St Alban

Yet again a great meal! Six of us and not one person disappointed. Courgette flowers to start were delicious.

Would thoroughly reccommend.
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Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, May 11, 2007

St Alban has become one of my favourite London restaurants, both for lunch and dinner (perfect for after theatre). The decor lifts the spirits and a civilised acoustic means you can actually hear what your companions are saying! The service is perfect in the great Corbin-King tradition; the menu and the quality of the cooking is deliciously diverse. A joyous addition to the city restaurant scene.
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Howard Schuman
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 06, 2007

One arrives at this rather trim minimalist styled place..broad black slate entrance steps and a dominating internal wall of vertically hung riven black slate sets the tenor for the decor.

After a brief wait our table was ready. Sitting in the angle of the L shaped room enabled us to view the whole place and watch a very professional team run the place.

I much preferred the choice of food here to the 'other place' on Piccadilly..none of that funny eastern European stuff thankfully. This is modern Mediteranean. My Broad beans with chorizio was pretty OK, although ithey werent the youngest of broadbeans and the sauce was a tad dominant for the mildly flavoured vegetable- [not quite that exquisite sensation one has in Rome in the spring with young Broad beans in a dash of olive oil, parmasan and a good grind of pepper.]

The rack of Cumbrian lamb was excellent- very tender, a delicate flavour and delightful with spinach and very wicked cheese infused mash potato- I didnt quite catch the lengthy Italian name for it, but it tasted great and avidly preyed upon by my hosts !

We all indulged in the puds which illicited the greatest of praise- the souffle won ! My baby pineapple was as wished !

Our meal was accompanied by a very fine Condrieu- pure nectar.

I would definetly go again, especially as I was'nt paying !!

PS The service was so exemplary it went unnoticed- they were just there. not obvious but just attending discreeetly.
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Adam H
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Just not as good as The Wolseley in my opinion.

The restaurant is interesting in itself: low (ish) ceilings, art deco/minimalist feel (which I could not help but think will date quite quickly), but does not captivate like its sister restaurant.

The food was good but not amazing (I must say that the spagetti al vongole was actually quite poor - oversalted and swimming in about a cm of oil) but the service was spot on.

I am glad I have been but I would not go back out of choice.
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Rick Brown
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, March 08, 2007

The restaurant is interesting in itself: low (ish) ceilings, art deco/minimalist feel (which I could not help but think will date quite quickly), but does not captivate like its sister restaurant.

The food was good but not amazing (I must say that the spagetti al vongole was actually quite poor - oversalted and swimming in about a cm of oil) but the service was spot on.

I am glad I have been but I would not go back out of choice.
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Rick Brown
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, March 08, 2007

Had dinner here on a Tuesday night with 5 friends. Overall we thought the food and service were absolutely fantastic. Cornish crab was delicious, Norfolk Pig was very tasty & desserts were all very good. The service from doorman to front of house to the waiters was absolutely spot on. The only disappointment was the decor which felt a bit corporate and sterile. Slightly 80s. But if you can get past the surroundings, the experience is very impressive.
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HS
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, March 07, 2007

A great experience overall.

The restaurant has a stylish and sober decor but the atmosphere is warm and buzzy.

The seats are very comfortable and there is space between the tables, so you can enjoy a bit of privacy.

The service is attentive and very discrete.

The food is mainly Mediterranean (Italian, Portuguese and Spanish) and the quality is excellent.

Great selection of wines by the glass.
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Cristina
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 26, 2007

A friend and I visited St Alban on for dinner on Thursday 22nd February.

We had a warm welcome and good service throughout. A breadbasket with great breads (the pumpkin bread was delicious) and punchy olive oil was swiftly put on the table, as was our drinks order. I really liked the 70’s décor even down to the water glasses which we were told had been personally designed by the owners. At this point, I was mentally flicking through my diary thinking, “I’ll come here with so and so” etc. I even started fretting about whether I would be able to get a table when I wanted because the place was buzzing.

Then the food arrived.

We both had crab and avocado, at least, that’s what it looked like beautifully arranged on the plate. If we had been blindfolded I doubt we would have instantly recognised the crab by taste. Both crab and avocado were completely tasteless.

For the main course, I ordered sea bass with roasted shallots and a balsamic glaze. Lovely to look at but again so bland as to be a chore to eat. Not nasty enough to leave, but just totally and utterly tasteless. “Upmarket hospital food” was the phrase I think we used last night. My companion had Seafood Fregola which she described as “semi-bland” and not the punchy dish the charming waitress had described.

We skipped puds and just had coffees.

I’m sure that our taste buds hadn’t gone home without us as the bread was great. Perhaps we should have stuck with that and asked for some cheese.

We didn’t have a bad evening or a good evening at St Alban. Like the food, it was just neither one thing nor the other.
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Helen Bailey
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Friday, February 23, 2007

Exceptionally helpful and attentive staff and service. Very smart and sexy room and atmostphere. Food, though, was disappointingly bland and simple (we had the veal t-bone, the beef steak) though beautifully presented. Crockery, cutlery, glasses are top quality, seating very comfortable and it's an overall highly luxurious experience. Great doorman.
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SSM
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Saturday, January 27, 2007

Food nothing special, not really a fan of the room either, service though couldn't be faulted. Won't be as big a hit as The Wolseley.
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RND
Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Monday, January 22, 2007