Sketch Gallery

I've just moved here from New York (literally stepped off the plane onto British asphalt) and some British friends recommended this place because of the crazy decor and even crazier menu. Coming from NYC, I've seen it all, so I'm not easy to impress (my favorite place to eat in NYC is Per Se, so you Brits have your work cut out) but I'm open to new things.

Let's start from the beginning where I decided to make the reservation online, via their website. The website alone is pretty damn crazy, it took me a while to navigate, I'm hoping that my jet lag was the real reason for difficulty in navigating. I managed to book a table for 2 the Saturday just gone, I wasn't a hundred percent sure if my reservation went through until I received a call from a polite lady to confirm by reservation.

I rocked over there a little too early on the Saturday as I didn't realize how close I am to the actually restaurant. So I walk into this place alone and quite scared of the 'craziness' that's about to hit me. No craziness, more politeness from supermodel like folk and a sunken igloo/spaceship type bar to have a drink in.

My guest soon arrived and we were ushered to a table quite quickly per our request. The room is quite big with huge video projections on all the walls which left me mesmerized while I chowed down on my selection of bread. I'm lucky that my guest has impeccable taste in wine as I tend not to favor choices by sommeliers (not keen on the whole upselling deal). Our waiter was decent, not over the top, we didn't ask for recomendations as we'd already chosen what we wanted.

Food was good, I was under the impression this place was French foodwise, but it's more international.

I see what the deal is with the restrooms, they're out of this world (literally). We ended up staying a lot longer than anticipated (too much wine, I guess). But worthwhile to say the least, I haven't enjoyed myself as much as the time I spent in Tokyo.

The friends were right about this place, it's pretty crazy, but you have to be pretty crazy to live in London anyway.
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Bruce Goldstein
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

we are founding this place on accident as a party of 6. we all coming from paris with big expectasions. when we come int o this place it is like a very alice wonderland with a host who is smiling and welcoming. to find a table for 5 persons at 9p.m on a friday im sure very dificulty but they were very good to acomodate us. the room is spectaculer,many images of art all round, magnifcent furnitures. the ambience is alive which to me show that people are really enjoy themselfes.

food was good, we take a little of everythink, we aalso have help to chose the wine. we took many starters, with a lamb as a main to share for 4 persons but my friend is not eating meat so she take the scallops. with the wine the food the atmosphere i really did enjoy myself. i think you need to keep all idée of what you think this place is like, and to come with a free mind.

all together with wine,food, and the service i think that it come to a very reasonable cost.
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perrick orleac
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Monday, April 28, 2008

This restaurant is an Art Gallery it is fantastic and interesting to eat in with good food. I loved the whole experience even the toilets which, are great The service we received was very good and attentive but not too much where it was uncomfortable. The only negatives are the price, a tad too much I think.
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Jayda
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 6
Friday, April 25, 2008

last night was my third visit at the gallery. i think this place is going to become a regular haunt if i'm not careful.

i tried the ceviche as a starter with the tenderloin pork as a main. i don't think there are enough superlatives to describe how scrumptious the food is. definitely going back for more.
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serene rossiter
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 20, 2008

sketch is absolutely marvelous.

Great food, great atmosphere, great service. That's The Gallery!!!
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Claire Fielding
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, February 19, 2008

At first the atmosphere is seductive but the bar is full of separate tables rather than a nice long bar which can help socialising. When the food came it was disapointing. First they seem to be trying to hard with too many flavours which together just didnt work. The beef looked great but tasted of nothing- really watery. The creamed spinach was good but that is one thing on the side when the main was really not good at all. My partner had different dishes and said one was good but the other was terrible. Service was ok but nothing special and teh tables are arranged so that I could hear everything that the next door table was saying- really offputting.

Will I be going back? I couldnt wait to get out to go and get a drink to remove the taste of the food from my mouth!!
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Nick Collins
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

This was my second visit as a birthday treat . I was drawn again by the funky music and the unique atmosphere this place had to offer. However this time I was dissappointed by the poor quality of service. My party was group of 8 and unfortunately we were disappointed by the somewhat limited option available on the set menu and felt like they were yesterday left overs. Beside the waiters lack of comprehension of simple requests, the mix of sparkilng and still water became somewhat of an amusement through out the evening.! There was a lack of space to accommadate our party of 8, where we were cramped into a small table. The quality of food was much to be desired nothing too exceptional when considering the exhorbiant prices one has to pay. The only treat is the unique style of dessert, however I was dissappointed by no Bubble gum ice cream on the menu. However the menu does lack creative ingenuity when on par with other high class French cusine. Having invited my friends I felt pressured for them to enjoy the experience and made to feel embrassed by the long wait for table, poor waitress service and set menu. All in all my friends were very polite , patient and really realaxed or amused by this quirky experience. .....
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Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Monday, February 11, 2008

It is very easy to go off on a vitriol about a bad dining experience due to your inept view on what makes a good restaurant, a GOOD restaurant. But, fortunately enough I know what makes a good restaurant.

I dined at The Gallery for the first time last week with a few work colleagues. I must admit that I was pretty apprehensive about dining at a restaurant once dubbed 'The Most Expensive Restaurant in Europe'! I wouldn't mind if this was on the company card, but unfortunately not! So in my trepidation I trugged along with my wallet quivering in my back pocket. Upon arrival we realised that we had half an hour to spare before the meal, but thankfully there are a couple of bars to enjoy some pre-dinner drinks!! Boy what a quirky place! The bar is shaped like an igloo, it's so quirky and not at all pretentious as the last poster remarked. The restaurant itself is absolutely fun, I must admit you're a little overwhelmed at first since there is so much going on at once. But once you sit back and just enjoy what it's all about, it's an absolute treat! The service was attentive yet laid back, I felt that the staff really knew when and when not to fuss, I actually felt like I was in Roger Vadim's Barbarella, so fantastic, so unaffected by the world outside, but unostentatious in a fabulously cryptic way. You may think I'm going overboard, but I just found my entire experience to be a refreshing change from the humdrum, charactless trite that is the London Restaurant scene.

The food held it's own when you compare it to the backdrop, for starters I tempted myself with the Fois Gras, which was so moorish I was tempted to order another plate, but I held back by munching on some delicious bread. The Venison as a main course was sublime, the texture of the poached pear in red wine against the roasted fillet was to die for!

I was so full up from my starter and main that I wasn't sure if I could manage a dessert, suffice it to say the waiter tempted me into ordering this wonderfuly rich chocolate dessert which I did actually finish! ! The shock of the evening came with the bill, not as expensive as some might say. Those inclined to spend an evening at their local Pizza express might be traumatized at the end result, but those who know their stuff won’t even bat an eyelash.

I would absolutely reccommend this restaurant to those who appreciate art and food combined. I for one shall be going back, with or without my company card.
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Donald
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

This has to be the most pathetically pretentious place I have EVER been to. Maybe 20 years ago it may have been 'cool' but now it just seems that it is trying way too hard. It is soooo tacky and unstylish I am actually still reeling from the shock of it. An example of this tackiness is the pod style toilets. They may look good and different but they are awful inside. There are stick-on hooks on the wall for you to hang your coat/bag whatever - the sort of plastic white stick-on things you buy in Woolworths and the sanitary bins were dirty white plastic too.So unstylish and tacky - it's little things like this that are so offputting. The food was ridiculously silly too. I had a mackeral and artichoke starter that consisted of a tiny piece of green jelly between two slices of bread, the size of an ant. My partner had Fois Gras. This also was like ant food, sooo tiny. The waiter seemed to think it necessary to explain what everything on the plate was. Bloody ridiculous - we know what it is - WE ORDERED IT! Waiters were incredibly annoying. We were constantly interrupted by them and they also felt it necessary to remove a bowl of vegetables that we hadn't finished eating. My main course was Sea Bass witch tasted more like Salmon. I ordered a side dish of Wild Rice to go with it but frankly need not have bothered as it was so small.

This is a fantastic place to go if you are into Euro Trash and weren't around 20 years ago when places like this were ten a penny. Never again!
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Betty
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, January 26, 2008

We booked at Sketch for a birthday dinner for two on a Monday night, and went with an open mind. We had an excellent evening - concur with all points of view on the room - wonderful sexy atmosphere - and a great meal too. The food is inventive, fun and tasty - quite refreshing that it doesn't take itself as painfully seriously as many upmarket London restaurants seem to these days. And yes it's expensive - meat dishes are all 20 quid plus - but the vegetarian and pasta options are comparatively inexpensive, and we'd venture totally justified given the complete experience. The sommelier was excellent, the service quirky, charming and just right - neither arrogant indifference nor fawning intrusiveness - and the room buzzing with an interesting, hip, international crowd. Again refreshing change from the captains-of-industry types that kill the buzz at other ostensibly cool establishments. After the dizzying hype surrounding the launch, we were half expecting a disappointing crash and burn from a burnt out star. Fortunately far from it. Sketch is a blast of an evening and we'll take friends back for more.
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Max25
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Saturday, January 26, 2008