Chez Gerard at the Opera Terrace

4 of us had evening meal midweek in early July 2011. We ordered chateau briande [£36] steak for two twice -one medium rare and one rare. Both came back medium rare. By the time the meat was returned 2 of us had finished. There were 3 slices of meat each. The only vegetable were some chips which tasted very instant in nature. No greens. We had two bread bowls with olives for all of us, one cheap bottle of red wine and a bottle of table water. The including "service" for this shambles was £302. The experience was appalling for what is little better than a cafe, and not a good one at that.
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Mike from Denham
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Thursday, July 21, 2011

I visited for lunch 9th June 2011. I thought that the food was good honest and value for money.

Our waiter was attentive and we felt well looked after.

As with most restaurants, the service is erratic and not consistent for more factors that worth writing.

Altogether though, for what we paid, I was really impressed.
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Mem Bekir
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Monday, June 13, 2011

The only blip on our otherwise superb Silver Wedding Anniversary day out on June 8th was unfortunately our choice of pre theatre restaurant! Having headed towards Covent Garden we decided to book a table at Chez Gerard for 5.45pm. The menu outside the restaurant looked excellent and the claim that they served the best Frites outside of France was enticing! This was our first 'Chez' experience and the restaurant in beautiful Covent Garden looked like a real winner. Such an elegant first/second floor conservatory style building overlooking the Square. We were shown to our table and advised that they had a new menu and were slower than normal in the kitchen because of it. Fair enough. We advised the Maitre de that we had need to get to a theatre and he said he would advise the kitchen. We decided to forego starters due to time constraints. I ordered the lamb, my wife a well done burger. The food was presented very swiftly, so much so we could have had those starters! However matters soon slowed down. My meal was luke warm, the ridiculously priced £4.50 palm sized bowl of spinach and chopped mushroom (maybe just one mushroom?) looked like it had been left sitting out for a week; and as for the burger yes it was well done on the outside but very rare in the centre. Oh and the chips that are meant to be so fantastic what a joke! Looked like McDonalds chips, The only difference is at McD's they are crispy and hot whereas these were limp and lukewarm. The efficient maitre de with his ear piece radio mike was most apologetic and without fuss removed our plates and headed off to the kitchen. Moments passed and a new piping hot plate of lamb chops and side spinach were placed before me. Unfortunately I had eaten half my meal before the newly cooked burger arrived in front of my wife. Second time round the food was hot and cooked as ordered. We overheard at least one other table returning their meal due to it being cold. Thankfully we had booked using our TasteCard so at least the 50% discount softened the blow somewhat. The restaurant was very busy, pre theatre goers i expect; the venue and menu look great but i think the Chips claim might fall foul of the trade descriptions act. Was it just a bad night in the kitchen?
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Gary Rosenthal
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 6
Monday, June 13, 2011

food was very good but fairly expensive for what it was. £2 surcharge for bread..

service was abysmal, perfunctory and depressing to eat there. treated like a cheap product that the management tolerates

do not eat starches and asked to substitute something for the frites and they refused and said I was welcome to purchase a side dish of something green.
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3 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, April 18, 2011

Dissapointment. The only way I could describe the feeling upon leaving Chez Gerard. I do not normally feel compelled to write reveiws for restaurants but such is my annoyance with the abysmal service we received. I was hoping to take my grlfriend to enjoy a high quality restaurant for our one year anniversary but instead found myself irritated with the uncaring staff.

I work in the restaurant business and therefore know what good service is and am also very understanding to waiting staff and the difficulties some times faced in the job.

However, there is no excuse for ignoring customers for long periods of time; rolling your eyes when asked for service; making inappropriate jokes at the customers; not apologizing when massive mistakes have been made; and most of all not even having the courtesy to say please and thank you. I would like to point out that the food was excellent and the operatic singer that entertained for short periods was a nice touch however never have I recieved such poor service.

I would not allow someone to treat me like that if I had just met them on the street let alone when i am paying £85 for a meal.
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Philip H
5 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Thursday, October 14, 2010

Enjoyed my experience throughout. Food, table and the service were really good. Would go back again for special occassion, business lunch, family dinner or to simply treat my wife. The menu had alot to offer and had dishes of very good value and interesting selection. A bit for everyone. Wine: We ordered the Errazuriz 1870 Merlot from Chile – reasonably priced.

Food: My wife and i decided to share the Chateaubriand 18oz, it was cooked to perfection and ample for two to share. This come with 3 different choices of sauces as well as Maris Piper potato frites, new potatoes or a side salad. We also ordered spinach and french beans. Dessert: We settled for the fruit sorbet as we were full from the meal.

Service: The service was excellant, wine arrived within minutes, the food was served promptly, the service was not intrusive.

cleanliness: the restaurant was clean from the entrance to the restaurant internally as well as the toilets which were checked very 15 minutes (there was a tiolet checklist with signatures on the wall).

Could not fault this restaurant at all.
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Antonio - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 15, 2010

Having found this restaurant almost accidentally (the entrances - 3 of them! - are not very visible) I have discovered a gem of a place in heart of Covent Garden.

I've used this venue for many occasions - family get-togethers, dinner for two, business lunches. The bar here provides excellent cocktails, and often (although unfortunately not at the moment) has an excellent value Champagne happy hour making it a great meeting point.

The staff are warm and personable and although service isn't exactly 5-star, I find it at a level completely appropriate for Covent Garden.

On dry days, the balcony terrace stretching across the whole east end of the market building is perfect for al fresco dining as it overlooks the hustle and bustle of the street level cafes, musicians, market stalls and street entertainers. Not really a place to linger over coffee as there always seems to be people desperate for your table but the whole operation is managed efficiently. I'm never able to reserve a table on the terrace but the lovely hostesses always seem to seat me not long after I've ordered a drink at the bar.

Chez Gerard may be a restaurant chain but I find the food always to be fresh and well made. Not much evidence of the microwaved "ding-food" typical of other so-called French brands! The plats-du-jour do seem to be different daily. I love the garlicy escargots and the steaks are grilled to perfection. Their creme brulee is big enough to share if you're not feeling selfish!

I've visited here for several years and it remains one of my favourites and one I always recommend.
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Sunday, October 11, 2009

I was taken here by my partner who had eaten at Chez Gerard before. She ordered something similar to what she'd had previously - a safe choice.

I fancied the boeuf bourguignone and that turned out to be a HUGE mistake - utterly, utterly atrocious: veiny, sinuous, arterial even, and so rock hard it was served with a steak knife - quite unlike any boeuf bourguignone I'd ever eaten before! This is the first time in 30+ years I've ever felt compelled to send food back to the kitchen. I refused anything else - disappointment complete.

To be fair, I had misgivings regarding Chez Gerard's position - perfect for mugging daytrippers, out-of-towners and foreign visitors alike......so this experience was, unfortunately, slightly expected. How sad that this is how our capital city has be viewed.

The wine was adequate but of course overpriced, the service was acceptable, no complaints with our waitress who was personable and trying to do a good job - we were there on 19 August and it was a very hot, busy evening in London. Judging by other reviews, service is hit or miss.

Lesson learnt - I'll certainly never go back.....There MUST be better than this - DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE.
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Julian
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Firstly, this restaurant does not over look the Royal Opera House as the name suggests. It is opposite the rear of the Opera House, meaning that it overlooks a bunch of shops and noisy shoppers. It does actually overlook the London Transport Museum though.

The food was English with a French name. The restaurant staff were disinterested to the point of yawning at 5:30 in the evening.

They put the discretionary service charge on the bill without asking, and we had to request it's removal ourselves. When we first sat down we were brought bread, a very small pack of butter, and some indescribable fish tasting stuff, for which we were charged a small fortune! When queried, the drone of a manager rehashed excuses about corporate policy and nothing else. What a rip off!

I will never ever go to this dive again and will be passing the word on to everyone i know.
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James McGowan
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, July 20, 2009

Oh dear. Turned up here at 4.15pm yesterday (Sunday) and the bar was busy-ish but the restaurant area was almost empty. I asked the girl seating guests if we could take a table outside in the restaurant area for some drinks for a couple of hours. Her manager said that would be fine and we were shown outside. But then the waiting staff ignored us for 15 minutes. I approached one (they were pretty much standing around doing not a lot) and they said 'we cannot take your order as you're not eating'. Nobody had mentioned this to us when we were seated.

I should have left at this point but instead went in to the bar and found one fed-up looking barman and about eight people waiting to be served. We left at this point and told the seating girl why we were going. No apology, no attempt to sort it out, no interest.

We then headed opposite to Tuttons where they couldn't have been nicer, found us a table outside within 5 mins (it was full when we arrived) and made the experience a pleasure. We stayed for two bottles of champagne and coffees and so our bill of £150 was more than we would have spent on a main course. Chez Gerard, your loss. Recession or not you're clearly not interested in making customers feel welcome or maintaining business. Not only will I not be going back again, I shall tell everyone I know not to bother.
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Sarah from London - View all reviews by this user
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, June 15, 2009