Aubergine

Excellent dinner. If you are after traditional dishes (at times with a creative twist), perfectly executed, this is the place for you. I am surprised about reviews complaining about portions being small; they are European standard and not American standard, but a three course meal put my girlfriend and I totally KO (in a good way). Note also that the morning after, which is when sometimes you realise the real "price" of a good French dinner, we were feeling absolutely ok.

Excellent service. Just a little anecdote on this, while selecting the table I encouraged my girlfriend to choose the one she liked saying it was her birthday. When the dessert arrived at the end of the dinner on her dish they had a "Happy Birthday" written in dark chocolate cream....a little thing for sure, but highly appreciated.

Price, considering quality of food and service, is perfectly reasonable
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Giovanni
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Our visit to Aubergine in Chelsea was on the recommendation of friends and our dinner certainly did not disappoint. We were very courteously and quietly greeted on arrival. Pre dinner drinks on the sofa gave way to a nice table in an airy and unfussy atmosphere.

All four of us (cosmo British and Australian) chose differently from the a la carte menu which we felt was well balanced between meat and fish. The dishes were superbly prepared and excellently presented. Flavours were very subtle and the lamb,in particular, was remarkable as were the wines. Michelin Star chef William Drabble can be very proud of his skills!

Service in the comfortable dining room was absolutely first class. The staff were discreet and very attentive without being overbearing. No fussing about with who ordered what, either.

We really could find nothing to fault and will soon be going back next for lunch. Overall, One of the most relaxing restaurant visits anywhere in the world in the last 35 years. Excellent Food. Very realistic value.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, July 14, 2008

Genuinely the most disappointing meal I have had in a long time. The food was bland to the point of tasteless. The staff were polite but it is clear they have heard many such comments before and made no attempt to work out what had gone wrong. By contrast the cancellation policy and follow up were pretty close to hassling. If they put half the effort into the cooking as they do with this the food would be excellent. Try at your peril.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, April 24, 2008

A party of four of us chose Aubergine a couple of months ago as one of our regular "good restaurants evenings". We were not disappointed - the sevrice was impeccable (better than we expereinced at the Savoy Grill) and food was delicious. Absoloutley nothing to complain about! I would highly recommend to anyone. It is farily price but definitely good value for money.
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TJ
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Friday, February 08, 2008

I totally agree with the previous comments. Can't really fault the quality of the food, however dining at a michelin rated restaurant is as much about the service, ambience and the whole dining experience.

I was asked to remind a waitress three times what dish I had ordered, not that they were busy as the restaurant was virtually empty. Staff spent most of the time chatting and were mostly oblivious to what ingredients were in some of the dishes.

If all of this still constitutes Aubergine retaining it's 1 star for 2008, I think I'll open a restaurant myself.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 5
Tuesday, February 05, 2008

We dined at Aubergine in December and were wholly disappointed in almost all areas except for the quality of the food itself. The service was appalling - we had to ask repeatedly for the sommerlier, sitting with empty glasses for more than 1/2 an hour on two occasions!!. Service was incredibly and unjustifyably slow given the restaurant was only half full and staff were standing around chatting. Whilst the food itself was tasty, interesting and well presented, the portions were rididulously small such that at my husband and I made a snack as soon as we arrived back home!! By midway through the evening the supply of hand towels in the women's bathroom had run out leaving no other way to dry hands. Apparently there was no soap in the mens toilet. We will not be going back as there are plenty of 1-star Michellin (and non-michellin) star restaurants which do get it right. Surprise it has a star at all.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Just prior to Christmas I arranged a table of sixteen people at Aubergine - the meal and the service were out of this world. This has to be one of the top five places I have eaten in Europe.

My fellow dinners ranged from Michelin regulars to first timers and the comments from all echo my views, honest cooking and invisible (in a positive way) service. We wanted for nothing and our every taste or whim was catered for.

I will be returning as soon as I can. Thanks very much to Chef William Drabble and the staff at Aubergine for a resoundingly good meal and a very enjoyable experience. Its tough to please sexteen people but you met and exceeded our expectations! 10 out of 10.

S

PS - The pigs cheeks were sooo good!!
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Steve S
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 28, 2007

The worst meal I have ever had in London. We visited as a group with high expectations but experienced apalling service - we practically had to beg the waiters to top up our wine glasses despite spending close to a thousand pounds on wine alone! The waiters were rude, sullen and insulting. The food did little to redeem the experience - over cooked and tasteless pheasant, stale desserts and ridiculous portions. I would encourage anyone thinking of dining at Aubergine to steer clear - it was a thoroughly disappointing though extremely costly experience!!
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Thursday, December 13, 2007

The description of Aubergine as a class act is an apt one. These days it is almost refreshing to come across a restaurant in London happy to serve classic dishes cooked well. This is haute French food, but there is no real aim to be clever, rather to execute some classic combinations to a phenomenally high standard. Wine matches were similar, in that nothing attempted to surprise, only to match the food perfectly.

One of my best meals of 2007 and a demonstration that technical excellence will always be more important than spurious innovations.
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MJN
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, December 07, 2007

Went there last night with a team of 12 people and we had the gourmet menu with matching wines. It was good but quite honestly the dishes were so tiny many of us left feeling a bit peckish - so good food and wine but disappointing portions.

There was a somewhat presumptuous £300+ built in tip and ludicrous charges associated with simple things like water for the table (25 bottles - yeah right). These aspects somewhat took the pleasurable edge off but the overall experience remained a positive one.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Thursday, December 06, 2007