Electric Brasserie

i have eaten here on and off for years. normally reliably decent. however had lunch here yesterday and it appears they have lost the plot. ordered the roast chicken - looked like it had come out the microwave and tasted totally bland - the veg with it were equally poor. sent it back and ordered steak instead - came back weirdly dry and again tasted bland again . manager was helpful - if they have a new chef then he needs his head testing.
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pete Hutchison
2 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 3
Monday, October 11, 2010

We were London bound this Easter in case junior decided to put in an early appearance. The weather was pretty rotten which prevented us going very far afield from Notting Hill. Saturday morning was reasonably good so we made plans to meet our friends Zoe and Nick and their six month old son William. We usually brunch at "202 " with them which is pretty good but it gets far too busy in there and though they are used to buggies it can get very cramped. A friend of mine had tipped me that "the Electric" was good so we booked a table there. The process of booking was a bit convaluted but arriving with some trepidation on Saturday morning we were happy to be shown to a comfy table at the rear of the restaurant with plenty of room for William and his pram.

"The Electric" is the Notting Hill outpost of the "Soho House" organisation, it is part private members club, part cinema and part brasserie. I've used the cinema on numerous occasions and it is a comfortable yet pricey place to see a film (The Coronet or Gate are much more reasonable). The brasserie always looks really busy as it was on Saturday. Obviously with the market on you get a lot of tourist in and locals in however we were away from the main crush in the dining area at the rear. Zoe and company were running late so we waited at our table. The staff were very pleasant indeed, taking our coats, bringing us coffee and chating away to us which was nice. They have a good staff to customer ratio here so you never have to wait long for anything.

Our friends arrived and after a lot of cooing over William by the waitresses we ordered a selection of breakfast. My lovely wife was really hungry so had french toast and scrambled egg and bacon, she really enjoyed it, I tried her french toast which was delicious. The others had the full English breakfast which they enjoyed. Nick in particular found it great for restoring him after a heavy night at the Mall Tavern. I fancied something different so went for the steak and eggs. It has to be said I was a bit underwelmed, nice egg and chips but a very small piece of underseasoed steak. I was expecting better especially as the "Electric" boasts a well staffed open kitchen. However my coffe was really nice much more generous than the thimbleful you get at "202". We weren't rushed at any stage and could have stayed longer but William was needing some fresh air.

It has to be said I was rather impressed with here. It really looked the part and on the whole the food was good. I also found the service professional and friendly which you don't often get in Notting Hill. The bill was about £20 each which was pretty good as we all had a couple of rounds of coffee. Apart from my dish the portions were very good value for money. I can definetly see us venturing in again with our baby. I don't know if I would risk walking in without a reservation at the weekend as it was extremely busy.
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, April 06, 2010

This evening I went to The Electric. I hadn't booked a table but was found a place for three within the 20 minutes I was quoted. Unfortunately I have to say, although the service was adequate, the staff seemed incredibly despondent. I had a friend who used to work there who came to meet us for drinks after dinner and she was friendly with some of the staff. It would seem that the company is not enjoyable to work for at all and many staff members are looking for new work elsewhere... this definitely comes across which is a shame as when I went there last year it seemed full of atmosphere and everyone, including the staff, were having fun. This evening we could feel the pressure our waitress was under, not much smiling and the promise to come back again again which meant we were waiting forever to place our order. I don't think I'll be returning in a hurry.
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Sas - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 2
Saturday, November 07, 2009

Having been to the Electric many times, I arranged to meet three of my girlfriends here for lunch on Saturday. When we arrived we waited for around 15 minutes before anybody came and spoke to us, we then ordered some white wine which took at least another ten minutes to arrive - when it did it wasn't particularly cold but I thought by the time he came to top us up again it will have chilled having sat in an ice bucket.....I then noticed it was just sat on the bar on what was a fairly hot day. When I asked our waiter to put it in an ice bucket, he rolled his eyes and walked off.....

When my burger arrived which I had asked to be cooked medium - it was undercooked. Naturally I sent it back and it arrived ten minutes later cremated...by which time all of my friends had finished eating their lunch. It wasn't great but I was so starving by this point that I ate it anyway!

I then received a voicemail from the hostess at the Electric saying if I wasn't there within five minutes they would give the table away that I had reserved - even though I had been sat in there for around 40 minutes and was half way through my now cremated burger!!

This visit to The Electric was disappointing to say the least - on previous visits, the food has never been amazing but it was a nice place to go - this time, the food was shocking, the staff were rude and it's safe to say, we won't be returning!!

The only good thing about this visit was that, the Manager did remove the service from the bill (after I requested) and didn't charge me for what I ordered. It still won't make me go back though....
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Rebecca Heptinstall
2 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Monday, August 17, 2009