Launceston Place

i took my now fiance there for a special meal and it did not let me down!

the receptionist that took my booking was curteous and listened to my requests, each of which were met and i had the secluded table i requested as well as the champagne on arrival chilled at the table.

the service was professional and warm yet discrete.

the food was so clever, interesting and very very tasty. i highly recommend the tasting menu, the value of which is fantastic. do not feel the pressure to have the matching wines, as the sommelier there is very knowledgable and can recommend wine by the bottle to match the whole menu, he did a great job - and i am a fussy wine orderer!

i will definitely be going back to take advantage of the great lunch offer and we are thinking of taking the whole family back for sunday lunch!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, December 07, 2009

I have been reading some of the reviews on most top ten restaurants and was not happy with some reviews as this is one of my truly favourite restaurants in London...to break it down in simple terms...

a) food is fresh and cooked to perfection (tristan welch experienced 2 * chef)

b) the service is slick, polite, and almost watching a ballet perform

c) the menu and wine list are priced perfectly 20pound lunch menu almost too good to be true!

now we brits are becoming very critical about food and service above all the main factor "value for money"... we hunt for bargains and we always feel we have a right to give our point across....yet in the same time we can be hipacritical...

so all in all if a restaurant can achieve all the points above and im sure its not always perfect, but still having to get to where it was and now, they have to be doing something right! So if you all dont mind show them your support and believe they desrve to be No1 on the list, rather than some other names on there! (me being a brit)

PS: book way way in advance to avoid dissappointment or if you know the maitre'd he might just do magic and have a table for you especially if your local!
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 04, 2009

we went for lunch as we have heared so much about it, when i got there i was thinkning i wasn't dressed for the occasion did not think it will be so formal, anyhow they did not stop and search me at the door they actually welcomed me with huge warm smiles and clearly they were going to eye me up and down, and think i was this tramp but they didnt! the staff are so so friendly and warm they dont intimidate you at all, we were asked for drinks and menus arrived after, i had the crab risotto which was so cool and funky served in a crab shell head!!! i was laughing my head off but in the same time was thinking what a genius idea. the food was great the service was fautless and they did make you feel welcomed . i am definalty coming back of course a bit more glammed up and for dinner as it was a steel 45 3 courses, you get the same food at Waering at the berckley or the square. I do dine out a lot and on this occasion the 20 pound lunch menu is an incredible bargain as you get pre starter dessert and canapes

All i can say is my hat off toall of you, well done!
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Kerri Lee - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, December 02, 2009

This old restaurant has turned into something very special a hidden gem in the crown, from entering upon arrival we were greeted with warm smiles and what looked like the barman from behind as well, almost as if we new them. Our coats were swepted away and we were taken to our table from there the excitement began from the kind waitress who took our apperitif order to the sommelier choosing our wine and also i thik which was the maitre'd taken our food orders, very charming i must say he was! we had some beautiful parsnip crisps wrapped in Launceston Place ribbons, how cute! A pre starter which was this silky velvety smooth leek soup followed by the scallops which were heaven and my partner had the sardines, not really to my taste buds but he liked them however the scallops where huge and so so succulent! mains where even better i had the piggy and crackling, partner had the lamb which had its own crackling as well, that made me really happy i did not have to share mine...hehe. the ambiance started to pick up and there was a great buzz to the place , however we did not feel rushed nor did they ask us to have coffee in the lounge or anything like that. it was a truly great experience, service was fautless and the food was sublime. what more can i say, go hunt down that jewl for yourself as it is well worth the money!
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yasmina
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Simply put-the best food in London! Innovative, delicious and beautifully presented. The staff are so lovely-we have taken our daughter before and they did all they could to entertain her. More like it certainly needed in London!
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hh
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Saturday, November 14, 2009

Atmosphere was extremely lacking here. Felt like a library (although this may have been that we were there a bit early, but didn't seem much buzzier by the time we left). Crab risotto was amazing but the rest not particularly inspiring. Even though we were having the set menu it ended up being very expensive for a pretty unmemorbale evening.
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SE - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Each time we're in London (we live in Belgium), we like to try a new restaurant and this time we picked out Launceston Place after seeing Tristan Welch in The Great British Menu on BBC television. We thoroughly enjoyed our tasting menu where I had the hare instead of the two menu options, porc or lam. The food was impecable and delicious, each of the six courses was a delight! Service was good and very friendly. The wine waiter was excellent and very knowledgeable! She choose us a delicious white wine to go with the hare (I prefer white wines to red), not an easy choice. I want to find that wine to have at home too. I also enjoyed the cheese and there too the waiter was very knowledgeable! As I said each course was tremendous, the hare was exceptionally good but there could have been a bit more of it (my only complaint), the salmon poached in champagne delicious and the same for the rice pudding soufflé.

It was a quiet evening (Sunday evening) but the staff were very efficient.

Next time we're in London we will definitely come back!
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Alain Gadisseur
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, October 20, 2009

This restaurant is fast becoming my favorite place to eat in london, i find the menu exciting and the service excellent. i completely disagree with the comments below and feel it my duty as fan of the restaurant to stand up for it. The price is balanced perfectly with the level of service you recieve and also the quality of the food!

if you have not been yet i strongly suggest you do and make up your own mind.
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chris sparrow
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The supposedly great food critic, 'AA' Gill wrote disparagingly about Launceston Place shortly after the restaurant had been sold by it's former 'grand fromage', Simon Slater. I'd enjoyed the restaurant for many years under Mr Slater's management and was intrigued to read Gill's opinion. Anyone that is so conceited to precede their surname by their initials however, is probably not worthy of reading I thought at the time, but nonetheless I was shocked at how scathing his column was.

That was until I finally went there for Sunday lunch today.

The writer of the review is clearly smarter than I'd given him credit for. My heart sunk when my party of four entered. The restaurant is near gothic-dark and depressing. The loo's are even worse-black (like the restaurant) and lit merely by candles. The service is smug and unfriendly-no humour detectable in sight. The price of Sunday lunch was an absolute disgrace. I eat out either in the West End, the City or Chelsea 7 days per week, and I have never felt so ripped off.

The menu was limited in the extreme-and I mean the £45 per head one, not the set menu for a 'mere' £26 per head. The wine list borderlines on theft, so extortionate are the prices-try the £24 house red for example. The portions are minute-a flashback to the 80's nouvelle cuisine scene. When we questioned the size of the tiny strip of roast beef that was apparently the "Sunday Roast" which appeared on our plates we were met with derision. "This is the standard size" we were curtly told, before the clearly annoyed waiter haughtily returned with a couple of extra thin strips. My wife only wanted a starter-she had an egg-and was charged £26 for her abstinence. The bill for a highly forgettable lunch and 2 bottles of house red-£185 for 4 (one of us who only had an egg).

We will never, ever return. 'JJ' Douglas-Mann.
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Jimmy Douglas-Mann
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, October 11, 2009

i thought launceston place would have been a little stuffy. i was totally surprised when i dined there last night. to start with the restaurant is nestled in a tiny little village like area in kensington which eases you into a relaxed comfortable mood even before going throught the door. once sat down the whole experience was amazing, the food and wine where matched perfectly and the service was knowledgeable yet unobtrusive. this little place is a gem!!! highly recomended!!!!
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chris sparrow
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, September 23, 2009