Electric Brasserie

Booked a table for two last night - then looked at the reviews. Approached it, based on some of the below comments, with a little trepidation. Was more than pleasantly surprised - service was good and food was really, really terrific. Had cold and hot seafood and it was all fantastic and not too pricey (hot seafood platter for 2 with gambas, mussels and a lobster + salad and chips for 40 quid for 2 people - amazing). Oysters etc. were great and far better than in most of the well-known brasseries in Paris (or London) for e.g. Have walked past 100 times, never bothered going in before, but will definitely be a regular now. I wouldn't normally bother to write a review, but my experience was utterly different to some of the below reviewers and I thought it worth mentioning.
Comment on this reader review

Alex, London
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, July 11, 2007

I love electric and although I am a regular there I felt compelled to write after our

Visit on Sunday morning. We were seated on a table for two by the front window for breakfast and the waiter serving us was such a gem. He was attentive and charming and made our breakfast even lovelier. The food as always was great, your eggs benedict cannot be matched and this level of service as well left me smiling. What more can you ask? Hold onto this waiter he is a rare find!

i simply do not understand how anyone cannot love this place?
Comment on this reader review

Christie
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Monday, May 14, 2007

Food was ok, service was non-existent. How can you feel good about coming to spend your money at a place that tells you to get out again after 1.5 hours before you even sit down, with the place not even being nearly full at all? This place is a joke.
Comment on this reader review

LonExpat
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Sunday, April 01, 2007

I have always enjoyed the food at the Electric, and am usually bemused by the service. I think my Electric days are now over. I tried to make a booking, and found the attitude and language of the woman taking bookings to be shockingly rude and even abrasive. They should be ashamed!
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 6
Monday, December 18, 2006

We dropped by the Brasserie for lunch and were politely shown to a table in the back, which was pretty full but by no means packed. Hubby had eaten here the previous week and assured me the chips were the best he'd ever eaten, so I ordered duck livers on toast and steak and chips.

As other reviewers note, service is spasmodic at best. Our car was on a meter so we were keen to get on with our lunch, but it ook 20 minutes for our wine to arrive followed 20 minutes later by our starters. Conversely our mains turned up just as we were setting down our cutlery from eating our starters.

And the food? Duck livers overcooked and served in an attractive but utterly tasteless sauce (it was a reduction of some kind but I have no idea what). Hubby's "small plate" of crispy squid was nice enough but it was served with a dipping sauce of ... plain mayonnaise. Uninspired and dull.

The steaks were perfectly cooked and very tasty. A side of green beans was pleasantly crunchy although completely unseasoned. Seasoning is available on the table but its in those tiny bowls of large salt flakes and cruched black pepper - annoying to have to grab out bits with your fingers. The chips did not live up to expectation. It was at this point that hubby confessed to having had several pints in a nearby establishment before eating on the previous occasion which he thinks may have dulled his recollection. They were well enough cooked and the right colour for home-made chips but they were oddly damp rather than crispy.

We would have ordered desseret and coffee but our meter was rapidly running down so we decided to get the bill. After fruitlessly trying to even see a waiter I set off in search and eventually convinced a manager of some kind to give us the bill. Having signed the slip we waited at the table for someone to collect it but in the end gave up and went to get our own coats as the coat check person had also vanished.

A pretty mixed bag then. Go there for the steak and the good wine list but be prepared to spend more time there than the food warrants. Ideally, get someone else to pay.
Comment on this reader review

Fiona
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Thursday, November 30, 2006

The food was great but the service was disgusting. The waitress was confrontational, she suggested many additional items without indicating they were not part of our entree, she 'argued' with us about what we ordered when she delievered the wrong items, she said she would reduce the bill but did not, forcing us to raise the issue again and she made us feel unwelcome and cheap. One more thing ... we arrived for our reservation at 9:15 but were not seated until 9:45, during which time we were forced to squeeze into the bar area, standing, without apology... Very diasppointing as my previous time was wonderful ... great food, service, atmosphere and overall experience, which of course is why I went back. Not this time....
Comment on this reader review

Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Sunday, November 19, 2006

the food was fantastic and the atmosphere just what you'd liek on a sunday brunch time. service though was a bit disappointing. forgot a couple of orders adn we recieved at the same time more coffes than expected...
Comment on this reader review

laia
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Ordered vegetarian breakfast, mushroom soup and the cheese and bacon burger. All very good and probably the best burger I have had in London (had a few!). Very very busy and they coped pretty well. Good varied menu and friendly service. Get there early to avoid a wait but a great place to brunch in London.
Comment on this reader review

Stuart Warmsley
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, October 08, 2006

Absolutely brilliant, highly recommend going there for lunch. It's very busy but definitely worth it.

I had the chicken and bacon burger and i was full from eating just half of it.
Comment on this reader review

Ash
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 08, 2006

Yes, well. Noisy yes, service OK but lacking continuity. We were recommended to have the starter size of the crispy duck salad as the portion was 'so big'. Well excuse me - it was not and it was a question of search for the duck and why, oh why put soft mushrooms with it. Chips to die for, we chose an expensive wine so that was fine. Yes we would go there again but not with amazing expectations.
Comment on this reader review

kimmie - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Friday, October 06, 2006