OXO Tower Brasserie

We were a party of four. The food, ambience and service was excellent. The wine was the usual outrageous price. I laughed when I saw the Constantia dessert wine priced at £75. I buy this for £20 at a local wine merchant. Mark it up by all means, but when you can buy the wine quite easily in shops this sort of price is just silly.

I would go there again, but not drink more than a glass of wine. A good thing perhaps for me, but not for the restaurant.
Comment on this reader review

Martin Fletcher
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Thursday, February 24, 2011

I really do not know what the people who wrote bad reviews are talking about.

I took my wife here on 12th Feb 2011. It was absolutly amazing. We sat next to the window. Great views. The staff all had big smiles on their faces and did everything they could to accomodate us. The food was excellent. 10 out of 10, cooked to perfection in my opinion.

Half way through the meal, they took a photo of us, two minutes later, came back with the picture in a magnetic frame and said there you go! We have it on our fridge now!

Excellent cocktails. We got there half an hour early and the reception staff greeted us and said happy birthday to my wife which she liked.

The two of us ate a three course meal with cocktails and glass of wine for £100. they put a candle in my wifes dessert and wrote happy birthday on her plate in chocolate sauce.

I would definitely go back there. and i would reccomend any one to go there. I phoned up a couple of days early and asked for the window seat.
Comment on this reader review

Phil
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, February 14, 2011

Was invited to lunch by a business colleague and as i had been before to the restaurant before I thought that the brasserie would be a good place to try.How wrong i was.The menu read like a dream but the experience was a totally different ball game.

First of all the atmosphere resembled a self sevice restaurant .Tables jam packed together and a noise level which did not make for a pleasant relaxing lunch.I could have forgiven all that had the menu lived up to expectations.It didn't.

For starters I had a supposedly spiced quail which was so bland that it didn't taste of anything.The presentation was amateurish and resembled something out of the early 90's.

For mains I had a roast organic salmon again really unpleasant.over salted and over cooked.presentation again was poor.Looked as though it had been just thrown on the plate.

The service was adequate although we were served the wrong order and we were made to feel as though we were the ones at fault. Unacceptable.

An expresso to follow came in a chipped coffee cup.

Don;t bother wasting your money here.a sandwich down the road would have been more pleasant and just a tad less expensive!.
Comment on this reader review

jackie
2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Friday, January 14, 2011

What a pity this iconic restaurant is failing so badly to live up to the reputation it had a few years ago. If it weren't for the view from a few of the riverside seats why would you bother to eat in what has become an over priced canteen. Having booked and invited out of town friends to this out of the way eaterie you are commited. Even though the school like tables and chairs are only half full you can find your party of five squeezed on to a pair of 600mm square table simply pushed together.

The standard fare during the festive season is a limited fixed menu so that even if you only take one or two of the three courses offered you pay for what you don't order. Does everyone eat three courses during lunch! Pre-made puddings maybe what the traditional London tourist expects but at these prices.

So beware, two bottles of wine, one bottle of water, two pear and cheese starters, plus three turkey and two lamb main courses add on the service charge total cost £275. Speak to the manager and he will do you a deal, make that £255 then.

When the tourist stop coming to London they'll be in trouble.
Comment on this reader review

Gary Mellon
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Saturday, December 04, 2010

We took my mum here to celebrate her 70th birthday. It was a party of 7 adults and baby G so we went for a late lunch on Saturday. We were actually quite lucky with the weather as once the rain cleared we had great views across London. Now first thing to say about the Oxo Tower is that the service is really very good. A warm friendly reception from the moment we walked in. There was no issues about taking baby G's buggy into the restaurant and throughout the meal we were very well looked after. There was a little wait for our table but champagne appeared quickly for the birthday girl and we all settled in very nicely.

The room itself was packed but again a good team of waiters made it work. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and there was a nice buzz of conversation which meant the occasional welps from baby G were drowned out. Now the food itself was a different matter. It certainly talked a good game on the menu. I went for a squid salad followed by the ribeye steak to be served medium. The salad was good though quite watery however I enjoyed it. The others enjoyed their starters of prawns , soup and squid so the stage was set for the main course. However on a whole these were dissapointing. My steak was severely overcooked. Normally I would have sent it back but I didn't want to spoil mum's lunch by having to wait for a replacement. At £25 for a main this is a real no no, too long on the pass methinks. My lovely wife had the cod which was nicely cooked but again the kitchen had forgotten to drain the greens properly so they leaked all over the mash turning an initially nice looking dish into a fishy porridge.

The lamb with harissa that the others had looked good and because it was sliced up the kitchen could make no mistake with serving it medium.

Desserts were better I had the chocolate brownie which though good could have done with being a nicer texture. We washed everything down with the lovely house rose champagne, a very good Albarino, a fairly average Shiraz blend and a very good Beaunes de Venises with desert. The bill came to £100 a head which was really going some for some pretty average food. I didn't actually mind the service charge as I thought that aspect of our meal had been good. The Oxo Tower doesn't really cook food it assembles dishes and this shows. Everything looked pretty but I don't know if anyone was checking what was going on the plate. There is no point giving me two lots of delicious sauce with my steak if you are going to overcook the main event. Someone described this sort of food as lego cuisine which is quite apt. So all in all a disappointment, the place looks good and the staff are very professional but someone needs to sort out the kitchen. Having said that mum enjoyed herself which was the main object.
Comment on this reader review

david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The venue and the service was really good -The food absolutely awful! Both the starter and the main looked fantastic on the plate. the starter was edible but not tasty. I simply could not eat the main, it was that bad! Even the bread was bad, very hard and impossible to chew.
Comment on this reader review

3 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Friday, September 10, 2010

just had lunch at the oxo food was so good and the service excellant.will be comin back 4 dinner
Comment on this reader review

cats - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, August 15, 2010

Have been going to the OXO Tower almost since it opened & have always had lovely experiences there. The food is good, not fantastic but OK. The views of course are wonderful and the ambiance has been relaxed, friendly and waiters just right.

I note that on my last two visits we have been given a 2 hour slot which is quite rigourously enforced. I went with a family group on my 60th birthday and were really not given enough time and sent to the bar which was over crowded. We would have preferred to linger a little longer over our coffees instead we had to glug them quickly whilst being pestered to pay our bill. I visited last night and saw the same thing happen to other people.

If you don't mind being thrown off your table or know you can get through a three course meal in 2 hours flat then it's a great place to go. Personally I will think hard before I book again which is a shame when I have enjoyed so many special times there over the years.
Comment on this reader review

7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, July 07, 2010