Apsleys - A Heinz Beck Restaurant

We took my grandfather to Apsleys for afternoon tea in honour of his birthday a couple of weeks ago.

Admittedly we only booked after we failed to get a weekend reservation for the Ritz (...or Claridges) however we were so glad we went!

The service was excellent, very attentive without being over the top, the tea selection was great, the home baked scones were small but light fluffy and delicious, the pastries were fantastic looking and tasting, and the selection of finger sanwiches and cakes were great.

The dining room is also beautiful!

I highly recommend it for anyone looking for somewhere special as a treat!
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, February 08, 2010

My wife and I dined here on Friday night whilst staying at The Lanesborough. We booked primarily because of the fantastic meal we had at La Pergola in Rome where we were lucky enough to meet Mr Beck.

We went for the seven course tasting menu with the magnificent Carbonara Fagotelli in the middle of it. Excellent food, excellent service, lovely atmosphere and a really nice evening.

The meal we had on Friday was fantastic knocks socks off the ridiculously expensive Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester. This guy is the business and I couldnt recommend this restaurant enough. As for selling out? The food was equally good as La Pergola and Mr Beck would no doubt be very proud of his London team.
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Kevin Taylor
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, November 23, 2009

The dining room is stunning but everything else way off the mark. and at these prices!. avoid. very disappointed
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The Shrimp - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Sunday, November 15, 2009

A friend of mine who had been lucky with money and in love had offered to take me out for supper last night. Not wanting to disappoint, I suggested we try the new Apsleys and see if they were indeed the future of London's culinary scene. It could not be further from the truth.

We went for the £26 menu del giorno. The amuse bouche was a skewer of chicken satay. To me, the amuse bouche is like a handshake/welcome from the chef. It tempts the palate and subtly introduces the dishes and flavours that are to follow. Chicken satay in this instance, just didn't quite do it for me, and as predicted the rest of the meal was lacklustre to say the least.

My starter of slow cooked Iberian pork was probably the better of the two savoury courses. It was however still firm and lacked that distinct taste unique to the Iberian pig (all those acorns eaten gone to waste). My suspicion was that the sauce/emulsion that the meat was cooked in, overpowered the natural flavours of the pork and being rich in sugars and salts, drew out essential moisture from the meat.

It is a shame that seabream was the fish used in the main course and not sole, as that would have been closer to the truth. It was overly firm and (in the words of my dinner companion) was like “eating the sole of my shoe”.

The saving grace is definately the Rosemary ice-cream and Araguani liquid chocolate tart combination. The ice cream was like a shy maiden. With the first taste, you get hints of rosemary and then ginger and then cinnamon, none of which come across strongly. But when you finally indulge yourself with a big mouthful, The flavours dance along the tip of your tongue to the back of your throat, revealing more of their secrets as they go along and leaving almost no aftertaste.

However, presentation wise- it was really good and met my expectations.

Having a name like Heinz Beck behind your restaurant is huge, but I suspect there might be teething problems with this one. I would wait for the first star before returning.
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em
7 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 4
Saturday, November 07, 2009

Treated a good friend to the set meal here last night and it really was divine. I have eaten in lot of really top-notch places and this was completely on their level, if not above. Really interesting, unique food that still managed to be completely delicious. And the so-called 3 course set menu actually turned out to be six once we included the amuse bouches and petit fours! Waiting staff were charming and relaxed and as a bonus - easy on the eye.

Such a nice treat for not much more than what you'd pay at a gastropub! Compliments to the (new) chef all round and - in my humble opinion - you'd be a fool not to take up this ridiculously reasonable offer.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, September 22, 2009

We visited the Apsleys lasts night and had an amazing time, I booked and opted for the set menu but my hubby was having none of it.. A la Carte all the way for him.. The service was fantastic, the waiters are not pompus as you would expect them to be, friendly and a real laugh..

We ate, the Lemon Sole was divine and the Lamb Cutlets tasted as good as they looked. The dessert took 15 minutes to cook and was worth going back for alone, in ending 4 courses for £55.00 inc Service, not bad.. not bad at all..

Only gripe would be really small potions...But well worth a visit.
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claire
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Sunday, July 12, 2009