Savoir Faire

An excellent restaurant. The pre theatre menu is excellent value and the food was some of the best I've ever had. The staff were friendly and the atmosphere was great.
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Margaret Henry
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 22, 2010

My girlfriend and I dined at Savoir last night and had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Before I go to a restaurant I always consider the 'signature dishes' - whether I'm trying the rice pudding souffle with raspberry ripple ice cream at Launceston Place to the Mixed Grills of Lahore and Mirch Masala, and find that the execution of 'signatures' really says a lot about a restaurant.

I once had the misfortune of having an extremely over-parmesaned 'signature' spring vegetable risotto at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, and found myself asking the question of what a 'signature dish' actually is? Is it just a well-versed classic, irrespective of the quality of the execution? Can a restaurant's 'signature' be self-proclaimed, and is the odd off-day acceptable? Not at SF.

I would say with 100% certainty that Savoir Faire's signature of garlic mussels with pernod, is one of my all time London restaurant favourites - and also quite possibly my favourite starter. It is a dish which I consider to be an old friend. Now don't get me wrong, other starters which I have ordered (eg goats cheese, with a tomato salad) have been perfectly lovely - but I would not in good conscience, be able to recommend any other dish over said molluscs

Now that I have had my rant about signatures, I would like to talk about the importance of staff. The staff at SF, are charming, polite and quintessentially french. Particularly Louisa who has been at the restaurant for as long as I have been dining there, and always displays the perfect trade-off between banter and cheer, and professional service; and is part of what makes the overall dining experience so enjoyable. That said I can at times find her accent to be problematic when asking for advice on certain dishes, as her overly sexy french drawl makes everything sound equally 'choosable'! But given the consistency of the cooking, it is a positive dilemma

Last night's mains were fantastic as always. I went for duck, with walnut, endive and roasted pear. Delightful

My girlfriend took a risk on her dish and asked for a medium rare rib-eye with bearnaise. When going to restaurants, where she has not been served steak before, she will often order a medium rare steak, and of course get medium - well done. Not at SF. Here they know their boeuf. Medium rare? No problem (although Im sure that they scoffed slightly at the prospect of not cooking a wonderful rib-eye 'rare' (which I happen to be in agreement with)) - with a perfect level of caramelisation on the outside.

The lemon tart to finish was also fantastic. A slightly gutsier, more robust (ie bigger portions, with a thicker crust), than I am used to, but an excellent finish to the meal nonetheless.

We finished off with a couple of digestifs (I think that is the correct term), and Louisa was perfectly happy for me to ask questions about some of the odder items on the drinks menu, and to bring over the bottles for my perusal. I would thoroughly recommend finishing with a glass of Benedictine (although probably not if you have preceded said digestif, with a glass or two of wine (as I had done), as it is very strong stuff). I blame Louisa, for being such a bad influence -as the head waitress of the restaurant she should know better!

Another positive that I would like to talk about is the ceiling, which is adorned with quotes ranging from Robin Williams to well known French proverbs (translated into English for those of us who only have GCSE grasp of the language), which helps to pass time whilst waiting for your dining companion to come back from the toilet. This may seem like a pretentious feature, but it is not at all, and simply adds to the character of the place.

Any problems with the meal? No major cons..........except for one.......Upon ordering lemon tart for myself, I was asked the question - 'avec deux cuillère........sorry I mean with 2 spoons'? To which my girlfriend enthusiastically replied 'oui!' Whilst I was slightly disappointed with my being penalised for my girlfriends lack of foresight, I could not help but smile at the interchange!

Keep it up SF and next time take note - Une Cuillere sil vous plait!
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Krishna
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 16, 2010

Lovely quirky bistro restaurant. Very relaxed place to eat with friendly staff and great atmosphere. Food was delicious and pre theatre 2 course meal excellent value for money. The mussels starter was to die for! Ideal for a romantic meal or out with friends. More of an adult, than family restaurant.
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minieme
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, January 24, 2010

The food was bland and the customer service appalling. When questioning the poor quality of my meal I was ignored and told that I had no right to complain. The manager was so aggressive and unpleasant that we were forced to leave. The issue was dealt with in an unprofessional manner with a total lack of understanding and people skills
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2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Saturday, January 16, 2010

An excellent restaurant. Food was delicious and pre theatre 2 course meal excellent value for money. Friendly staff.
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J Morgan
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, January 11, 2010

One of the better restaurants in the West end small and intimate, lok out for special deals ideally. We have been twice and were suitably impressed on both times. Especially downstairs you would think you were in a Parisian bistro. Ideal for couples whom like casual dining in romatic mood or even good business lunches, enjoy hope it keeps up the standards!
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Steve Hayes - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

I ate here with four friends on the 11th Oct. The food was amazing, the choice, the presentation, all outstanding.

We all had three courses and drinks and we paid £26 each....i call that reasonable. Will definately reccomend this to everyone i know who are visiting our Capital.

I cannot wait to visit again.
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Susan
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

We ate at Savoir Faire this weekend whilst on a theatre break in London ... worked out at about £25/£30 per head 3 courses and drinks ... the lamb was melt in the mouth and I cannot describe how deliciously creamy, chocolatey, melt in the mouth, heaven on a spoon the home-made chocolate is!!!! worth a visit to London just for that!
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 11, 2009

Well, where do I start? :0)

Having eaten some of the nicest food I ever thought I could find or afford, in several cities and destinations ...... Nothing prepared me for the moules in Pernod & Garlic butter, topped with Herbs and grilled in an Escargot platter !!!!!!

This was just the start of a cullinary adventure my wife and I experienced at the hands of a very clever chef and extremely friendly sociable front of house staff at Londons Finest French Bistro - Savoir Faire

I cannot speak for my wife (who will be writing her own review shortly) but I would never have believed that duck in cherry sauce with a hint of chocolate would leave me speechless or that the chocolate mousse was light enough to dance on your tongue whilst still stisfying the craving for sweet.

With perfect timings, fantastic conversations and chats that never encroached on eating time, a totaly individual & homely decor' & no rush to fill your seat once you had finished, this was the highlight of our 3 day stay in London.

x2 cocktails from the very well stocked bar / caraffe of red wine from south africa / 3 course meal for two and Quantreau & Coffee to finish ........ All for a total of £66.00GBP (not each) !!!!

We were so taken with the quality & price that we returned for lunch on our final day. Once again our choices were wide, our food was superb and the staff were as attentive as they were for our evening meal. I could not recomend this highly enough and wish to publicly thank the staff at Savoir Faire for what I consider to be the best value and quality I have experienced in a long time.

We will return whenever London is close enough to call into on a journey or when next staying over. Meantime this review will be repeated on other gastro sites including Qype in order to ensure more food lovers are given the opportunity to experience such a delicious combination of ambience / service & gastronomical excellence.

Thank you Savoir Faire
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Iain (from Cheshire)
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Dined at Savoir Faire again last night and as always was up to it's 10 star standard .

The mussels were to die for and the lamb shank so tender , it slipped off the bone. My companion was estactic about the foie gras and the beyond belief tender ribeye .

What made the night as usual, was the repartee with the staff who have been there as long as I can remember.

No wonder I keep coming back.
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Michael Dolan
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, April 29, 2009