace the meat dishes with fish for my wife. Each course was on the money; the lamb was a particular highlight and along with a rack of lamb at The Capital, probably the best I've ever had. Service was very good and the courses nicely paced - they even asked us if we were OK with the pacing which is a first for me. The only negative was that we were sat in what I presume used to be the old reception area just inside and to the left of the entrance rather than the main restaurant that I would have preferred. A key comparison though is whether this is as good as Royal Hospital Road or The Capital - probably not in my opinion but had we been sat in the main restaurant it would have significantly improved the £260 value for money factor.
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Gareth - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Monday, December 10, 2007

Business dinner on November 28th, 2007. Food very good. Food service has been nice with minor mistakes (some courses served to the wrong table companion, i.e. foie gras to the person ordering ravioli and vice versa , knife for fish instead of knife for meat, ... ). Wine service disappointing: first red wine bottle (Château Haut de Sarpe, 1998, Bordeaux) was clearly bad already to the smell but brought to the table without previous test by the sommelier . Bottle substituted after complain. Second bottle was better but still not satisfactory. The sommelier disagreed but, apart from questionable smell/taste, it was necessary to filter the wine (after being poured into all glasses!!! – definitively not nice for my guests -) because of heavy deposits, still with not satisfactory results.

Beverages were over 40% of final bill (champagne, white wine, red wine ...), that’s why the poor performance has been regretting.

Cannot agree with the two star rating of Michelin (only 5 restaurants in this category in London!). I will not repeat this experience.
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dipa
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Thursday, November 29, 2007

Went to this restaurant for my wife's birthday on the 6th Nov 2007. The service from the start was excellent, attentive but not overly so. Our amuse buche were tasty and the time to wait between courses was just right.

For starters I had the peppered Tuna, which was soft and melted in my mouth. The combination of flavours worked excellently. My wife had the scallops which I would also recommend. The main courses were a delight. We had the plaice with smoked eel and the turbot.

Unfortuately the dessert was not to my tasting - I had ordered the poached pears and sunflower seed nougat, though probably my own fault as I thought I would try something different and I would not normally have gone for this type of dessert. However my wife thoroughly enjoyed her ginger bread terrine.

Overall we had a fabulous evening with superb service and I would definitely go again.
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Tamim
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Saturday, November 10, 2007

Dined here on Saturday 27th with family. Arrived 30 mins early with the intention of enjoying pre-dinner drinks in the upstairs bar. Was very suprised to find it empty and devoid of any ambience whatsoever. Some gentle background music wouold not have gone amiss. No matter, soon our fellow diners arrived and the company was enough to lift the atmosphere. Small mistake by the waiter bringing the wrong drinks and having difficulty understanding what a "beer" was, but i digress..

Onwards and downwards to the restaurant, we were seated at a fantastic table, possibly the best in the house. The main dining room is quite small, but the surrounding tables are not too close at to make one feel intruded upon. I'm not sure how couples seated on the wall to the left would feel, but certainly the tables for 6 were well spaced.

We were treated to a selection of amuse bouche which were very good, but then inexplicably forced to wait nearly 90 minutes for our starters. I've no idea what would take so long when there must have been aroun 40 covers maximum at any one service. Luckily we were sated with multiple offerings of bread, which, to be fair, was delicious. When the starters did arrive, it was (almost) worth the wait. Food-wise, this restaurant is undoubtedly michelin star quality - the poached oysters were superb. Mains (30 minuteslater) were delicious again, the concentrated flavours of the various veal cuts somethign I will always remember. The venison was equally good and particularly tender, though i found the turbot over seasoned. Top marks all round for the food so far.

Sadly we were let down again with more inexplicable wait times for desserts (which i did not sample but were appreciated by my companions) until we could not take it any more and some gentle chiding began, which did bring our coffeees to the table quick, but then... it's coffeee! Why we were waiting 15 minutes after finishing desserts is beyond me - perhaps they wnt the experience to last? We were getting close to 4 hours at this point.

It's hard to see past the terrible slowness of this restaurant, which is a real shame because the food is remarkable and the service, however slow, was unobtrusive, pleasant and polite. Unfortunately, it left a bad impression on an otherwise lovely restaurant. If they dont speed things up next time the guide dines there, I feel they'll deservedly lose at least one of those coveted stars.
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Tony Roberts
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Monday, October 29, 2007