Roussillon

We are sorry but this restaurant has closed - The Reader Comments are shown for historical purposes only

what the critics say

The Independent

John Walsh - 11/15

Saturday, May 28, 2011 - My date's lobster salad with mango, avocado and chorizo may sound like simple food combining but it's not. The ingredients all embraced each other in an orange-hued, subtly-spiced group hug. My pan-seared scallops offered the usual challenge of finding some gutsy accompaniment to their plump and juicy innocence: Gill's solution was a fabulously tasty rectangle of ham hock that had been boiled for hours, shredded, pressed overnight with capers, gherkins, parsley and tarragon, rolled in breadcrumbs and lightly fried. All this labour paid off - it ran rings of savoury gorgeousness around the scallops.

This Is London

Fay Maschler - 2/5

Thursday, October 07, 2010 - The new head chef recruited to Roussillon, a tender sprig of only 23, is malleable enough, it would seem, happily to emulate what went before...An unheralded course of a scallop with apple puree and slender batons of raw apple. It is nice in a squeaky-clean, appley sort of way and we are glad to have had it because both of our chosen first courses disappoint. Cock crab with celery and cucumber salad, lime puree and cucumber jelly is small and very cold. It seems like something more suited to a facepack.

your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne

We were very disappointed on our last visit to Roussillon.

Despite having had several excellent meals over the last few years we returned to find that the meal did not impress.

The crab option sounded marvellous but there was literally only a spec of crab and very much nouvelle cuisine micro portions. At over £150 per person with wine I would be unlikely to return
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Overall rating 5 stars
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Thursday, September 23, 2010

Menu filled with cheap ingredients. We will not go again.
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Mark
Overall rating 1 stars
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, August 26, 2010

My wife and I visited Roussillon last night for a special celebration dinner, having just got married. When booking I didn't realise that Alexis Gauthier has left - and when we read the below reviews on the day of the visit, we considered cancelling, but decided to go ahead. Luckily we didn't experience any of the below service problems. We both had the tasting menu, and the gap between finishing one course and being served the next was always around 5-10 minutes.

Most of the food was hard to fault. The selection of bread was second to none, and each piece was light and delicious. We particularly enjoyed the nutty super-rich truffle risotto, the cod & pea, and the lamb which had been slowly poached at a low temperature (although the accompanying sweetbreads were a little over-cooked and tasteless). The foie gras and cod dishes were also very tasty indeed. However, neither of us were really taken with the carrot cake, which was over-spiced and came with a strange tasting sorbet.

The wine list has something to suit most budgets, there is a reasonable selection around the £30 mark.

The price is right up there with some of the most expensive restaurants around, value for money is very subjective when you're spending over £100 per head for dinner. But it was a very enjoyable meal, and I'm glad we didn't cancel.
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Jeremy
Overall rating 8 stars
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, August 17, 2010

We travelled back from the states (after 10 months absence from the UK) and we were looking forward to visit Roussillon again. I didn't recognise anyone from the front of house! The service was lousy, also very disappointed with the quality of the food and all at very high bill.

At the end of the evening I asked to a young waiter if the chef Alexis was working and he didn't know who Alexis was (no manager to be seen, another waiter processed our bill) We decided not to make a scene because I was dining with a very good friend of ours and dropped the matter.

I did call the restaurant the next day because I wanted to talk to the chef Alexis Gauthier to express my disappointment but I was told he wasn't in that day. After a 5 minutes search I learned that Alexis Gauthier (his sous chef Gerard Virolle and the sommelier Roberto Della Pietra) have left Roussillon to embark on a new venture in Soho! And also the restaurant website states that Alexis Gauthier is still cooking...when clearly he's not involved any longer!

They are either lying or the staff (and web designer) genuinely didn't receive the "memo".

We will not go again.
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Jessica
Overall rating 3 stars
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Sunday, August 01, 2010

I went for dinner with two very good friends (both Michelin starred chefs in Paris) and we left very disappointed, we visited Roussillon at least once a year for the past 3 years but what happened to this place? we knew that the head chef and sommelier left but we wanted to try it anyway; it was a disaster.

service was slow and unprofessional (I didn't recognise anyone on the front of house), the food just not good enough at £60 for 3course (£25 supplement for an oily truffle risotto??? Truffle is very cheap at the moment!!! how much are they going to charge in october/november?)

The wine list is messy and compiled with no care and few mistakes; Vin de Laurence, Mas Daumas Gassac just became a Banyuls? to mention one.

This place is a shadow of its former self. A pity because we really loved this place.
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Rebecca H
Overall rating 2 stars
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Saturday, July 17, 2010

Woeful. A stern greeting from the maitre d' followed by over an hour wait for our starters. There was clearly discord amongst the staff and despite the attempts of one of the English waiters to lighten the mood with flippant comments and general tomfoolery this was not the mark of a professional restaurant.

When the straters did arrive the scallops were moist and sweet and the truffle risotto superb. But the main courses were tepid and the poor level of service ruined what should have been a great evening. We were not charged for our wine (generous) but charged in full for the service (ironic ?) ! We shant be returning.
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Overall rating 3 stars
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, July 07, 2010


what the bloggers say

Food Snob

Food Snob

Thursday, October 09, 2008 - Though starred by Michelin back in 2000, Roussillon retains a relatively reticent reputation…most of the time. Located on a modest corner of a quiet residential street lined with Georgian terracing, every so often this establishment hits the headlines. It was the first to introduce a ‘garden’ menu dégustation for vegetarians…however, its biggest claim to fame could be that it was the first restaurant ever reviewed by Giles Coren, back when he was with Tatler.

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