The French Table

A visit to "The French Table" was highly exciting from the hype it got when it was featured on "The F Word" with high appraisal from the legend GORDON RAMSAY himself. My girlfriend was dying to try and so we did and went there for lunch.

Upon arrival it was amazing. Presentation was stunning and very modern and the service was very polite but did take some time to come and ask us for drinks. The daily baked bread basket was amazing and fresh and very nice but shame we didn't have a plate for it so crumbs found their way on our table as we ate.

We ordered "Terrine of duck, ham hock and foie gras rolled in nuts with armagnac prunes and toasted home-made bread" and (unable to find on their current menu, i'll try and recite from memory) "crispy egg with smoked haddock in a buttery sauce. My smoked haddock dish was lovely but had 4 fishbones hidden within. Now from the presentation of my dish, the smoked haddock was flaked and arranged in a circular cutter so i would have hoped the fishbones was picked out. As for the terrine of duck, another bone was found and the home made bread was a home made brick. My gf was definitely upset about it since she had so much expectations.

Main dish was "Pan-fried wild black seabream, (5 spiced) Sweet potato puree, spring roll of vegetables and ginger" and again from memory "Longhorn Beef medallions with.." i have no idea what the rest cos i didn't taste my gf's dish, but from what she said, the dish had 2 medallions. One was cooked perfectly, another overcooked to the point the beef was chewy and tough. As for my seabream dish. It was nice but perhaps too much 5 spice in the puree cos after a mouth of the puree, it was close to overwhelming where i cannot taste nothing but the spice. Or i could be wrong about the 5 spice but definitely overwhelming.

Overal experience isn't as highly as we had anticipated. The lunch was pleasent and enjoyable. Another small matter i've noticed is a waiter who attempted to clean breadcrumbs off a table with a knife is puzzling to me. I would have expected the waiter to replace the tablecloth a fresh one. In the end, this was only a one off experience, and the evening a la carte menu looks very appetising. I am willing to give it another try sometime in the near future and i hope they will deliver and so that i can give them a near perfect score.
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Kira
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Thursday, July 19, 2012

Overall a rather disappointing meal. For the prices one would expect a far higher standard. They seem to be attempting to create a fine dining experience which just doesn't work. The standard of cooking and the quality of certain ingredients used is simply not reflective of the price and the bravado with which you promote your restaurant as a classy french eaterie. Having recently dined at La Gavroche and Koffmans at the Berkeley I can assure you it is a million miles away from that standard. However the positives were: veal - very tender and well cooked, Quail starter - very nice and the best starter among our group of 7, the mini birthday dessert plate presented to my mother was a great touch. Now the negatives: Pork belly was a disaster, clearly trying to be clever but 2 of the 3 were poorly thought out and did not taste good at all and we struggled to see where the pork belly was in all that mess. The smoked lamb was very disappointing (cutlets were ok but its hard to mess that up). The crab starter was awful - like eating cardboard or so the 3 who ate it declared. To top the lot, the Pavlova, NOW this may have been a kitchen error but there was just a sloppy bit of meringue and some bits of fruit thrown on the plate. 3 people ate this and all said this is not a Pavlova! The other dishes were average. We were all so disappointed that we didnt even want to complain there and then. We just wanted to leave. Unfortunately we will not be returning and will not recommend this restaurant. p.s. please take note 'The French Table'. For a £300 meal its simply not good enough.
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Ramtin and Sawyer family
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Saturday, July 30, 2011

Two of us had lunch here today. The food was perfectly cooked and looked very good on the dishes when they came up to the table. The variety on the menu was excellent - plenty to choose from.

My husband thought the wine list a little scant, but chose a different wine by the glass for each course, all of which he enjoyed.

The only bugbear I had was that my water glass was not replenished as often as I would have hoped.

All in all a very enjoyable lunch. Will visit again.
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Eileen Spalding
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, June 05, 2011

What can I add that hasn't been said before? Answer - not much.

I brought my partner here for a special occasion lunch and enjoyed one of the finest restaurant experiences I have enjoyed anywhere. Food was exquisite and the service faultless. The management were friendly and engaging as were the waitresses.

I realise it looks lazy to give tens across the board, but I can't think of anything I would have changed.

Simply can't recommend this hidden gem highly enough.
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Bootsy - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, January 12, 2011

We recently moved to Surbiton and tried this restaurant for the first time for lunch recently. Overall we enjoyed the food, service and ambiance and in terms of cost it was getting on for half the price of a similar meal at 1 or 2 starred restaurants but approaching the same quality.

The only point against the experience was selecting a 2005 white burgundy to be offered a 2006 at the same price.
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9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, September 24, 2010