Flaneur Food Hall & Restaurant

Discovered Flaneur by accident when passing on a Saturday evening. We were made to feel welcome and as others have said, the ambience is very inviting. The restaurant tables are at the back of the food hall, so you are surrounded by 20 foot high shelves stacked with exotic tins and boxes. The set meal was excellent value at £21 for two courses or £35 for three. My asparagus with roquefort butter was a generous portion, very fresh and perfectly cooked. My friend opted for courgette and feta fritters which were served with toasted pine nuts and rocket, and he had to fight me off his plate it was so good. My main course of steak was a decent cut, cooked perfectly medium as requested, accompanied by somewhat tired and greasy potatoes which was the only disappointment of the evening. The mushroom and cheese risotto was tasty. The dessert was absolutely heavenly - we both had the super moist chocolate cake. The waitress brought a soup tureen full of double cream to the table with a ladle, which she left with us for the duration. Not so good for my waistline but both amusing and delicious. We had an excellent bottle of cava with our meal for £24 and some delicious coffees and armangac with dessert. We found the staff to be charming but reserved and I will definitely be going back. Great food and wonderful value.
Comment on this reader review

Savage Pink - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, May 15, 2006

I agree with a lot of what everyone else has said. Nice 'space', OK food, very poor service. And you would hope for more from a meal that cost getting on for £100 for two, with an 'optional' service charge added to your bill.

The wine we ordered didn't arrive until our starters appeared, and only then because we asked the manager where it was. The waitress 'had had a long shift', apparently.

Some of the food was very good, some distinctly average.

Then we were told the kitchen had closed when we ordered puddings, with no previous warning that this might happen, so our choice was restricted.

I shan't be going back and I wouldn't recommend it.
Comment on this reader review

Graham
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, May 03, 2006

I was taken to Flaneur for a working lunch yesterday. Initial impression is good - as others have said, a bustling, multi-sensory environment and some rather fabulous tall chairs. However, the service was tardy. Disinterested staff and complete lack of attention to detail e.g. between the four of us, we were given three different sizes of water glasses (which were then filled to a variety of levels from brimming to near empty!). We ordered two cods and two chicken, no starters. After 40 minutes we enquired where the food was, only to be told that "it seems longer because you didn't order starters". Enough said. When the food did arrive, it was pretty good, though my cod was not quite hot enough. Flaneur has the potential and the "space" to be really good, but the whole experience is let down by lax service and apparent "customer-itis". Quelle domage!
Comment on this reader review

Andrew S - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Went for lunch with a business friend. Had an excellent lunch (generous portion of Gloucester Old Spot - refreshingly fatless with perfectly executed crackling - washed down with a glass of fresh white Rioja). Where we sat (in the window) was pretty cold - next to some open fridges - but the room is lovely, the food is great and the atmosphere is relaxed. Will definitely be back.
Comment on this reader review

David
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, March 03, 2006

Having heard good reviews of the food available at Flaneur from friends and colleagues, I took my partner for a meal at Flaneur for Valentine's Day.

I had booked a table by telephone for 9:30pm and my reservation was keenly taken. On arrival at your restaurant, we were immediately given menus and told that we had to order our meals in the next 5 minutes otherwise we would not be able to dine because the restaurant would be closing at 10:00pm!

Given the 5 minute deadline, we quickly ordered (only for one of the dishes to no longer be available) and then we underwent an extremely rushed meal as we had been made to feel as though we were keeping people from their homes.

Before writing this review, I wrote to Flaneur expressing my disappointment. Their response was "All I can ask is for you to give flaneur another chance". Tempting as their offer is, I would rather not throw good money after bad when there are so many other reataurants that do not need a second chance to show that they are worth visiting. For a restaurant that is by no means inexpensive I am amazed that they feel they are able to give customers a fast food service, make them feel unwelcome and then still expect return custom!
Comment on this reader review

R Smith
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Monday, February 20, 2006

I was interested to read some reviews here about the nature of the staff at this place.

My fiance and I tried to eat here recently at about 9pm on a mid-week evening. We hadn't booked, but having looked at the menu and noticing it wasn't busy we went in to eat.

We had got to the till only to be intercepted by the staff who demanded to know if we had a reservation - as they checked the diary (empty for that particular time as it happens) we were told they were fully booked and couldn't possibly accommodate us. ('Us' being two people in a restaurant which was barely a fifth occupied and with nothing in the diary.)

This is a shame as the menu looked very appealing.

It will take a load of good reviews on this site to make me think again about visiting this place.
Comment on this reader review

Mark - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Saturday, January 07, 2006