Athenaeum

My husband took me to Athenaeum for lunch on my birthday and it was absolutely lovely. The dining room is beautifully decorated with art deco pieces and enormous chairs to relax in and providing some privacy for an intimate meal.

We took the special lunchtime offer and had a lovely glass of champagne and three courses. We had the buffet selection for both starter and dessert it was a wide range of fresh and tasty options. The main course of fishcake on a bed of spinach was a little overwhelming with lots of flavours going on and a lot of food. No sides were required for us, but then we had filled up on the starters !!

We both enjoyed eating lunch here and would recommend it for the reasonable cost and luxury surroundings. It felt very decadant, but the service was polite and friendly without being overly invasive.
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S Rodgers
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Went here last night. Gorgeous surroundings which you cannot fault. Lovely waiter who helped us with our selection of pre-dinner drinks in the bar area. Food, actually was not all that - the choice from the set menu seemed like they knocked it together for the sake of it and as it was Sunday night. Service was good apart from the maître d' who seemed rather hurried (despite a far from busy evening) and abrupt. Our party consisted of 4 diners, 3 of whom ordered from the set menu and thus took up the £24 offer, the other from the a la carte menu. When the maître d' brought the bill she had charged the £24 for 4 plus the a la carte selections. When queried she said she had thought that was what had happened - in which case why did she even bring the incorrect bill in the first place - and that she blamed her hair colour. Indeed.

Overall a pleasant evening with good company (which we supplied!) and lovely surroundings. Champagne to start the meal and coffee and truffles to end, was a nice touch. Though, in between, the food was average and not worth paying for if you do not have this offer. Also if you do not eat beef (as none of us did) your choice can be somewhat limited. And watch out for the pre-dinner drinks prices.

Nice for the one visit. Won't be returning.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Monday, April 21, 2008

I enjoyed a wonderful meal at Athenaeum last week - I loved my first course of seared scallops with pea puree, red wine and shallot jus. The accompaniments were just light enough to allow the delicious, delicate flavour of the scallops to come to the fore. This was possibly excelled by my main course of confit of duck with glazed onions, wild mushrooms and spinach. The duck was very slightly rarer than I requested, but the quality of meat was such that I didn't mind. The flavours and textures were balanced beautifully, while the portion size was more than adequate. My pudding of an Easter brownie rounded my meal off nicely. It was not a complex dish; I appreciated a simple - yet effective - dose of chocolate after my more complicated earlier courses.

My husband is a vegetarian and far harder to please when we dine out. Vegetarian options are often an afterthought, and can be far less exciting than the meat and fish dishes. However, he was really happy with his starter of goat’s cheese with citrus salad and orange balsamic reduction. The quality was maintained with his main meal of squash tortellini and ricotta in mature cheddar sauce. This sounds quite simple, but was presented thoughtfully and looked very appealing. It also tasted great, I understand!

Athenaeum is a very smart venue, but the service was far less formal and stuffy than I expected; indeed, it was exceptionally warm and friendly. The restaurant itself is beautiful and grand, with luxurious seating. This reflects the general comfort of the public areas of the hotel.

We were eating under a set meal deal (which included champagne and tea/coffee) and thought this was excellent value, although wine was expensive. The service charge is not added automatically, which is one of my pets hates - I wish other restaurants would take note! Overall, I loved the Athenaeum and would not hesitate to recommend it to others.
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dawnage - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Lovely restaurant.

I took my sister there for lunch and overall it was lovely. The waiting staff were helpful but seemed a bit confused that we wanted just a 2 course lunch and not the three and the maitre d had to sort it out. The staff were friendly and polite when you got their attention but generally they seemed to be rushing for unknown purposes as the starter and dessert were help yourself, we just kept seeing them go in and out of a door (possibly to the kitchen?) but not bringing any food. Each time you wanted something you had to ask. They forgot the yorkshire pudding with my roast beef and truffles with our coffee. The roast beef was a bit dry and the horseradish and creme brulee tasteless but overall the food was good and of a good quality.

The setting is very nice and comfortable and it's great the hotel is opposite Green Park so you can walk off the big lunch.

If it wasn't for the set menu deal I'm not sure the Athenaeum is worth it but as the deal seems to be on going it's a great place to go but not somewhere if you really want to impress.
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Alex TG
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, March 21, 2008

This beautiful hotel, offers a superb lunch time experience, I took my partner there for a birthday lunch (25 February 2008) and he was very impressed with the decor, the lovely atmosphere and the food. We had 3 courses from the set lunch menu, which was excellent value. The staff were very curtious, and made us feel very welcomed. I would definately recommend the food.

Ladies/gents if you want to impress the other half this is definately the place to do it!!

I can't wait to go back again!!
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NoraA - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Four us went for the three course special last Saturday lunchtime. With a glass of wine for one and a few bottles of water the bill came out at £120 - £30 each, which was fine.

The service was excellent. The food was very good. The special deal menu is a little limiting, but we all enjoyed the roast chicken, lamb and the duck. I'd give the food a good 7/10. The atmospere is very relaxed. The toilets are great!

It's smart but casual wear.

Would recommend it at lunchtime to anybody who wants to go for a lovely walk in Green Park and then have a two hour lunch.
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David, SW4
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 8
Friday, January 18, 2008

Agreed wih the previous review...outstanding

I've known about this restaurant for years, but never been past the front door, yesterday I did - and had the special offer lunch, it was absoutely first class in every respect.
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Adam Woods
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, December 20, 2007

One word: Outstanding!

The food is excellent - at A La Carte rates, it would be good value, and with the deals available on various sites, it's unmissable!

The decor in the restaurant is, for want of better words, extremely cool! Trendy, stylish, adventurous, and perfectly matches the rest of the experience. The cleverly-designed two-seat tables down the centre of the restaurant are excellent. Even better is the service: not only is it attentive, but also charming and even witty, to the point that you wonder how much any one of the waiting staff would transform the fortunes of any lesser restaurant were they to leave Athenaeum (and why would they want to?).

The 'deal' set menu also has plenty of choice and quality, such that you can happily book it for a date without worrying about getting a 'lesser' service. As such, if you are looking for somewhere that you can rely on to impress, and you're within 11,000 miles of Athenaeum, then stop looking; just book here, and go.
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Damian
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, December 11, 2007

BRILLIANT!

We booked on lastminute.com and I was suprised that the whole a'la carte menu was available with 50% off.

The food was fantastic, the atmosphere lively- it doesn't have a hotel-restaurant feel to it and the service, well it made our night. It was my friends birthday and they brought over complimentary champagne which was a lovely tough. THe rest of the waiters/waitresses were friendly, attentive and fun. They were keen to recommend particular dishes and obviously cared that we had a great time- which we did.

A great night out for a special occasion that won't break the bank. I throughly recommend it
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CJ
Friday, November 11, 2005