Apsleys - A Heinz Beck Restaurant

The Lanesborough, Hyde Park Corner, London, SW1X 7TA - View on a map
Telephone: 020 7259 5599 (Special offers are available exclusively through online booking – see below for details)

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Apsleys - A Heinz Beck Restaurant Restaurant In London
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Overall 8.1
Food 7.9
Service 8.3
Atmosphere 8.6
Value 7.6
Based on 7 reviews

special offers

Lunch Offer: 2 courses £25

...from the set menu, including coffee and water. Includes Vat, excludes service. Click for more details

Dinner offer: 3 courses with a glass of Champagne £45

...from a select menu. Includes Vat, excludes service. Not available 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th February. Click for more details

Weekend Lunch offer: 3 courses & a glass of wine £35

...from the set menu. Includes Vat, excludes service. Click for more details

Party offer: 4 courses £55 and a magnum of Taittinger

...from a select menu for parties of 8 to 12 guests. Includes Vat, excludes service. Not available 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th February. Click for more details

what the critics say

Times Online

Giles Coren - 5/10

Saturday, March 27, 2010 - There was a pointless pre-starter involving dull arancini and then my mother had a lobster and avocado starter that was nothing but a 24 quid teaspoonful of filling from a posh club sandwich. Esther had a veal and artichoke and truffle thing which the waiter insisted was a terrine but wasn't (it was delicious but too tiny to count as food) and I had a small artichoke soup with a pale sliver of tasteless lobster and a liquorice element to it that was so bitter and rank I started to think Beck must be a great chef after all, because you would need a serious mastery of the elements of cooking to create something this nasty.

Guardian

Matthew Norman

Saturday, November 07, 2009 - The a la carte dishes, both Beck signatures, hinted at talent, notably carbonara fagottelli, parcels of impeccable fresh pasta filled with a cheesy, bacony cream that shot gratifyingly down the throat as you bit into them. Roasted pigeon was faultlessly cooked, particularly the crispy legs, but the jus was indistinct and the dish unmemorable. And if you are going to serve foie gras, you really must mention it on the menu when so many people won't touch the stuff.

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your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne

Great for a special occasion. Expensive, but not outrageously so. Had a fabulous chocolate sphere for dessert (frrozen meringue with lime and dry raspberry) and they came by with several pre and post dinner treats. My only negative was feeling a bit of "hovering" by the overly attentive staff--but it was not offensive.
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Vanessa
Overall rating 9 stars
Food 10 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, August 27, 2011

A very good experience, attentive staff, great food .

Very good value for offer... 35 pound for 3 course, coffee, petit four, amouse bouche, pre dessert and plus Macaron and marshmallow on the trolley!!!

My favourite London restaurant from today!!
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Sara
Overall rating 10 stars
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Oishi kata.... very nice... all the staff were looking after us, it was a truly memorable evening.

i was with difficult Japanese customer that was hard to impress...... they finish meal and they was impressed by the food!!!
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Overall rating 10 stars
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, August 15, 2011

The most enjoyable part of the whole experience is the ambience of (almost) splendour ! It reminded me of walking into the Elephant on the River (if anyone remembers that eatery with thick carpet and staff throwing rose petals as you enter (and saying under their breaths "another mug with too much disposable income !!!"

The food is, at best, mediocre and anyone who raves over it spends too much time cooking Charlie Bingham's ready meals than cooking at home, and creating beautiful combinations.

I really apologise if I am insulting the chef but, for the money, this menu is a total rip off !! If appetisers containing a whisked up froth (yes, we were served a china spoonful of froth) excite you, then this is the place to enjoy weird combinations, as the waiters proudly serve their chef's creations. The main course does save the day but for most experienced diners, the other rubbish is less of an experience and more of a chef's ego-trip !

Both times I have eaten at Apsley's and wished that I had eaten at The Goring or even Seven Park Place (St James's Hotel) UNTIL .......the sweet course and petit fours . . . which is a shame because I am a savoury person and normally hate leaving lunches with a heavy chocolate or fruit indulgence.

This said, I do intend to return because, for some reason (maybe the huge flower displays) there is something about bringing a guest to this establishment that appears to impress- BUT IT AIN'T THE FOOD !!!

IT IS VERY OVER-PRICED AND IF YOU LEAVE WITHOUT A LITTLE DISAPPOINTMENT YOU HAVE EATEN WITH ROSE COLOURED SPECTACLES AND TASTE BUDS !
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getmb
Overall rating 4 stars
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Monday, August 08, 2011

L-E Promo £35 3-course Sunday lunch. This included water, a glass of (good) wine and coffee + handmade sweets.

Don't expect to gourmandise. It's 'artistic' gourmet (nouvelle cuisine sized) servings. For the quality, at the price, considering the calm, most comfortable setting, very good value. It was an interesting experience in 'taste management' where we left feeling 'fulfilled'.

Apsleys was savaged by the critics when it opened a few years ago, but they seem to have got their act together, at least for the £35 lunch. A 5-star hotel cannot afford failure for long.

You could spend as much, and much more for their Afternoon Teas. But the Sunday Lunch special I venture is a much better deal.

Attentive and well informed staff who made the day a most pleasant gastronomic experience in very refined surroundings.
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TJ Sackville-West
Overall rating 10 stars
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, March 20, 2011

Ate at Apsleys on a work-day lunchtime. Thought I'd add a review, as I'm a vegetarian. Vegetarians are often not well served by top chefs; some are on record saying that people who don't eat meat and fish aren't worth cooking for. Apsleys' managers are clearly aware that veggies both eat and pay for the pleasure, since its lunch menu had both a starter and a main that didn't have meat in them. Whether the chef had bothered with either was a moot point.

First up was an Italian tomato soup with unidentifiable green veg in it that tasted like it came out of a can. Second up was a 'risotto' that was less than a sum of its parts: a stiff tomato and cheese sauce and very al-dente rice that had only been briefly introduced before being carried out to table.

My companions were happier. And the puddings and coffee were good; particularly the salty ice-cream. But I felt we were paying for the name, flowers, silver, staff and Apsley's generally high opinion of itself, not the food.
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Lyn Whitfield
Overall rating 5 stars
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 4
Friday, March 18, 2011

Service friendly and helpful but unobtrusive. The food was presented with flair and the tastes were delicate and individual. Off the menu requests provided with ease. A sumptuous setting with imaginative touches. Good value.
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Carolyn Turner
Overall rating 9 stars
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, March 14, 2011

Al in all very good experience. The food was superb. I really enjoyed the coffee too and I asked the waiter if it was Jamaican Blue Mountain and he looked at me and said with pride 'no, no, no - it's Italian illy coffee'. I don't think he appreciated my compliment...
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Nas - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 8 stars
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, November 10, 2010

My husband and I had dinner at Apsleys last night. We opted for the tasting menu with wine and although expensive was nowhere near as much as a similar menu would be at other michelin star venues.

From start to finish the evening was wonderful: the room beautiful, food was fantastic e(verything on the menu and the extras that were brought out.), the wine was also great and pefectly matched the courses and finally the service was some of the best we've received at any restaurant.

We will definitely be back!
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Overall rating 10 stars
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 22, 2010

My wife & I visited Apsleys last Saturday, for the fourth time. Once again we thoroughly enjoyed the meal. The staff were extremely impressive, being helpful, attentive & charming. The food itself was an absolute delight & the surroundings elegant & smart. I cant recommend this excellent restaurant enough. It has fast become one of my favourites.
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Robbie G
Overall rating 10 stars
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, July 28, 2010


what the bloggers say

A Girl Has To Eat

A Girl Has To Eat - 7.5/10

Sunday, March 28, 2010 - There was no doubting the good technique at Apsleys, and it's perhaps understandable why the restaurant has a one star. The coconut cream pre-dessert and the cremoso were excellent, and the sea bream and the venison were quite delicious, but there were also some flavour combinations which didn't quite gel. The herbal infusion with the tuna felt dull, and the strength of the artichoke jarred the finesse of the scallops. Also, it was disappointing to see the tortellini being overcooked, not to mention the inconsistencies in the plating of the venison and dessert courses.

Cheese and Biscuits

Cheese and Biscuits - 6/10

Thursday, October 02, 2008 - There used to be a restaurant in the Lanesborough called The Conservatory, which many people thought was pretty nice even though it was a bit like eating in The Crystal Maze's Tropical Zone. The plants and flourishes have gone, replaced by cool beige carpets and chintzy sofas, and the new head chef is a chap called Nick Bell, who despite being as British as British can be is cooking "simple, regional, Italian food" (his words) amid the starched tablecloths and sommeliers.

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