Livebait (Covent Garden)

Great restaurant, we thouroughly enjoyed our meal, and managed to all eat excessive amounts of truely scruptious seafood! The evening was made all the more enjoyable by the couple of reduced price bottles of champagne we managed to squeeze in during 'happy hour' which runs to an inpressive 7:30pm, even at weekends!
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Oliver Cooke
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, November 22, 2007

We decided to eat here before going to see the Lion King on the evening of Thursday 11th October. We booked via this site. Having read the reviews we were a little apprehensive so we arrived early at 5pm and the place was almost empty. By the time we left it was full, but the noise levels were never such that we could not chat to each other.

We were quickly shown to our booth and allowed plenty of time to peruse the extensive menu before I chose a sea food platter and my wife chose the sea bass fillet.

The sea bass was delicious and perfectly cooked. If you are a 'big eater' you would want a side dish to accompany it but for my wife's appetite the portion was ideal.

The platter has to be seen to be appreciated. It arrived in a large dish and a mound of crushed ice was piled high with a variety of see food. It took me well over an hour of relaxed eating to demolish all the oysters, muscles, cockles, whelks, prawns and a full crab. In the end I had to leave four crab legs - I just couldn't eat any more.

We had a bottle of the house white wine and found it to our liking. When the bill arrived it was £74.25 including the 12% service charge. Having read the reviews on this page the service charge was no surprise and we considered that overall the meal was good value for what we received. I would rather pay a little extra for really good food than have cheaper mediocre food.

We will certainly go back and try some of the other dishes on the menu.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

I visited this restaurant on Sat. with my husband as a treat for his birthday. Our overall experience was very disappointing. Apart from the noise which hits you on entry (vibrant is the word used by the management), we found the service extremely poor. Our waitress obviously had problems with understanding the english language and she took our order incorrectly. After a long wait for the starter and having had time to drink our now nearly warm bottle of wine (no cooler provided) we then had to wait an extensively long time for our main meals. My husband`s monkfish was very dry and overcooked and to pay over the top for a few potatoes as a side dish which just came up in a tiny bland dish was way down on the acceptable list. Our waitress had apologised for the long wait and even when the main meals were served, it was another five minutes before the potatoes arrived. I asked to speak to the manager and must admit he did come to our table straight away and apologised for our disappointment. The bill was reduced by 15% but bearing in mind there is a service charge of 12% and we felt the prices were over the top for what was delivered, we came away two very unsatisfied and still hungry customers.
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Sandra Blackford
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Monday, October 08, 2007

My Partner and 4 year old daughter went for dinner on 22nd Sept 07.

Having traded in our Tesco Clubcard vouchers to use at this restuarant we decided to splash out.

Although to some the decor may look basic I would however describe it as modern and relaxed. It is not pretentious in any way which puts you at ease so you can enjoy the culinery experience.

After being seated at our table (by the way ask for a booth when booking, these are the best seats) we were brought bread and smoked salmon pate which is divine (so much so we asked for some more!) please note for those who dont realise this carries a charge of £1.50 per portion (well worth it in our opinion but some people can be annoyed at being charged for something they didnt ask for).

We chose the smoked salmon and the squid starters which were both delicious, although I think £10 for smoked salmon is a little steep.

For main courses we decided to have a lobster each which were delicious and cooked well. They came served with chips which seemed a little odd to me but is probably chic these days! Puddings were just as delicious, we chose Pear and Almond Frangipan with Chocolate Mousse and the Berry Cheesecake.

In the meantime my daughter chose from the childrens meal which although limited to 3 or 4 choices was excellent. She had fish & chips and the portion was a good size and very good quality fish. Included in the childrens meal price is a an ice-cream for dessert.

Overall excellent meal, great service and an ideal way to spend your clubcard vouchers! Would most definately recommend and will definately be going back again.
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Sarah Stirling
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

My wife and I went to Livebait in Covent Garden Last night (15/08/07).

Seeing it reviewed as one of the best fish resaurants in London my first impressions were not great. Tiny Bar and cafe style layout was not what I was expecting.

However, the decor was not why we were there.

The food was very good, we chose crab and escallops to start, King Prawns and Lobster for main. Cooked and presented very well.

The service charge of 12.5% was a shock.

Go Back......... Maybe
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Jason
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Thursday, August 16, 2007

My girlfriend and I dined at the live Bait in Vovent Garden a night before my birhday on July 2006 and to be honest I was very impressed. Coming from a chefs background I felt the food at LiveBait was full of flare and imagination.

We had the Rock Oysters each. The course was great and tyhe atmosphere as the decor also.I WOULD DEFINATELY GO AGAIN
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BERNETT TITOS
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, July 08, 2007

Had pre-theatre dinner here with my partner last night. This was a follow up to my last visit in March 2007. We chose from the fixed price menu.

For starters my partner chose the grilled goat's cheese, which she pronounced as delicious, and I had a smoked haddock and cress salad with a diced beetroot and horseradish 'sauce' (an interesting combination but lacking a bit in bite for my liking). I also thought the salad could have done with a little more haddock (perhaps you would get this if ordering from the a la carte menu!).

My partner had the traditional fish and chips and thought the quality of the fish was good and cooked to perfection, so my experience on the last visit was perhaps just unfortunate. This time it looked, smelt and tasted good although a hearty eater might have complained at the size of the portion. My grilled chicken served on a bed of rocket with roasted new potatoes was well presented, nicely cooked and tasted good.

I had a dessert - a flat apple flan with dob of creme fraishe but was a little disappointed that it didn't have a stronger taste. Perhaps some caramelised sugar wouldn't go amiss, or a twist of lemon on the apple. Coffees rounded off the meal.

The set menu comes in at between £14 and £15 pounds for two courses and an extra £4 for a third course. Even so, we had no difficulty in clocking up a bill for £71 by the time all the extras and gratuity had been added, partly due to the £18 charged for a pretty mediocre bottle of wine, the equivalent of which you would expect to pay about £4-5 pounds for in a supermarket.

The service was friendly and for the most part efficient, although the staff were very hard pressed to look after a very full restaurant.

There is a buzz and vibrancy about the place that is great for the right occasion but it's definitely not a place to go for a romantic meal as it is pretty noisy when full.
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Chris K. - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, June 17, 2007

Visited Livebait for a quick pre theatre meal. Had excellent fish and chips followed by crème brulée all washed down by a average but enjoyable Pinot Grigio. Very nice waiter knew we had limited time and served us fast. Total price was a few pence under £63 for two. A hefty £10 was added for cover charge and service. Food was very good, but expensive for a 2 course fish and chips meal. (Having just spent 2 weeks in the South of France where you can eat well at half this price the London prices came as a big shock!)
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Jamie Easton
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Monday, June 11, 2007

Visited Livebait on Saturday 12th May, was a little apprehensive after reading reviews but had already booked. Had booked table for 6pm but turned up at 5.30pm and was shown to our table (requested a booth, and got one) straight away. My partner and I love seafood and treated ourselves to one classic platter (28.50) and one Livebait special platter (34.95). The house red wine we ordered was delious. When the food arrived on one giant platter the whole restaurant stared at our bonnaza of seafood, crab, cockles, oysters, mussels, lobster, giant prawns etc. Many people came over for a chat about it which did become a little annoying. Unbeknown to us the Livebait platter included 2 glasses of champayne, nice surprise. The seafood was gorgeaous especially the crab & lobster.

The waitress was lovely and I did check that the 12.5% service charge actually went to the staff and not the business.

We cannot wait to return to Livebait and would highly reccomend

X
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claire - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, May 14, 2007

I have been in LiveBait on Tuesday night by 5pm for the pre-theatre the service was really slow and the manager was very rood to the staff its look like italian guy with a purpil short I was on holliday very shocking by this manager seriously horrible but the waitresse was very friendly and polite she was trying to explain me why my main course ws=as taking time in the polite maners.

Ataf
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Ndiaye
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Saturday, April 21, 2007