Chez Patrick

My wife and I found ourselves in South Ken and took a chance booking a table. Can't praise this place enough. Ambience is intimate, friendly and in no way overbearing. The fish (monkfish and tuna) was fresh and prepared perfectly, with very simple and elegant presentation that allowed the flavors to come out. If it matters to you (it does to me), the portions are huge. Seafood pasta starter blew me away, as did the chocolate fondant and pineapple carpaccio (with licorice ice cream) desserts. Short but diverse high-quality wine list. The place was full (a lot of regulars it seemed), but not loud. Perfect experience.
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gpf - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 08, 2010

"That's the worst meal I have had in London for a long time" said my wife through gritted teeth after a Thursday lunch at Chez Patrick. Having just moved into the area, we had been looking forward to visiting this "local's" restaurant and hoping to discover a hidden gem. Whilst I didn't feel as strongly as my wife on account that my lunch was saved by a high quality sirloin steak (and so it should have been for £19!), we will not be returning.

First impressions: decor is simple and very French. After a while, we began to find things were tired and cheap. The MD is an acquired taste: at first we found him charming and funny but as the time went by he seemed overbearing, arrogant and irritating.

Now for the food: for starters, the grilled squid was rubbery and tasteless and my tuna tartare was mixed with a home-made mayonnaise, which meant you couldn't taste the tuna.

Main courses: my wife's crab and scallop ravioli had sounded so promising. Sadly it was swimming in a cream sauce that was far too rich and overpowering. She said it made her retch. My sirloin was "bleu" when it was served (I had asked for it medium rare) and they were quick to sort it out.

Value for money? Terrible. 2 starters and 2 mains with a bottle of water came to £47.50 (the sirloin accounting for 40% of this). Scandalously, the restaurant has a policy of adding a "discretionary optional" 15% to the bill. We certainly didn't think the service or the experience was worth this, but entering into what would undoubtably have been a heated argument with a haughty MD would have ruined our day not just our lunch.
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AK - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Thursday, May 21, 2009