Foxtrot Oscar by Gordon Ramsay

I recently had an excellent lunch at Foxtrot Oscar and am puzzled by the bad reviews it has been getting. I found the menu offered excellent choice, the portion sizes were generous and the staff attentive and friendly. I would particularly recommend the crab cakes, beef pie, lamb, and crème brulee. The complementary bread was a lovely touch. Two of us enjoyed a delicious, three course meal with drinks and coffee and were surprised that the bill only came to £70, and this included the service charge. After making a special journey from Wiltshire to visit the restaurant we were not disappointed. We are planning a return visit soon.
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Sarah - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, March 17, 2008

i had a very enjoyable meal at foxtrot oscar last night. I had the potted shrimps which were very tasty and my friend said that her crabcake was delicious too, i then followed with the fish pie and some cabbage whilst my friend had teh tuna nicoise. My fish pie was very good indeed, white fish, salmon and crayfish topped with amsh mmm what more could you ask for ina pie? The Tuna was a generous portion and perfectly cooked too. Desserts were their specials a ridiculously gooey chocolate tart (more like a mousse on a pastry base - sinfull good!) and i had lemon meringue pie. Service was friendly and helpful too. With a bottle of water, £25 btle of wine and coffees our bill came to £70 for 2 not bad at all.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, February 25, 2008

I went to Fpxtrot Oscar tonight for a meal and I was very impressed with the service and the food.

We had sweetcorn soup and a speacial of Steak tartare for starters, my husband enjoyed his started so much he wished he had ordered for his main.

The main course was beef pie and lamb du jour, the lamb could have been abit more pink for our choice but it was still enjoyable.

Dessert I had the creme brulee and I rate this better than the creme brulee I had in the La Poule au Pot last week.

I did not know what to expect as reading all the review on here I thought the meal was going to be awful and I was pleasntly surprised. I feel that the people who are complaining the most are people who used to go to the old Foxtrot Oscar and all I can say to these people are times change and things move on, so why don't you. Keep the memories of the times you had there with you but do not compare what was to what is now as it will never be the same.

I will be going back and I would recommend this Bistro to my friends.
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G Davis
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, February 24, 2008

I visited Foxtrot for lunch in it first week, and i can understand the points that many of the others reviewers have made, but i feel that still having the ex-owner/manager running the place is the biggest problem, sitting having lunch listening to him telling people ' it's not how i'd run things, but it not up to me' or ' no i don't really like things, but' ....... gives a really bad impression to anyone who is not in the lovely club he seems to try and surround himself with, which if they had been around a little more often Mr Ex may not have found himself in a position where he had to give up control on something that he seems to hold so dear,

other than him, the food is good, but remenber you are not in one of thre Ramsey top flight places and you won't be paying those prices, 3 of us had three courses, drinks, etc for around £130

i would say that greater changes are whats needed, not trying to make it half what it was and it turn making it only half of what it could be !

Worth a visit as i think this place will really become something
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Tony
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Friday, February 22, 2008

We arrived an hour early for our reservation and decided to chance it, and the helpful staff found us a table straight away. Their attitude set the tone for the whole evening - friendly service and (at least in our opinion) some good food.

We kicked off with onion soup ("deliciously sweet" was my wife's verdict) and crabcakes, and for mains had rack of lamb and the rib-eye. Both were exceptionally tender and cooked to perfection.

Finally, puds were a rum baba and an excellent creme brulee.

The biggest surprise was the wine list - a lovely sancerre for seven quid a glass seemed very reasonable for that part of London (in fact you would pay more in most Edinburgh wine bars).

We thought that the food was great, the service was also and that it was excellent value for money. We'll go again when we are next in London. Only quibble is that there wasn't much room at the table - but apart from that, all positive.
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Eric Bateman
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Friday, February 22, 2008

I went to Foxtrot Oscar last night with a couple of friends, all I can say was how disappointing the experience was!

The old Foxtrot Oscar had a great atmosphere where locals came to have a relaxed & unpretentious meal. It had a great old oak bar where you could wait to meet friends, have a drink and speak to the staff. So we were interested in the new "Foxtrot Oscar" where the "Ramsay" MacDonald’s factor has struck…

Firstly, you walk in & the bar has disappeared! This obviously is to enable them to cram more tables in. Secondly, were told we had to leave by 8.45 (we had arrived at 7.15!)

The menu was very uninspiring - there were about seven starters, five of which were terrines or pates. The main courses were plain & uninteresting.

My Dublin Bay Prawns were tasteless, agreeing with the review below who said they were just jumbo prawns cut up! My Bangers & Mash were tasteless (needing salt) and tepid! The mash was very good but the gravy was like water swilling around the plate!

However, the service was good & quite attentive.

So basically, I would not recommend the new "Ramsay" Foxtrot Oscar to anyone - it is such a shame that the Ramsay Phenomenon has ruined another local eatery!!
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Thursday, February 21, 2008

A group of us travelled from Worcester for a weekend in London. The meal that we had at Foxtrot Oscar on the Friday night was very uninspiring. The food was ordinary, not bad, but very forgettable - and the surroundings dull and lacking atmosphere. We all love eating out, and eat out a lot! However, we will not be recommending this place, which is a great disappointment considering it belongs to a famous chef and we travelled so far for the experience!

The wine list was very reasonable - but that's it!
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Jude Hubbard
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Monday, February 18, 2008

I took my girlfriend out to Foxtrot Oscar on Valentines night and had a great time there. I was a little bit sceptical about it after reading quite a few average reviews, but I often find these people to be too stuck up their own ass to actually enjoy anything and have a good time.

The service was excellent and so was the food.

We were greeted by the old owner who showed us to our table with a smile and took our coats. We chose a bottle of Australian Pinot Noir which was extremely nice and good value at just over £20. The rest of the wine menu was also pretty reasonable ranging from £17 - £45.

We were served some bread to start with, which was lovely and warm straight from the oven. I had the potted shrimp for starter which was disappointing, but my girlfriend had the sweetcorn soup and that was amazing.

For the main, we were advised to go for the Blanquette of lamb and the fishcakes. Both were excellent . The lamb was really succulent and fell apart when I cut it with my knife and the fishcakes tasted fresh and well seasoned. Two sides of mash and spinach were also ordered. The mash was quite possibly the nicest I have ever eaten in my life!! This is a must if you go along.

For dessert, we had a creme brulee and the apple tart. Both of which were very good.

All in all, we really enjoyed our visit to the restaurant. The bill was £85 for a bottle of wine and 3 courses each which is very reasonable.

Our waiter was even kind enough to flag down a taxi out side the restaurant for us when we left.

My one critisism is that the tables are definitely placed too close together. They should seriously consider reducing the number of them to make the experience a bit more relaxing.

Please ignore some of the snobby reviews that you've read and make up your own mind about this restaurant.
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JS
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, February 15, 2008

Totally Astonished.............at how utterly awful our recent experience at Foxtrot Oscar was!

Being a Ramsey appreciator, I was keen to try this venture and so happily went along on a Saturday night with a friend. I was surprised at the size and atmosphere of the restaurant and struggled to understand what it was trying to be.

Then came the food! My Dublin Bay Prawn cocktail was actually made up of tiger prawns cut into little pieces and the Tesco Value standard of dry, thin, tough brown bread on the side. My friend's Rillettes of smoked salmon resembled the salmon pate from Foreman brothers that you can buy in Waitrose.

Onto the main course, well the dull grey, chewy, bland appearance of the Blanquette of Lamb certainly wiped out any trace of spices the chef may have used. The Duck, as for a cassoulet ...I don't think the Duck went anywhere near the beans and what turned up was an overcooked piece of duck and some baked beans (although when put with the mash did transport me to dinner times as a kid, all that was missing were the sausages.)

The mash and spinach were fine. The service was dull and unemotional despite the 'man in charge' wondering around with his glasses on his forehead and a shabby black jumper barking at people!

We were so disappointed we didn't have dessert or coffee and went somewhere else for these! The bill was £110 and really not worth the money.

I rarely find the need to complain about anything to do with a Ramsey enterprise which is why I find the need to air my disappointment this time around.

It is fair to say I won't be going back here and won't be recommending this to anyone.
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Jo B
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Thursday, February 14, 2008

We visited the restaurant for lunch after having been sold a voucher for the Savoy Grill even though it had closed down to be refurbished. Gordon Ramsay's company wouldn't refund the money so we had to settle for Foxtrot Oscar as it was the only one of the restaurants that had a reservation available when we'd be in London.

We were intially shocked how small the restaurant was, it had more of a Bistro feel with a bland of decor and bench type seating in places, considering it's only been open for a few weeks the refurbishments look to have been done on the cheap. We sat upstairs literally 8 inches away from the next table of 2, a little too close for comfort as we could hear everything that they said!

We had the Rillette of Smoked Salmon served with Blinis and Rib Eye steak with snail butter to follow, both courses were very nice with generous portions.

We ordered spinach, cabbage and chipped potatoes to accompany this but they didn't all arrive at the same time, in fact I'd nearly fished my meal by the time the last portion arrived.

We followed this with desserts of Lemon meringue pie and Rum Baba, both nice but a little plain and boring in presentation.

We had a bottle of Sparkling vouvray and 2 rather overpriced bottles of Evian!

The service was OK, nothing oustanding but perfectly acceptable.

Would we go again, unlikely ,at over £110 for 2 of us its overpriced for what amounts to pretty basic Bistro type food.
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Andrew Stott
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, February 13, 2008