Brinkley's Garden Restaurant

I got a $200 gift certificate to Binkleys but due to busy schedule my wife and I weren't able to avail it for a year. The place was always fully booked too.

Finally, we got a reservation only to know that the management would not honor my certificate. He said it was two months overdue.

Binkleys is a good restaurant but I think it is a consumer trap for gift certificates. Its management is rude and belligerent. Not worth your money. Forget it - take your hard earned money somewhere else.
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3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Had a very disappointing meal here last night. Food was mediocre and service below par. The waiter sat down at our table while taking the order - obviously feeling a bit too comfortable. Then we were forced to vacate the outside table 10 minutes before we had been promised when we arrived - and not offered a table inside - making the end of the dinner very rushed. And the icing of the cake was when we wanted to pay. As we had been forced to leave our table outside we had to pay at the bar. The bar staff was too busy showing off to the girls and asked us to come back later to pay – unbelievable.

In terms of food, the Starter was fine (pate of foie gras – cant really go wrong there) but main courses were so so. Thai curry and prawn linguine was over prized (£18 for a pasta.....). Desserts was semi cold (obviously rushed out). On a positive note - the wines was good value for money.

Would we recommend it? No - in short, Brinkley’s is overpriced and staff too arrogant. So many better placed in the area. Avoid!
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Finn
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Sunday, July 25, 2010

Very disappointing. The buzz of Brinkley's remains, although the buzz was often too loud to hear the people on the other side of a very small table. They seem to have lost their grip on reality though and charge Michelin star prices for food which tastes like it has come out of a packet. Particularly the puddings - their "best selling" toffee sponge cake was a square lump of dry sponge with a cheap toffee sauce; their brownie was a rectangular lump of dry sponge with a cheap chocolate sauce; their strawberries and mascarpone was just that: 6 strawberries, cut in quarters and served on a large plate with a dollop of mascarpone. You have to admire the simplicity of the strawberries, but not for £7! On top of that, they have clearly been watching too many Ramsay's US kitchen nightmares and have taken on board his advice of reducing portion sizes to improve margins. But they've taken it to a new level. I have never been served two smaller fillets of Turbot; genuinely, they were a small mouthful each. I wouldn't mind if the prices were correspondingly small, but at £24, they were two expensive mouthfuls. After 3 courses, I left Brinkley's hungry having spent £140 for my wife and I. Absolutely staggering and one wonders how long people will keep coming when you have to pay a fortune for poor quality food which will not fill you up. Not for me, thanks. Although as an aside, the bar is pretty good fun.
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Chuck
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, July 14, 2010

granted the food was good (not great but good), the location was fab and the crowd .... erm interesting all Chelsea wanna be's but happy to flirt with any one which is fun.

No my real issue with this place was it arrogance we choose (for a number of reasons) not to pay the full 12.5% service charge. The waitress stormed back to the table and demanded extra money ... I am sorry but I thought the service charge was at our discretion not the restaurant,

This whole thing got me riled it reeks of 'bullying' and a lack of respect for the customer. Speaking to the owner did not help things at all. No restaurant is entitled to a tip and to demand one says a lot about the restaurant. So no I would not be recommending this place any time soon.
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5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 5
Sunday, November 08, 2009

Friendly service, good if not spectacular food, and a great atmosphere on chelsea match days.
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sarah t - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, April 02, 2009