Theo Randall @The InterContinental

I went to Theo Randall on monday for lunch with a coupl of friends and can highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. We dined on the set lunch menu £18.00 for two courses, ridiculously good value when you consider that the mnu includes pricy ingredients such as monkfish and fillet steak! I started with a tagliatelle of asparagus and creme fraiche, perfectly cooked and portioned, followed by the aforementioned monkfish with morels which was simply outstanding. My friends chose a ravioli of rabbit to start and then the steak, cooked to perfection med - rare as recommended on the menu with oodles of salad (and pesto?). Desserts were a flour free (that makes it healthy right?) chocolate cake and a delicious lemon tart. The wines by the glass were very reasonably priced and the added extras of bruschetta to start nd chocolate truffles with the coffees were refreshingly free of the "cover charge" we are so used to seeing these days. The staff were friendly and approachable, offering advice where needed but discreetly and the manager made a point of stopping by all the tables to see how everyone was enjoying their meal, a really nice touch which made us feel genuinely welcomed and valued as "guests" and not just customers. I will definitely be back, especially as the set menu must make this the best value restaurant in london.
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nikki
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, April 21, 2007

We went there for Sunday lunch and had the 3 course set menu. Swapping plates half way through each course gave a sort of taster menu experience. The staff were excellent as was the food and there was a good chatty atmosphere. Sticking to the lower end of the wine list meant that it was surprisingly cheap for such a delicious treat.
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Eric Baker
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, February 05, 2007

I have always been far to selfish to fill one of these review forms out as – What is the point of finding a great place and telling the world about it, so you then can never get a table? However, it seems having read the many great reviews that Theo Randall’s is picking up in the press that the secret is out!

I have been lucky enough to eat here a few times now and I have to say that it is nice go somewhere a couple of times which has great service without ever thinking that you are stuck with the same menu on each occasion. Though, I suspect that if they ever change the lemon tart there might be a mutiny.

The food is excellent and makes you want to dive straight in to it. The ingredients are clearly as fresh as they can be, hence the daily menu changes. There is no messing around with the food in this restaurant, the dishes are well thought through and brilliantly executed. You really feel like you can enjoy the food and not have to sit in silence and admire the latest weird creation of some megalomaniac (and we all know the type of chef I mean). This is food that is meant to be eaten and enjoyed.

As we all know the food is only one part of a restaurant experience the others being: the wine, the service and the ambience.

On the wine, I was shocked when I asked for a bottle of red wine which I know I like, only for the sommelier to say that it was a great choice, (I had no real idea what I was doing so I am sure he was just being nice) but that I might prefer a different bottle as it was better. I am sure that we have all had this happen to us before but here is the shocking thing – not only was his choice fantastic but it was CHEAPER than the one I picked!!! This has never happened to me before and clearly shows a degree of service rarely seen in restaurants today.

The service was excellent. These guys clearly know what they are doing and their level of skill matches the food. Everything they do seems almost effortless and this was on the night when the manager confessed that it was their busiest so far.

All of this only adds to the ambience – great food, great wine, great service makes it easy for people to enjoy themselves.

For my first ever review this is becoming rather long but in short this restaurant is superb and it has been a long time since I have had such real pleasure eating out.

Sadly, I suspect that I will soon not be able to get a table!
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Ed
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Ate here with my partner as a late celebration of my 40th birthday in the post-Christmas lull, having read Jay Rayner's assessment in the Observer - he considered it the best meal he'd eaten this year.

And I'd agree - the food is just phenomenal, the ingredients clearly the best the restaurant can source on the day. The service was faultless and friendly, without being overbearing - which can be the case when a restaurant is relatively empty, as it was on this Thursday lunchtime after the excess of Christmas. Nicest touch was the offer to give us four half-desserts for the price of two, as we clearly couldn't decide when confronted with an array of all-too-tempting dishes. Even better was that this turned up as a large platter of samplers of pretty much the whole dessert menu. We gorged and gorged again, just fantastic.

The lunch menu is very reasonably priced at £23 for starter-mid-main and £4.50 for dessert, but this can quickly double if you select a la carte, as one of us did. Neither is this the sort of venue where you'll want to be too heavy on the aperitifs, at £9 for a G&T, albeit a perfectly mixed hefty double. Four courses each, a couple of G&Ts, a bottle of Barolo and a glass of Chardonnay - oh, and coffee - came to £180, incl service. But I think this this the best value meal we've eaten for some time, perhaps ever: It was really that good.
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timfg - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Saturday, January 06, 2007

What a great new find Theo Randalls new restaurant is. I confess to never having heard of him before despite having dined at The river Cafe on several occasions but i certainly won't be forgetting his name now. The menu is hearty, robust and beautifully seasonal - pheasant salad, chestnut soup etc I started with the pan fried Squid - deliciously fesh and tasty and shared the best bagna cauda ( a warm anchovy dip) with marinated vegetables. Chard and ricotta ravioli was another highlight as was the crab salad and aioli.All the ingredients are obviously painstakingly sourced and the result is absolutely worth it. An extensive winelist with plenty of Italian varietals - i tried an unusual Tocai friuliano which was delicious and showed imagination on the sommeliers part, something "Italian" restaurants can often lack. Ok so it is not cheap but who expects a chef of this calibre cooking in a restaurant inside a world class hotel on park lane to be cheap? I certainly felt it was worth every penny and would not hesitate in revisiting and recommending to future diners. Friendly, knowledgable staff, a relaxed atmosphere and great food - what more could you ask for?
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Victoria Mayer
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, December 08, 2006

I have been fortunate enough to visit the River Cafe on a couple of occasions and sample Theo Randall's cooking so I was delighted when he opened up a restaurant of his own at The InterContinental. The food is fabulous. I definitely recommend the Bagna Cauda and the Lamb was perfectly cooked. My friends had the Pigeon and said it was also really good. Save some room for a pudding. The Meyer Lemon tart has lemons flown in especially from California, Ok not environmentally friendly but worth the sacrifice on this occasion. Expensive but worth it.
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Claudia - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Saturday, December 02, 2006