Gastro

I went to Gastro in Clapham and was really disappointed with the food and the service.

Food: they have recently removed the steak tartare, one of the top French speciality from the menu and when I ordered an andouillette, they did not have any left... In addition; food is clearly overpriced.

Service: Appalling. The management is really unfriendly. Clearly, I would be treated in a better way in any Parisian brasserie.

As we will say in French: "Victime de son succes". Restaurant to avoid if you want some non overpriced French food and a nice service.
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Frenchie - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Friday, October 28, 2011

i think it depends on what you're expecting when you go. Our food was very good - for the price I expected tasty good value food, and that it was I received.

The moules frites are good, as is the deep fried camembert. I would go again and did enjoy it. I also thought the service was good and very friendly. Perhaps they have read the reviews and taken action? ;)
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LJ - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Sunday, September 11, 2011

Eat here a month ago. This restaurant has been going down hill, year after year. The last visit the food and service was so dreadful, I will never go back again.

When I complained about frozen tomatoes being in the tepid stew, the waitress made the lame excuse that the luke warm stew was supposed to contain semi-frozen cherry tomatoes.

Expensive, rubbish food, rubbish service, best avoided.
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greg carson
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 30, 2011

The most disappointed I've been for a while and that's a statement because I don't have an exquisite palette and normally like pretty much any food.

It was a friend's choice and I came to Clapham all the way from the City and at first was quite impressed with a low-key very French interior. The place is tiny and given it was Monday evening it was quite empty. Still it took me a while to get the waiter's attention to order a glass of wine whilst waiting for my friends to arrive.

The food was unbelievably bad! I ordered an onion soup to start with and couldn't eat it. It was truly awful!!! I managed to scoop a quarter of a glass of pure oil from the top of the soup. A QUARTER OF A GLASS!!!! The pieces of bread in the soup were old and tasteless. I just had to send it back.

Main course was slightly better but totally lacked taste and texture. I tried my friends' food and it was no better. French fries looked like they've been on somebody else's plate half a hour ago.

The bill for the 4 of us came well above £100.

I give no stars to Gastro! Wasted money and wasted calories!
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Sonia
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Clapham Gastro...enterology, venn street

Authentic french restaurant? yes. Primarily due to the lackadaisical service, the disinterested staff and the self-interested management.

Where it falls down however is in the absolute blandness of some of the food. The menu leaves much to be desired. For a country which prides itself on cuisine this establishment is a poor representative of that republic.

I was hardly welcomed as I arrived with my date, when I asked they said I could sit anywhere, when I walked to the back three staff members watched me round a corner before one of them chose to follow and tell me that area was closed.

We ordered after a little deliberation asking for the express lunch menu advertised on the large sign by the door, the waiter was not sure that it was still available (it was gone 4pm) and when he asked was met with a loud derisory laugh from his colleague. He told us that it had stopped an hour earlier. After a few minutes we chose two starters and two dishes from the main menu.

I had a 'typical' beef stew, which arrived having had no seasoning and with all flavour boiled out of it. The meat was very low quality (more like cheap salt beef than steak, without any of the flavour) and topped off with a pungent french mustard that must have been squirted from an american bottle.

The house red however, was excellent.

I hardly touched my main, and was never once asked if I or my partner had enjoyed our meals.

What a waste of money! These people are not even just bad at their jobs, they seem to actively avoid giving a toss at all about their customers.

very angry. not the first time i've been disatisfied with them. certainly the last!
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le Rost beuf
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, August 10, 2010

What a shame,when to Gastro on 12/05/10 a Wednesday the restaurant was not busy at all me and my partner decide to give the French place a go but I need to say that with much difficulty the service down there is a pity where you can see the manager tall who look like she don't have a clue what she is doing and the way she give orders to her staffs is really out of order may be they don't realise that there is some French people also come to have dinner where they can't recon. The service from the waitress was good,food not bad at all but for the price they are charging is robbery and service charge on top which is absolutly unacceptable,bottom line we had a bad experience and won't go back again and basic won't recommend this avenue to anyone
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Karim Lagesse
2 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Thursday, May 13, 2010

Was at Gastro last night, top venue, location, layout, big table at the back for a friend's birthday. 12 of us. Waiter was very friendly and efficient, but the food as very disappointing. It was a shame because Gastro could be one of the great French bistros of South London. They could have the Clapham-ites eating out if their hands literally.

Instead it seems they've got complacent. The menu is old and tired. Plastic like a greasy spoon, way too many options, jack of all trades? I had the french onion soup to start: tasteless, soft onions, 3 bits of stale bread, and a sprinkling of cheese. All who had it felt the same.

For mains the lamb shank in cassoulet, a classic! Mais non. The lamb was far too moist wet in fact, and again tasteless.

Others had steak frites, the frites were laced with salt, hard and luke warm.

The vin was good - some Viognier and some Pinot Noir, but a little overpriced: £25 per bottle.

All in all great atmosphere, but they should update the menu and put a bit of love into their food!
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Matt
4 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I took my partner as a treat to this restaurant for his birthday tonight. It was a calamity.

When I reserved a table that morning, I explained that this was a birthday and the lady on the phone assured me they would do something nice for him : "we sing and do a little presentation at the end of the meal" Great!

As it happened, my partner is allergic to dairy products. We explained this but still a boudin noire arrived with creamed mashed potatoes and a creamy sauce. We complained, the waitress took it away then came back with the mash gone but the sauce still there. The fries with my steak (mediocre) were a soggy mess so I just left them.

The indifferent wine (a 2007 Bourgogne) was, at nearly £30 a disgraceful mark up.

We asked for dessert but there was not ONE non-dairy option. This restaurant couldn't even rise to a sorbet or fruit salad! What kind of a place is this?

As for the birthday surprise? The surprise was it never happened.

So we didn't pay the service charge for this lousy, amateur dive. I hope you, dear reader, have better luck. Happy birthday!
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Gareth Valentine
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 1
Saturday, February 27, 2010

I am really disappointed that Monsieur Gastro hasn't heeded the feedback and done something about the appalling food and service at his establishment. There are plenty of other places in Clapham for good food and service. We need to vote with our feet!
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ST - View all reviews by this user
0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, February 17, 2010

This hole of a place is appalling. Tepid water, mash so watery and seasonless that you would have thought the worst it could be was tasteles but no it managed to taste like sludge with a crust. The Sunday roast was terrible and once again crimes against the potato was strongly in evidence. Don't go.
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Michael
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 24, 2010