Sarastro

Very poor food. Looked at menu and official website before going and thought it would be a real treat. However, when you get inside and eat the food it is not. Mussels from a jar, a lobster with no meat in it, lamb cutlets the size of a finger and a sweaty cheese plate. Luckily I went with good friends who can laugh - it was terrible
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Andrew Parker
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Saturday, April 26, 2008

A group of friends thought this would be a fun venue to try for a get together. We had to have the set menu as we were a group booking. The Meze starter was ample portions, though i felt it had been set out on the table for quite sometime as the carrot sticks were very dry.

Our service was prompt and polite though we did dine early evening when it was a little quiet. Our main courses were average, the vegetables were a little more than al dente, i was left dissapointed by desert, the bulk of it was fresh fruit on rather a large platter.

The seating area was a little cramped and as the restaurant got more busy it did become rather warm.

We did have a good evening, though i wouldn't rave about it and i wouldn't go back.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Monday, April 21, 2008

This may be out of date, since I haven't been there for years - here's why.

I would heartily recommend going to see this restaurant - but I would not recommend eating a meal there.

The decor has to be seen to be believed - opulent, flamboyant, like the set of a big-budget opera - think baroque palace converted into a Turkish harem. (Check out the erotic murals in the lavatories). We couldn't get upper-level seats, but they must be even more spectacular.

But the food was mediocre. The waitress, who barely spoke English, could not tell me what was in the vegetarian pasta. (So I asked her if it had real vegetarians in it - she didn't get it).

On hot summer days, it's stifling in there.

A pity - if new management were to bring in decent service and food, this would be a dream of a restaurant.
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Austin - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Thursday, April 17, 2008

Went there for the first time last night for our daughter's 25th birthday. No choice - set menu was what you had to have.

Meze OK but main courses just about reach poor motorway service area standards. Dessert just a load of fruit.

String quartet and opera singers were entertaining - though soprano was very wobbly at times. Decor interesting. Waiters a bit distant but by no meand rude.

Despite poor food we had a fun evening but we won't bother again till the food improves considerably.
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Kevin
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, April 08, 2008

This has got to be one of the worst restaurants ever who also over charge!

1. It was extremely hard to get service, non of the waiters would come over.

2. The food took forever

3. What they call a Big Boss Seafood selection is a couple spoon fulls of shrimps (not prawns) with a few small bits of squid in a nasty white cream sauce.

4. Seats were cramp even for a petite person such as myself (5,1")

Shame, the decor was nice.
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KK
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, March 17, 2008

I booked a table for 20 people for my birthday.

There was no fan or air conditioning that worked. We were all red in the face it was that hot. The seating was VERY cramped. Once I was sat down I couldn't get up for 2 hours. The service was slow and unprofessional. It was a set menu. For starters an awful shared meze with dry bread. For mains there were a few choices. I had the salom which was bland. The vegetarian pancake looked vile, swamped in cheese sauce. We allowed 2 hours for our meal to take place as we were off to see a show afterwards. We ended up being late EVEN THOUGH WE ALL SKIPPED DESSERT (which came as a relief.) We didn't have time to argue or complain so we just paid the bill and left. It was too hot and cramped to argue.

It cost us £36 pounds EACH for a mealsy starter, a poor main course, NO DESSERT and one glass of wine. It's only merit was the decor which made me consider it in the first place.
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Tallulah
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Monday, February 25, 2008

Visited in Feb 2008 and found the decor to be the most interesting thing about the experience. The food is very average...stay clear of the very HOT fish boat available as soon as you sit down. It is impossible to keep the table on an even keel so I spent the whole time with one foot on one of the legs. Service is ok but can teeter towards the rude if you ask too many questions.

The decor is the only real reason to visit this restaurant. It is very different. A mixture a slapstick pantomime and Indian erotisicm. Take a visit to the toilets and you will really see what I mean. Not for the faint hearted or vaguely Christian. Overall the experience was different. A welcome change and good value for an average $50 per head.
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Steve Limbirons
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Sunday, February 24, 2008

we visited sarastros last week whilst on a 4 day trip to London and found the experience incredible.The decor is unusual and an experience in itself. We found the service good the food excellent and the show after the show brilliant. I was with my 17 year old daughter who also loved it

we are back in London in October and will be booking there again
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mo thompson
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, February 18, 2008

I went here on Boxing day thinking that I must visit this restuarant one day as I keep in walking past it. Got in a thought that the place was quite cool with the decor and individual. We ordered out starters and food and when we asked about the menu or questioned about the items, the waiter snapped at us. I know it is boxing day, but there was no need to be soo rude. We asked for a seafood platter and asked if it was a cold dish and he said 'Yes'. When the food came out, it was a hot and creamy dish. My friend's kebabs were basically meatballs with some plain rice and no sauce whatsoever. Dry, dry, dry. We asked them to take the food back and change it for the cold seafood platter and they did. It was worse than the dry meatballs. They charged £16.95 for this seafood salad of dressed crab, room temperature (Iceland) prawns and some iceberg leaves! Our group was very, very annoyed. We had to ask the waiters three times to bring us some sauce and eventually the manager brought it to us. The food was soo bland and flavourless and EXPENSIVE!

Tourist trap indeed...
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David
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Saturday, February 16, 2008

I went to Sarastro with nine friends for dinner this week. To start with they do not even give you the choice to eat 'a la carte' when you go in a group, it has to be a set menu. The price of the set menu is far too expensive for the quality of the food The starters are alright but the main courses were very bad quality. The duck was disgusting, two of us ordered it and we couldn’t eat them. The rest tried them thinking we were exaggerating and they were shocked, it tasted like liver. The pancakes where tasteless and the chicken very oily and salty. I have been in the restaurant before an it wasn't great but not as bad as this time. The deserts are a bit of a joke as well, one piece of Turkish delights per person and a tray full of fruit that surely has been going around the tables for over a week. I absolute love the decor and atmosphere of the place but to be honest it is an absolute rip off.
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Law
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Friday, February 15, 2008