Le Pont de la Tour

It's interesting to note the variance of reviews. We really hoped that a Sunday lunch at Le Pont would be a cool decision. It wasnt. Service was slow to the point of dozy. Lee Bennetts Beef ? Well truly average. Horseradish took a while to show up after a second chase. Should not have bothered..... Crab really not great either & luke warm coffee after an amazingly long wait, I guess says it all as to how these guys see Sunday diners........naively we tried to order some Brandys - 20 minutes later kind of lost the moment !! Loads of Waiters/Grand Staff around throughout though - maybe trying too hard to do the French thing....hey one other thing guys spare me the 'exceptionally busy excuse', you had capacity ok.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Attracted by a special offer in a London evening newspaper and the prospect of entertaining a foreign diplomat with marvellous views of Tower bridge and the river, I thought I couldn’t possibly go wrong.

The setting is spectacular and the restaurant decor is good with comfortable chairs and white-starched table cloths.

When we arrived, we waited around for a welcome of some kind that was not forthcoming and were taken to our table with little more than an obligatory grimace. Not exactly off to a good start I thought, but I was on my best behaviour and decided to give it a chance. The stuffy atmosphere prevailed throughout the lunch in more ways than one – an overheated restaurant and surly staff, with one exception, an obliging waitress with a sense of humour.

The managers parading around in the black suits, white shirts and black ties were utterly devoid of charm and hovered around us with an affected manner until our orders had been placed.

A brilliant glass of Piper Heidsieck champagne included as part of the special meal raised our expectations and was a great start until my Lobster bisque arrived. A teaspoon of minced shellfish that I assumed was lobster was placed into my bowl with grated fennel, followed by the bisque. With an overwhelming taste of cream and possibly sherry, it was disappointing to say the least. My guests left most of what was on their plates too and I was too embarrassed to ask them at this early stage if there was anything wrong. And neither did our waiter bother to ask, who whipped away the plates of food without noticing the food had barely been touched. My roast pork Middle white fillet slices and mash which followed looked fine on the plate, but was overwhelmingly flavoured by honey and was in all honesty indistinguishable in taste from any other cut of meat.

My pear tarte tatin comprised luke-warm pastry, a delicious pear and accompanied by a ball of ice-cream resting on a bed of bread crumbs, which I have a suspicion was supposed to be something else.

I couldn’t wait to leave and even that was difficult as we had to ask for the bill three times. I was embarrassed and annoyed by my choice of both venue and the food, reminiscent of an average London restaurant experience ten years ago. I managed to contain my disappointment, which is probably just as we let ourselves out without the appearance of any manger of member of staff being present offering us a courtesy of any kind.
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2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Friday, February 11, 2011

Managed to get a table for 8 on a Saturday night without prior booking. The restaurant was bustly, but not full. Some of our party had come from Hong Kong and we wanted them to have a taste of London. As with some of the reviewers on here, we were extremely disappointed and felt our choice had been swayed by the hype normally given to this restaurant.

Starters: Within the group, the 4 ladies ordered Lobster Bisque, brought to the table with the lobster meat in a bowl and the bisque soup poured over. The 4 soups were barely warm. Asked for them to be taken back, which they were, and returned to us in bowls, reheated but minus any lobster meat!

Mains: Luke warm meat dishes (mine consisted of 4 small slices of pork and an oxo cube size piece of belly pork) Accompanying side dishes one small bowl of potatoes, one small bowl of spinach and an even smaller bowl of spring greens

to be shared amongst 8 people!!!!!!

Desserts: Only 4 of us had deseerts: the crepes were average but the cheese board was excellent.

Pressured waiter service and pressured requests to choose our wine did not make for a relaxing evening

We chose not to make a complaint there and then for fear of embarrassing our Chinese guests. However, even if we were offered a free meal in compensation, I would not wish to return to this over-hyped restaurant
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M Sims
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Saturday, August 28, 2010

We ate lunch here on Sunday. Fixed price menu at £11.50 for two courses is excellent value for money. I braved the rabbit terrine, much to the ridicule of my partner but it was delicious! first time I've eaten rabbit! I've been there before but the a la carte prices have gone up considerably. Still it's worth it. Service very good, view of Tower Bridge spectacular! Definitely will go back!
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Fiona Macintyre - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, July 29, 2010

Le Pont De La tour is a beautiful restaurant in a stunning location on the Thames. Unfortunately our first visit there was marred by undercooked/bland food and inattentive slow service. We arrived promptly for a 6 pm reservation and were told that we could not be seated since a "staff briefing" was in progress. Despite being assured that we would be collected in due course, we had to find our own way back to the front of the restaurant and ask again to be seated. Our first course arrived quickly. However, this was followed by a 45+ minute wait for the main course. We were just about to compllain when the food materialized. The roast pork I had ordered was seriously undercooked (I could not get my knife through it). My sisters chicken was accompanied by a watery bland marjoram sauce and a barely perceptible fricassee of vegetables. I sent the pork back and was informed that the chef agreed that the meat was unacceptable. Apparently the chef was not able to produce an edible piece of pork so I was offered something else from the menu. An adjustment was made to our bill but I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone.
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Marie
3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Saturday, July 24, 2010

The food & evening was spoiled by the restaurant essentially being a sauna. Deeply unpleasant.
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Diane Griffith
2 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, July 21, 2010

I adore this restaurant. When I first moved to London 10 years ago this was one of the first places I was taken to by a good friend of mine. The wine list is spectacular, as is the selection of oysters when in season, and the views are breathtaking. Its truly London at its best.

If you really want to impress someone coming for the first time to london take them straight here. It did the trick for me and I love coming back here for more.

A Great Conran Restaurant which is now apparently owned by D&D. None the less still one of my personal favs.
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dieselthirteen - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Monday, July 19, 2010

We booked and attended for a special occasion, and WOW!!! The restaurant went out of their way to make our special occasion even more amazing, and couldn't have done anything more if we'd asked. Combined with the stunning views, excellent atmosphere, and incredible value for money, we would certainly recommend Le Pont De La Tour, and will be dining there again regularly.
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, June 08, 2010

very good, great service, great food, i returned here many times. I even had my wedding dinner party 2 years ago, outside - great views and excellent food.

the only thing is that in the winter is sometimes a bit chili inside...
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ofeheff - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Returned to Le Pont for the first time in over 18 months after a couple of not very good meals in the bar side and have to say was glad I did.

We had dinner in the restaurant for 7 people and the set £42 - 3 course menu had enough choice for everyone. The food was very good, but not great, but was far better than the food served in the bar on my last visit.

Service was friendly and the English (yes I know they are a rare breed in London) head waiter was very good and knew his menu well.

Wine list was as ever long and expensive but managed to find a couple of good wines from the Boony doon winery for under £60.

Overall much better than expected and will give them another go in the future.
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Chris - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, February 14, 2010