Sarastro

What a dreadful experience we had last night. Never again!

Firstly, when it comes to making a reservation by phone, they asked me how long we would be staying for. It was explained to me then, that the restaurant turns the tables every 2 hours and allocates 2 hour reservation slots, if fully booked. Staff must be used to taking abuse if they ask people to leave in the middle of their meals:-)

Upon arrival, we were awe struck by the decor. Don't be fooled. It looks nice at a first glance, until you look at the detail. I came to taste food however, and not looking at DYI nightmares (a toilet is a must see, though).

And food...? Well, if I went to a fast food chain, I would have had broader menu to choose from and better quality and fresher food for definite. A shank of lamb with mixed vegetables consisted of lamb (not a problem there) and 2 florets (cauliflower and brocolli) what seemilingly looked like frozen veg from Asda.

And the price? £80 (including £8 service charge) for 4 mains and a bottle of wine.

No wonder, the restaurant allocates 2 hour slots. After 50 minutes into our visit, we wanted to run away and never turn back.

If you really want to try this place, go in, take a few photos of yourselves and a decor, turn your back and find other place to eat in. You'll definitely avoid dissapointment this way and save several tenners.
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Pavel
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 0
Sunday, May 03, 2009

I had my birthday party at sarastro on Satuday night. The atmosphere was great and the staff was very friendly. We had the three course set menu, the food was good and our waiter arranged a chocolate cake for us instead of the fruit plate which was a great suprise for me. All my guests were very pleased and I`m sure most of them will be back.
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Amanda
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Monday, April 27, 2009

Went to Sarastro again on Saturday night and had another fantastic evening. Great fun, good food and lovely service. What more do you need?
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Gerry
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Monday, April 27, 2009

It s a place of extremes, good food for the value toped with friendly staff and service, one of my favorites
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, April 24, 2009

Look and leave. The food is awful, the place is really uncomfortable and the service is unfriendly.

The worst this about this restaurant is it so expensive given how poor the food is. Do not be fooled by the outside or the rather camp decor.

When you sit down you soon find it is old tired and needs a good clean and updating.
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Broder - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Don’t be lured by the beautiful floral display outside or the cozy view as you peek in though the door – this restaurant is terrible. It has been left in some timewarp of bad 90s restaurants. Looks-wise they’re going for theatre boxes, private booths, big curtains, gold trim etc. This all sounds lovely, but the devil is in the detail. Look closely and it’s more akin to a DIY horror TV show, both in construction and finish. The use of lurid faux velvet tablecloths and napkins is hilarious. Someone has got totally carried away with the staple gun.

The menu, a leaflet, is a bizarre mix of Italian, Turkish, French and English. All the food we saw and tried was dreadful. Seafood linguine, a rubber hell, and bangers and mash a disaster (yes, the 2 do feature alongside each other on the menu). The wine was good, but good in a very old school way. The desserts are clumsy. An alright apple pie, but squirted with cheap strawberry sauce (the type you get from the ice cream van)!

It was actually all very amusing in an OMG way. The service just kept on providing the laughs without even realising it. The sting came when the bill arrived. It suddenly wasn’t funny any more. £47 for 2 mains, 1 dessert and a bottle of rose.

Only go here if you want an expensive laugh at how not to do it.

Men – a visit to the gents toilet cubicle is a must – a painted frieze of a roman orgy. A good laugh out load, but the toilet attendant will want a quid for it!
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Greedy Eater
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, April 21, 2009

If you go past Sarastro in Drury Lane do go inside. Take a peek at the decor. It looks quite unique and fun. Then turn around - and find somewhere nice to eat.

It is a tourist trap - one of those places where they take block bookings for unsuspecting American visitors to London - or Xmas parties.

If I want heated up frozen scampi and no tartare sauce, musty olives, screw top plonk, bagged salad (twice in the same meal) and "Chicken Mediterranean" (one suspiciously unchicken -tasting chicken breast smeared with tomato and garlic sauce and half a cherry tomato) I can have it at home much cheaper and with less disappointment.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, April 13, 2009

From the outside this restaurant looks charming. But do not be fooled. Inside it is truly awful. The food is disgusting and the service is rubbish. There are so many much better places around and much cheaper too. Listen to the other reviews and avoid this place - I wish i had.
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AS
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Saturday, April 11, 2009

We ate in Sarastro on Sunday night, 29th March and can honestly say it was one of the worst meals I have ever eaten. The restaurant was recommended in a London guide book so we decided to try it. I do have to say that the restaurant itself was really beautiful but the food was such a let down.

We did not have a booking so just arrived and asked them if they were still serving which they said they were. There was no background music (which they turned on as we were paying the bill ) and we had the feeling of a restaurant which was just about to close. We would have preferred if they just said that they were closed rather than seating us and trying to rush us out.

The food was fired out to us, the starter was three barely warm prawns, with some not very fresh bread. The main was so bad, really careless food that obviously had no thought put into it. My friend ordered the scampi which was pale and greasy and the 8 chips on the plate (we counted!) which were undercooked and white in colour. I think that if you can't even get deep fried food right then there is something wrong.

I ordered the chicken and bacon pasta, A large bowl of milky white pasta with pieces of processed chicken mixed in and 2 rashers of fatty bacon laid on top, I would have imagined that the bacon would be chopped and mixed through. The fat on the bacon was white and undercooked and really disgusting to look at. We barely touched the food and two full plates were taken back to the kitchen by a waiter who did not ask why we had not eaten our meal. He couldn't have cared less, I suspect he takes back uneaten dishes every day.

It was out last evening in London and was so disappointing. It's such a pity because it really is a lovely restaurant, saying that maybe when they have entertainment on and a different chef it has the potential to be really lovely, we obviously got a bad night where the chef just didn't care. Sarastro is doling out unimaginative, badly cooked food and taking advantage of tourists, my advice would be stay well away and try some of the other lovely restaurant around this area who actually care about what they are serving.
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Nicola
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Thursday, April 09, 2009

Wow - how bad can restaurant food get? This was the worst meal I have ever had outside of school and hospital, and believe me I wouldn't want to try either again. It was good fun 10 years ago, but it has definitely gone past it's sell-by date!
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Skellay
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, March 26, 2009