Le Gavroche

We had a pleasant meal at the Gavroche but I'm not sure it was of the astounding quality that someone might expect of a 2 Michelin star restaurant.

The good points were the service, which was extremely attentive yet friendly, and the general ambience (cosy, a little retro). Wine by the glass seemed quite reasonable compared to our last destination, Pearl. A glass of red there was £16 as opposed to £6 at Le Gavroche.

Le Gavroche have some menus with prices and some without, and as you sit down it appears that the staff assess which one of you is paying and give you the menu with/without prices accordingly. A strange quirk I'd never seen before.

Starters of oyster and scallop ragout, and grilled scallops were lukewarm. Good but not especially exciting. Main of roast suckling pig was cooked perfectly, with great crackling, but overwhelmingly salty, and there seemed to be little other flavour on the plate.

Dessert menu must be the most expensive I've ever seen. I ordered an Omlette Rothschild at £20 (one of the medium priced items). This seems to be an egg-white omlette with vanilla and an apricot and Cointreau reduction. I was bored of the egginess (and was full) halfway through and left most of it (about £10 worth of egg whites and sugar) on the plate. I'm baffled how anyone can charge £20 for this dish.

I guess this is classical French cooking and perhaps other 'contemporary french' restaurants have spoiled us with flavour and variety, but Le Gavroche seemed to lack a bit of va-va voom for us.
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Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 4
Tuesday, January 08, 2008

My husband took me to Le Gavroche for my birthday last week and we both thought it was absolutely wonderful. The restaurant had a vibrant atmosphere and the waiting staff were extremely attentive and couldn't have been friendlier. We went for the tasting menu - although the a la carte looked amazing - I'm quite fussy and normally only choose from one or two dishes but honestly could have eaten everthing from the a la carte too.

Every course we had was just so damn TASTY, and this was the best wine matching we have had outside New York. I even ordered the cherry beer and the Banyuls from the internet the next day as i was so impressed. Courses are little but don't be fooled and overdo it on the lovely bread basket which i did, as the amount of food does add up and I was pretty stuffed by the end.

Only negatives in the restaurant were the amusing toilet curtains and peculiar petit fours with the coffee - but who cares? Would DEFINITELY go again but although I would give the menu 10/10,I would still go a la carte next time as although the tasting wines were gorgeous I'm not a big drinker at all and the next day was having some difficulty remembering the later courses.

Note to cloakroom girl - it would have been nice if you had called a taxi for us as my shoes were killing me and I was a bit disappointed to be merely pointed in the direction of a busy road to hail a cab.
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Denise McHale
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Thursday, December 20, 2007

i went to le gavroche on saturday night with my girlfriend for her birthday and although we have been to many lovely restaurants this was our first michelin starred.

when we arrived we decided to have a glass of champagne each in the bar upstairs which is where we ordered our food. we were asked if we needed any help with the menu but were left to our own devices as to the wine we chose. In fact i am unsure if i knew out of all the staff working there which one the sommelier was all night.

once down in the restaurant the service was excellent, they treated us very well and the maitre de asked us if everything was okay as did michelle roux jr himself, which was nice.

the restaurant was a little quiet to begin with and we did tend to whisper but once it became busy the atmosphere was great.

The food was delicious and we enjoyed every course, i had scallops to begin in a minestrone broth and my girlfriend had foie gras terrine, both were excellent. i had veal for main and my girlfriend had fillet steak which she he said was one of the best cooked steaks she has ever had, however, she wasn’t quite sure about the macaroni cheese that came with it; i had no grumbles about mine. afterwards my girlfriend had the cheese board and it was the biggest selection I have ever seen, although I felt the waiter rushed her when she was choosing which cheeses she would like, she enjoyed it nonetheless. i had a desert where five different chocolate puddings were given on a plate, it was superb and arguably the best course of the night.

i knew before coming that le gavroche is not a cheap place and was told you could go there for £200.00 for two people; this is not true, well unless you don’t drink and what sort of celebration would it have been then! anyhow, I’m just not sure, no matter how delicious the food was that it justified being quite as expensive as it was but i suppose that is the price you pay for a two michellin star restaurant with michelle roux in the kitchen at the time.

i will go back again and would like to try to menu exceptional.
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Philip Turner - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, December 04, 2007

i absolutly loved the restaurant.....I dont think it is overprized at all because the qualety of the food is absolutly autstanding! Defenetly will be going back for another romantic dinner wit my boyfriend!I fyou want to suprise your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband or whatever it will be a gourmet adventure.
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Giulia Kotscherga
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Simply the best dining experience in London. My husband and I both agree. And will keep going back!
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sharon - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, October 19, 2007

I have been here on the 15th of August and it has been an wonderfull experience. We have had the menu exceptionelle and it was excellent. All the courses were superbly executed which might be excepted given the rather high price setting. I took the wine arrangement which was really up to standard (the Meursaull, the Maury 1928 etc) annd surpring but rewarding the Belgian Kriek Lambic (a cherry beer). The service was really attentive but not obtrusive and contraryy what Kim has been saying filling the glass a couple of minutes before the next plate was served. Compared to other restaurants in this range an absolute top spot fortunatly traditional contrary to some would be high tech cuisine that ooperate on a techique pour technique basis. At the same time it is a 'single' restaaurant meriting its individuality and not a member of a chain (see for instance the Ramsay group)
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Meer - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, August 17, 2007

Of all the restaurants I eat at Le Gavroche is still my favourite. There may be other restaurants that offer better food or a wider wine list but that is not the point.The service is impeccable,the atmosphere is almost cosy and the food and wine has never disappointed.There is a real feeling of well being after any visit.The lunch menu is exceptional value given that it includes wine and water for £48.Further,little things matter.You ask for the bill,it actually arrives quickly.Too often I have been under time pressure at more modern establishments only to find it takes up to 15 mins for the bill to arrive.I have eaten their on numerous occasions for lunch and will shortly be doing so for dinner.I will report back if I have a different impression.If you haven't been, go and find out for yourself.One thing is for sure the arrogance and surliness you get in some establishments is not present there.It is a delight.
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james tyerman
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Last Friday (3rd August 2007) my partner booked a table at Le Gavroche to celebrate our anniversary. We were both very much looking forward to the evening since we read some nice reviews about the restaurant and this restaurant has been on my list for a very long time. We are food lovers and we don’t like gimmicks or novelty food, so when we read in one of the reviews that the décor of the restaurant was a bit dated we perversely thought it was a good thing, assuming that Le Gavroche is a temple for food lovers and not a trendy place to be seen etc…not that we would mind if the décor was a bit more stylish. Our evening at Le Gavroche turned out to be a real disappointment. We chose the ‘Menu Exceptionnel’ with matching wine in order to sample dishes that reflect the chef’s skills and the restaurant’s reputation. We chose to have the menu with matching wine as we had several superb experiences at the Orrery, discovering nice wine that would match with the meal. (In fact, on a couple of occasions, we even bought some wine that we like to take home). When we saw that the first wine on the menu wasn’t actually a wine but Kriek Cherry beer, we thought that the wine menu looked promising as every wine was chosen carefully to match with each course and in this case the Cherry beer was chosen as a good match for the first course. Anyway, throughout the meal, we discovered that the wine selected were pretty ordinary apart from the desert wine. Not only that, the sommelier and the kitchen were not very co-ordinated: the wine often arrived 5-10 minutes after the food which is not very impressive for a restaurant of this standard. Furthermore, I found it very sexist the fact that the sommelier only addressed to my partner when he described the wine. As for the food, it was rather very ordinary (if not mediocre) comparing with tasting menus that we had at Petrus (Marcus Weiring obtained a very well deserved 2nd Michelin star this year), Orrery and Angela Hartnett at the Connaught which always reflected the chef’s skills and talent.

Here are my comments for each course:

1) Thon Mi-Cuit, Vinaigrette au Gingembre Pimenté: the use of sesame oil is very Asian and reminded us of some kind of fusion food.

2) Pointes d’Asperges Vertes, Parmesan, Jambon ‘Pata Negra’ et Vinaigrette de Truffes; this combination was a waste of very good ingredients. The Cured Iberian ham is the king of ham and is very good by itself but not with the overwhelming truffle dressing. ‘More is not always more’

3) ‘Petit Pave de Saumon Sauvage Roti et sa Peau Croustillante’, we thought the salmon was a bit overcooked (dry).

4) ‘Escalope de Foie Gras Chaud et Pastilla à la Cannelle’: the foie gras was OK but the crispy pancake of duck was far too salty & stodgy and the combination of flavours did not work at all.

5) Carré d’Agneau Roti, Jus a l’Echalote et Estragon: This dish was competently executed but ordinary comparing with meat dishes that we had in other tasting menus (i.e. Petrus, Orrery and Angela Harnett). The meat dish that we have in other tasting menus usually has three different cuts of meat cooked in three different ways so that the chef can show off his/her talent.

6) Le Plateau de Fromages Affinés: When I saw the cheese trolley from far I was excited to see the wide variety. However the cheese experience at Le Gavroche was also big disappointment. Due the layout of all the tables at the restaurant, the waiter couldn’t push the trolley close enough for us to see what cheese selection was available. The waiter only asked us two questions before serving the cheese: a) whether we like goat cheese, b) whether there is any cheese we don’t like. Then off he went to randomly cut 4 pieces of cheese for each of us. When he gave us the plate of cheese, he didn’t even tell us what cheeses were on the plate and in what order we should eat them (this is the normal practice in other restaurants we’ve been to). We eat a lot of French cheese at home and when we go to restaurants with a big selection of cheese, we are keen to taste something we haven’t had before. Unfortunately, because we didn’t get to see and choose the cheese, one of cheese that was given to us was something we usually eat at home.

7) Gâteau Opéra et son Sorbet Chocolat: The chocolate sorbet was very nice but Gâteau Opéra was rather ordinary (we’ve had better elsewhere).

8) Oeufs à la neige, Crème Vanille et Compote de Fraises: this French classic was very well executed and we like it very much.

To complete our experience at Le Gavroche, when the bill came we were overcharged (a bottle of wine at £144 was added by mistake to the bill), again not very impressive for a restaurant of this standard.

The 2 star Michelin for Le Gavroche is not justified comparing with other Michelin starred restaurants tha we've been to (namely Petrus, Orrery and Angela Hartnett at the Connaught)
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Kim - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Monday, August 06, 2007

Great restaurant - good cooking - agree with all posts below. Not sure why it took me so long to try this restaurant, now that I have, it will certainly be a favourite for treats and special occasions....Additional comments:

Positive: one of the best cheese boards in London - all the cheeses in perfect condition and it must have the best selection of French cheeses around - can't wait to go back!

Negative: the rooms really quite dated - looks like part of a Marriot hotel - strange green walls and Austrian blinds?

Also the "Gavroche" themed cutlery???

But these are minor points - go for the food!
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London
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Friday, July 20, 2007

This was my first time at a Michelin Starred restaurant. I'm not in London very often so myself and my 2 friends went for the taster menu with the wine (£165 per head).

Service was excellent - no snooty waiters. The atmosphere was great. The restaurant was full but not noisy or distracting. I have no means of comparison but the food was very tasty and well presented. The wines also went down very well, were varied and were a good match for the food.

Overall a very satisfactory experience. Highly recommended.
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Martin Jones
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Sunday, July 08, 2007