Le Gavroche

I would recommend this restaurant without hesitation. The welcome and service were outstanding, without any hint of stiffness. Formality with friendliness and attention to detail.

We had the exceptionnel menu at £150/head which included seven courses, each with its own specially selected wine. The highlight of the evening for me was the magnificent signature cheese souffle.

The experience was elevated further by the appearance of M. Michel Roux Jr. at our table for a quick introduction.

The only quibble I have with this restaurant and nearly every other eatery in the capital, is the inevitable 12.5% service charge. Although considerable by normal standards, I would have happily offered this amount had it been my choice. The fact that restaurants insist on adding this 'discretionary'/'optional' charge is frankly insulting.

It was such an exquisite evening, that the usual red mist did not settle on receiving the bill, but brought a wry smile to the face.

We will certainly be returning to explore the delights of the a la carte menu.
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Ben - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, October 28, 2009

My wife and I visited on Wednesday 21st October and ordered the menu exceptional with accompanying wines. Quite simply I was blown away by the entire experience. It was far and away the best meal I have ever eaten. Each dish was agonising to eat as the portion dwindled on the plate and you realised the taste sensation was soon to be over. I could not eat slowly enough to savour the meal fully. The wines that went with each course were perfectly matched and exceptionally good. I wont bore you with a description of each course, you have to experience it yourself to realise how the cooking has been elevated to an art form.

What I will say, having had tasting menus at other 2 star London restaurants, is that I really felt that Le Gavroche is great value for money. I did not say it was cheap, but I did not feel ripped off in any way. A slight delay in the service of the meat course saw our red wine topped up, unusual but much appreciated. Also portions for the cheese course were very generous, I am used to getting 4 postage stamp sixed morsels of cheese before the waiter whisks the board away, quite the opposite here.

It would be churlish not to compliment the waiting staff, they are fantastic and really add to the overall experience. I truly can't wait to go back.
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James Holden - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, October 22, 2009

Le Gavroche is an experience! We had a table in a sort of horseshoe box and we were well entertained by the other guests. An upper class English couple with their American guests, the `lord´ said to the American lady something about not watching sex and the city too much. Later on a real Al Capone came in and sat a the booth next to us. Speaking with a husky voice to a woman who could be his daughter and eating only salad. He however was a nightmare for the staff.

The food was great and the two sisters served us with great flair. Going to the washroom is something not to be missed. If you stand up to go there, everybody is pushed quickly aside to make way for you.

We had a lovely time with mouthwatering dishes. It was a pity the chef did not say a small word at all the tables, we wanted so much to thank him for a lovely evening.

However it is very expensive.
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Anne - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I find the atmosphere and service at Gavroche to be fully up to Michelin star standard. Frankly, the food leaves much to be desired. I HAVE had some good dishes at Gavroche, but I've also had some real clunkers. In one case a £45 starter that bordered on being sickening, so overly reduced and cloying it was. Other dishes are bland and make you wonder who is actually doing the cooking back there?

I am mystified by the spotty food at Gavroche. Surely world class chef-ery isn't really a secret any longer. And yet their veal with morel mushrooms comes a (very) distant second to the version served round the corner at Trader Vics. Purists will cringe.....but facts are facts....try them both for yourself.

I really wish Gavroche DID serve true Michelin Star quality French food, as it is otherwise a lovely place to spend the evening. But at £350 a couple (with very inexpensive wines) you really would be better catching the Eurostar to Paris and having a MUCH better meal at Les Ambassedeurs (at the Hotel Crillon), among others. It's a shame that London really doesn't have a true, world class French restaurant. Oh well....it's only three hours to Paris!
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Adam Roberts
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Le Gavroche has long been a restaurant on my radar of places to eat, anyone who is reading this page will doubtless be aware of its great heritage and reputation.

So when an old friend and fellow gastronome flew in from Finland , an opportunity arose for that first visit. There was no particular occasion other than a love of great food (and slimming wallets). My friend has a little professional interest as he's training to be a Sommelier. Our table was booked for 7pm on a Tuesday night. As we neared the restaurant I was actually getting quite nervous : I had already spent the morning hunting for a pair of trousers having realised I'd not packed anything other than blue denim and a cursory search of various reviews revealed that despite them being very nice designer jeans - this would not do.

Boy was I glad I'd made the effort and got those trousers, because I think I would have felt I'd let down the effort put in by the restaurant if I'd turned up ill attired. Entering Le Gavroche is like entering into a cosy hidden den of fine dining. We were led downstairs to the dining room, which I'm sure for some is old fashioned , but it has a classical charm : it's homely, warm and comforting - yet oozes with class. From here on in, it felt like we were now on a gastronomique adventure par excellence. The front of house staff were marvelous and what followed can only be described as an almost balletic like performance. Cutlery arrived, wine was poured, chairs promptly pushed in, napkins folded, food unveiled - it was the very essence of attentive without being intrusive... everyone was polite and friendly.

As for the food ? It is almost a week since eating there and I can still remember every dish and every detail - which is unusual for me, having a brain like a sieve. We already knew that we were going for the Menu Exceptionnel with the accompanying wine (£150 with wine, £95 without). In the first instance the included wine saved us from picking from the tome like wine list - I think there is something like 2000 wines on it - where they're stored I don't know - I suspect an underground nuclear bunker must be below the restaurant itself. The wines were explained and poured by the Sommelier, a very polite and quietly spoken chap he was, and they did not skimp on the wine either. When the first glass was poured it wasn't exactly a lot of wine, but faced with another eight courses it didn't bother me. Of course when they started giving you a top-up here and there, I soon realised that the wine and food were in full-flow. I think generous is a very good word to describe our night - nothing was too much and I felt we were treated like Kings for the evening.

As for the marks: I've looked down the various reviews on this page many times and apart from the odd apparent bad day or lofty expectations , there's a lot of tens across the board - it almost seems like a cliché, but I can't think of anything out of place or that could have been better, so it's all tens for me too.

All-in-all this was probably one of the finest food experiences I've had. The food is exceptional, the service and atmosphere are refined and classy. I simply cannot wait to return here (I would go tomorrow if I could) and have high hopes of a return visit with the better half (she promises she won't ask for the ketchup) as soon as is humanly possible.

Be warned it's an addictive experience.
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grobelaar - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, May 19, 2009