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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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
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
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
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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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
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Sunday, July 12, 2009

We ate at Apsleys last Saturday and had a superb meal, in lovely setting.

This place has good service and looks great. It's ideal for a romantic meal, with the tables well spread out (ask for one of the tables round the outside, which are slighly raised from the main floor and quieter). However, it wasn't overly busy, for a Saturday and may be quiet midweek.

The food was excellent, with the first courses of Pheasant parcels and the Ravioli being superb. My only complaint was that the Sea Bass didn't come with veg, but the only potato option on the extras were roast potatoes, which don't go with light fish! Apart from that minor blip, the food was very tasty and well presented.

There are some reasonably priced wines amongst the expensive wine list, especially a lovely New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Overall, a very pleasant dining experience.
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PJE
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, September 23, 2008

With its luxurious interior that recalls more elegant and decadent times, The Lanesborough ought to be home to a restaurant that is aligned with the hotel's five star status.

The dining room has been recently relaunched as an Italian, and given a rather un-Italian name: Apsleys. We visited as part of a group on what would have otherwise been a rather quiet evening for the restaurant. It was clear that the staff were happy to have something to do as the service was charming and very efficient.

The bread and parmesan appetisers were fresh and came with good olive oil. My starter of succelent pink veal with tuna paste and capers was tasty. However, the main courses were simply a let down. My friend's chicken breast was apparently dry, surely classic mistake no.1 in chicken cooking. My own shrimp risotto was undercooked and crunchy, while the shrimp was badly burnt, giving the risotto a strong bitter note. The surprising thing was that the waiter obviously knew it wasn't up to scratch, as he enquired specifically whether the risotto was satisfactory.

Tiramisu was better, but by that stage I had had too much wine to properly appraise it.

Although we didn't let the food detract from a very enjoyable evening, Apsleys didn't meet the standards set by the rest of the hotel, which is a shame.
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Forth Bridge
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I was there with my friend for afternoon tea. Finger sandwiches were very nice and fresh, wide selection, not only boring smoked salmon and cucumber... There was also mini quiche! Yummy!

Very wide range of teas available, and the service was very respectful, friendly and quick. Maybe because they have a lot of waiters... The piano was playing live and the atmosphere was a bit too formal, but I like it for a change. And what I didn’t like: price.
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Hirosima
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Friday, August 01, 2008

I suppose that this place embodies everything that is wrong with dining out in London high-end restaurants.A fortune has been spent on decor (like the Dorchester), but there seems to have been no one in charge of good taste.The decor is awful.The service is very good with lots(too many) staff,well drilled and eager to please.The food reads well on the menu,but the execution is very poor.For those of us who have eaten in Italy,the food here does not measure up to a reasonable restaurant in Italy.While the ingredients are all present,it is as though someone has been following a recipe or TV show,who has never actually developed any real idea of what the food should taste like and look like.We left a lot of it and the prices are excrutiatingly expensive.Reduce the staff numbers,get a new chef,and redecorate the room.Seems they have got this all totally wrong.Fire the person who was in charge of this project too for wasting all this money.And calling an Italian restaurant Apsleys...that should have set off all kinds of sirens!

Maybe restaurants in hotels don't work so well.Are there any that are successful?
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C.Elder
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, April 30, 2008