The Terrace Restaurant

I am a vegetarian and ordered Roasted Vegetable Pave as the main course last night at this resturant. This was the most pathetic main course I ever had at any resturant. .
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4 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 1
Sunday, November 14, 2010

I went to the Terrace Restaurant with a business contact last week. I had booked in advance, but when I caught up with my guest at reception, there was no sign of my booking (only the second time this happens to me in a fortnight... sigh).

However, the matter was soon settled, as only three tables were full. I chose a table near the window. This proved foolish: in the daytime you only really get a view of the offices opposite and the tops of double deckers in Regent Street below, and more importantly it was frrrrreeeezing cold. The place is airy and elegant - if you go, avoid direct proximity to the windows at least in winter.

The service was attentive and unhurried. The bread we were given to wait while our food was being prepared could have been fresher - not a very good sign, I though. We ordered a la carte, and went straight for mains. My venison ragout (slow cooked meat with thick green tagliatelli) was flavoursome, of a little over-salted. My guest's rib eye steak met with his approval. The side vegetables were good - fresh and perfectly cooked.

Foe dessert, I had a nice crumble, and my guest went for a strawberry mousse which he seemed happy with.

Overall, the food was good, though nothing very special. You pay for the atmosphere and the location, and for these you pay handsomely: £5.00 for a bottle of water, £9.50 for a gin and tonic, £18 for mains. £40 a head for two courses, drinks, coffee and service is not exactly stunning value.

Still, they do cream teas for £9 per head, and I will definitely try that with my mother - it's the right kind of place for it.
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The lady that lunches - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Saturday, December 19, 2009

Booked The Terrace with "50% off food" - offer. However, we were told on arrival that this offer is available for mains and starters only (!) Food was OK. Interior pretentiously decorated. Wine expensive: £9 for a glass of red. Service could be better. Long waits, forgotten orders. We won't return.
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E.R.
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 5
Monday, December 14, 2009

3 of us came here on a Saturaday evening after shopping. We had booked with the 50% off offer.

The restaurant has a lovely atmosphere and looked great in teh evening. There was no space in the cloakroom for our bags but there was plenty of room around our table as we were not sitting in the centre of the restaurant.

Service started off well but the waitress looked like I had asked for her head on a plate when I asked for a jug of tap water! The food was very nice and presented well - we were all impressed with our starters (chicken liver pate, duck egg and crab) which came swiftly. We had to wait about 30 minutes for out mains and the restaurant was not busy at all so we were a bit surprised we had to wait that long - the staff were not attentive or helpful at all which is a shame and let the restaurant down a bit.

The mains were very nice and so were our sides. The only thing I was a bit suprised with was with my vension which was not a cut of meat but shredded vension put together as a venison cake - it didn't say it on the menu which it should have really as it was a bit misleading and makes you wonder what you are getting when it's not a straight forward cut. It tasted nice enough though and was well cooked.

We asked for the bill when our mains came as we had a train to catch so to order and get 2 courses and eat it took us one and a half hours and we had no time for dessert which was a shame as the starters and mains were quite nice.

All in all I would go again but only on the 50% offer, the food was nice and so was the setting but the service was slow but overall not worth it without the offer.
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Alex TG
7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Monday, December 07, 2009

I visited the Terrace last Friday but unfortunately it didn't live up to expectations. The place is lovely with really high airy ceilings and the service was fine, attentive without being unobtrusive but the food - which is generally rated highly in the reviews I read before going - was a real let down. I had a butternut squash ravioli which sounded really exciting on the menu and my partner had the lamb but everything was really oily and over-salted - so much so that you couldn't really taste the vegetables. The ravioli was a few small lumps of butternut squash with two 2 inch round pieces of pasta so pretty disappointing and esp. at £17 a dish, (although the other non meat option - a whole onion with mushroom sauce didn't exactly sound appealing!). The lamb wasn't rated by my partner either. I was really surprised as the whole atmosphere and look of the place wouldn't suggest mediocre cooking, it seems to have all appearance of being a really foodie place with none of the substance.
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clare
4 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Yesterday, I had a dinner with my friend and her mum here. The food was amazing. Everything we called was perfect. The service was very good too. Overall, we all very happy with everything, cant really complain about anything at all.

I would absolutely recommend it to my friends and to aynyone who would like to try. Love it...
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Huong Vu
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, October 08, 2009

My husband and I visted the terrace restaurant in june as part of the 50% off food bill offer. We both had a lovely time and really enjoyed what we chose. The waiters were extremely polite and attentive and the decor was beautiful. Our food was skillfully prepared and tated wonderful. We would definately return to pay full price!
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10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, August 27, 2009

Had a lovely meal at The Terrace during a long weekend in London. My wife and I were very impressed with the whole occasion. The staff were all cheerful, friendly and efficient and all of our food was perfectly cooked and delicious. The Terrace is in a spectacular setting overlooking Piccadilly - just a pity it rained! We went for our meal before going to the theatre just down the road and our waitress made sure that we had plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely meal, finishing in good time to stroll along to the theatre - and the rain went off just as we were leaving!. Thanks to all concerned for a lovely evening.
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Ian Noble
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, August 04, 2009

A disappointing experience.

- The atmosphere: The room is beautiful, there's no denying that. But there was not much of an atmosphere when I went yesterday evening (wednesday). It was largely empty, and because of the enormous space it felt like sitting in a hollow glass chamber. Oddly the waiters managed to constantly look busy (i.e. bustling around and ignoring eye contact) which made me wonder how they would cope if the restaurant were actually busy.

- The service: Poor. They are friendly enough, smiling and nodding, but the three waiters who served us were all polish with poor english and poorly trained, which is not at all what I expect from a high class restaurant. They were not able to answer questions I had about the menu, and I had to ask for a steak knife to be brought to my table. A cocktail took 20 minutes to arrive (the place was empty! how could this be?!) When I asked at the ordering stage whether the chips would be thin or chunky, I was told chunky - when they arrived, they were thin. The waiters did not ask me at each course whether the food was to my satisfaction. When one of them asked me, at the very end as I was paying, I started by saying "Well, it was not to the standard I expected..." hoping/expecting her to ask me for more explanation. Instead, she looked terrified and so instead of telling her why I just said "Well, never mind." and she just said "Thank you very much" and practically turned and ran off. Remarkable!

- The food: Mediocre to poor. The duck starter consisted of two very odd and unpleasant tasting thin slices of duck breast and some passable terrine. The quails on "barley risotto" was better in that the quails were nice (but not special) but the barley had been severely undercooked and was very hard. The ribeye steak was okay - a bit tough, but with a good taste. The scallops were mediocre but they came on a very nice buttered mash (mashed potato was the highlight of the meal!) We did not bother with dessert.

Maybe the place is better for lunch or afternoon tea. I certainly wouldn't go there for quality food or a relaxing dinner.
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Claire - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Thursday, July 09, 2009

The restaurant has a very good design. Been there at least 4 times, everytime has a significant different experiences. In general, the food is ok, but usually over-priced unless with the offer.
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King - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Thursday, March 12, 2009