Coq d'Argent

Very very disappointed with the service. I fully understand that Coq d’Argent is a French restaurant and should reflect this with a touch of attitude. However, we were served by rude and self obsessed brats.

It was a very embarrassing experience hosting a group of business partners, for which I had to constantly apologise for the service.

If their staff do not want to work in the City and provide good service , there are plenty of jobs at McD's.
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Nathan
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Saturday, September 16, 2006

Went to Coq d'Argent for Jazz Sunday lunch yesterday and were very disappointed. We've taken Sunday lunch there a number of times before and have been relatively pleased. This time the jazz musicians had been pushed into a corner of the restaurant, well away from the tables, the effect was that of piped music rather than live jazz. The lamb was tough beyond belief, there was no mint sauce available - an Eastern European waiter did offer us horseradish sauce as an accompaniement!! After sincere efforts to cut through the lamb we eventually sent it back and had it replaced with chicken that arrived after the other two of us had finished lunch. The chicken was edible but not outstanding. We were presented with the bill which included service charge. I negotiated with the Maitre de (who was absent from the restaurant until presentation of the bill) who begrudgingly agreed to take one main course off the bill. I understand Terence Conran allegedly patronises each of his restaurants once a week. I wonder when he last went to Coq D'Argent?
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Jacqui
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, August 14, 2006

Coq Dargent is my favourite restaurant in the city - a good choice to take clients and meet up with friends for a relaxing bottle of rose on the roof terrace. Everyone I have introduced to the restaurant was impressed with the food, both its variety and quality. I will certainly be back - in fact I have just booked a table for tomorrow. It's a paradise in the city - soaking up the sun on the roof is an unforgettable experience. Try it and you will be back again and again.
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Tatiana Svetlova
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, August 10, 2006

Has all the ingredients to offer a very special London experience: the wildly wonderful setting, wine-list and ambience from the Conran-man, yet Coq d'Argent proved disappointing on all counts. I visited for a special birthday with friends on a Friday night table (7pm).

The plats de fruit de mer, our long planned treat and 1st choice, was off, or rather, it was available but without any white meat, as crab, prawns and langoustine were not in the kitchen (I resisted the temptation to point out that the Pont de la Tour kitchen is 5 mins in a cab). The only suggestion fielded was that more molluscs could be added to make up the dish….( ! Hmm). Enjoyed, as always in a Conran, the rather lovely wine-list, only to be told my selection was out of stock - at this point I checked the view (was sitting outside) to make sure that indeed I was still in a London restaurant, early on a Friday night, at the start of a service, and not transported to some paralell universe of seemingly deliberate unhelpful nonchalance. An alternative wine reccommendation was too much to ask for.

Staff were rather randomly either delightful or dire to the point of rudeness: talking and handing things to each other across the top of our table whilst re-setting others is one of several unpleasant habits observed. Sadly the latter category predominated by far. The food, when it came was serviceable, perfectly fine but not inspiring enough to tip the balance of the evening into the positive. There is nothing wrong with this place that a change of personnel would not fix: both service and management would seem to require an overhall. Hopefully Messers Conran will notice soon.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Met a friend for dinner at 6.15pm last Friday night. We were sat on a terrace but we didn't have great views. If you can't book a table, what's the point. We had the crab and the foie gras to start, with us both having lamb for main course. Food was good, if a little overpriced. The wine recommendation was spot on. The waiter however, broke my glass by knocking it on the floor and did the same into someone's lap on the table next to us.

The service otherwise was good. We only had 2 starters, two mains, 1 coffe, 1 glass of wine each and a bottle of water and the costs was £120. So a bit overpriced but the company was fab!
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Lorraine
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Monday, June 19, 2006

Went there for a client lunch. You can't reserve an outside table which seems a bit bizarre - if you're booking far in advance, why the hell not? Anyway, service leaves much to be desired, but the food was pretty decent, and the wine excellent. Not too bad, but would not go there if I was paying my own money. Go for drinks instead and relax on the roof garden.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Thursday, June 08, 2006

Went to Coq D'Argent last Monday (22nd) for dinner and sadly our love-hate relationship with the place continues. Simply love the place in terms of location and building (out door area and views are great) and on the whole the staff are always very good. This time we were a large crowd (7) and we got a great table in the middle of the dinning room. Initial drinks in the bar were average, only slightly chilled lager and fairly sad G&T's. Once at the table we all ordered and started to enjoy the wine etc. Starters were all very good, some were a little on the small side. But generally encouraging. Then the main came and we had to send it all back as it was barely warm. Main dishes and sides, some were infact cold. The manager tried to appease us by bringing a chef's compliment, but even then one of our party was not served untill the rest of us had finished - real shame as it was a lovely lobster soup - alas the effect was lost. Once the main course returned it was very good, but it was all a bit late by then (effort and time). Many of us had cheese after which was a bit small for the price and in not a great condition. Anyway, think sadly I may leave it a very long time before returning and my friends probably won't bother at all. The week before I had one of the best meals I had had in ages at Pont de la Tour, even the set lunch at about £14 for 2 courses was better than this experience. Shame Conran can't be consistent.
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Marc Bridgen
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Went to the Coq D'Argent last night and hd to write and say what a brilliant time we had. It was a birthday present for my boyfriend so was looking for something fancy, but had been slightly worried that it might be a bit suity and stuffy-we had nothing to worry about. It's such a funny place-it had such an eighties, miami vice kind of feel I couldn't help but feel relaxed! From the minute we arrived the staff were insanely helpful and attentive. There was a slight mania about some of our waiters but they really, really couldn't have done more for us.

We were lucky enough to be seated outside which was amazing-there wasn't a whisper of wind and we were so sheltered it was hard to believe we were sitting above a fairly grimy English city. The rowdier tables seemed to be outside which made for a really lively, relaxed atmosphere which I'm not sure we would have got inside-but it was also so pretty out on the terrace with the candlelit tables that it was perfect for a meal for two. We went for the 6 course menu for £39 which seemed relatively good value. We were then told by our comedy waiter that there were a few things on the menu they'd run out of as it was so busy, but that was actually a blessing in disguise as we got offered our choice from the menu, and it meant we got to try even more dishes than we would have. Highlights were my very first oyster, gorgeous buttery snails, and a lovely pink rack of lamb-oh and the strawberry sorbet and champagne!

It really was fantastic-the food was great, the people were lovely, and of course, despite the suits and the slightly eighties vegas setting, the garden was stunning. Of course I would go again!
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Alissa Barlow
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Friday, May 12, 2006

Sunday lunch at the Coq d'Argent was a disappointing affair. The jazz music in the bar was very pleasant, but the restaurant was less than half empty - symptomatic I guess of its location in the City. The food was ok - the Roast Lamb was served with the same Yorkshire Pudding as the Roast Beef (despite the menu only mentioning it for the latter). The lamb was served medium rare - no choice - however, the beef was cooked to taste. The desserts were nice enough. The passion fruit tart was creamy, the chocolate mousse very rich (cream on the inside) and the creme brulee was enormous! However, the service was the greatest let-down. The main course arrived an hour after sitting down (we didn't have starters) and the dessert took another 25 or 30 minutes. The waitress was abrupt to the point of being rude. Oh, and the first 4 bottles of wine selected were unavailable "we often run out towards the end of the week". Fifth time lucky... All in all, for a supposedly high quality restaurant, it was not up to scratch. Or maybe it just shouldn't be open on the weekend?
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 5
Monday, May 08, 2006

My wife and i went here on Saturday night, the staff were very friendly and the food was good. Ask for the wine list from the bar as it is good wine but a lot cheaper than the menu. The only thing i would say is don't go on a saturday night if you are looking for a busy lively place as it was very quiet, only about 20 people max and that included a party of 10 celebrating a birthday. i expect it would not be like this in the summer.
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Nick
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, January 17, 2006