Number Twelve
special offer
Special Offer only available online - please book above
25% off food
Offer Details: ...from the a la carte menu. Includes Vat, excludes service.
Available: Monday, Tuesday 12:00 to 15:00, 21:30 to 22:00. Wednesday to Friday 12:00 to 15:00, 21:30 to 22:00. Saturday 17:30 to 18:00, 21:30 to 22:00
Maximum people: 8
Terms: Expires 8th June 08
One hour lunch: one course £10.50
Offer Details: ...from a set menu (two courses £13.50, three courses £15.50) Includes Vat, excludes service.
Available: Monday to Friday 12:00 to 15:00
Maximum people: 20
Terms: Expires 6th June 08
our comments
Can I just say from the off; this is a very good restaurant indeed? I’m not a lover of restaurants which are conjoined to hotels, but I have to park that prejudice because the food and the service were outstanding.
It was fairly early when we arrived, but the place was busy with after-work diners and remained fairly bustling right up until we left. The word is clearly spreading. Number 12 appeals to a fairly ‘grown-up’ clientele with its sophisticated décor and impressive bar area. The staff are really on the ball from the minute you walk in and, looking around, everyone seemed to be served with a great deal of care and attention.
My friend began with seared yellow fin tuna in a salt crust and I had the seared native squid. A couple of tricky appetizers which could always go horribly wrong but were delicious and clearly had just swum up to the back door and slid onto our plate, they were so fresh. The tuna was on top of a warm Sicilian sweet and sour fennel salad which tasted subtly of aniseed and didn’t overpower. My squid was incredibly tender and beautifully presented with a puree of tomato, pepper and cucumber.
We were invited to try a couple of ‘surprise’ dishes; a very pretty and soft Buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad and a risotto with pumpkin which was really yummy. It was perfectly al dente, obviously made with an excellent stock and finished with a sprinkling of good quality pecorino cheese. Highly recommended.
Onto the mains, and we both went for Sunday lunch-type options. I had the Herefordshire white pork belly which was cooked to perfection. It was full of flavour and melted in the mouth and was accompanied nicely by an apple chutney, fondant potato and beans. My friend had the Welsh salt marsh lamb and samphire which he claimed was ‘suitably salty’ and ‘accurately cooked’. Which is what you hope for really, don’t you? We agreed, samphire with lamb makes a welcome change from samphire with fish which it is usually served with. A bit different.
The dessert menu was small but perfectly formed with a selection of ice creams and sorbets and, interestingly a banana sundae with Szechwan pepper caramel. I went for the warm 70% chocolate pud. It was fine but it was served with a rosemary scented ice cream which sounded interesting but I just didn’t like. Probably me, but it seemed wrong. My friend however enjoyed his plate of ewes', cows' and goats' cheeses which were knowledgably described to him by the waiter (although you never get enough ‘bready bits’ to eat it with).
Wine was Southern Italian (there’s a strong Italian flavour to all the dishes which are otherwise very British, certainly in terms of produce) and the sommelier, enthusiastically, kept us interested in what we were drinking throughout the evening (try the apple and custard after dinner cocktail).
Great chef, great service.
H.P. - October 2007
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
I've now been twice to Number Twelve and on each occasion have been well-satisfied as were my three friends. Food is imaginative and well-executed, Italian with a twist, with decent sized portions at all courses. For starters, seared tuna or the scallops (a special) were excellent as was the 28 day hung beef, cooked exactly as requested. A friend enjoyed his crab ravioli as a main course - last week he was taken to an expense account lunch at Locanda Locatelli and thought these ravioli were as good as the Locattelli pasta, and at a third of the price. The sherry trifle, "italianised" with a topping of amaretti biscuits, was delicious.
On the most recent occasion we had a table in the window overlooking Woburn Walk, which added to the pleasure..
Interesting wine list, sourced from several countries and relatively well priced. The NePriCa red from Puglia was very good value at £21. Good range of digestifs.
Finally, and not the least of the attractions of this restaurant, very pleasant and competent service. The young team is obviously well trained. Other restaurants could do with emulating this !
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JohnP
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Upon entering Number Twelve, the greeting from a young, smiling staff was welcoming, and we were swiftly seated in a modern, stylish restaurant which was about a third full early on a Saturday evening. Although we'd booked under the £22.95 meal deal (including a carafe of wine), we were also supplied with an à la carte menu and wine list. These looked tempting, but couldn't beat the value of a meal deal, so I opted for the grey mullet to start, while my husband selected the gnocchi - the sole vegetarian option on the set menu.
While waiting for our first course we were offered a range of different breads, including a mozzarella variety and one with sun-dried tomato. The bread was fresh and enjoyable - and I was pleased that the waiting staff noticed how quickly we devoured the pieces we'd selected and returned with more for us. At this point the complimentary wine arrived in the form of a bottle which had been priced at £15 on the menu. Although it was the cheapest the restaurant served, it was perfectly good and appreciated as decent value.
The starters then arrived and I couldn't detect much sour in my grey mullet, despite it being described as sweet and sour. However, this did not matter as it was wonderful - very rare, which would not be to everyone's taste, but I am a sushi lover. The fish was tender and delicious, accompanied by a fairly simple salad with celeraic. Nothing else was needed, the fresh fish was so good. My husband's gnocchi was served with a rich and creamy cheese-based sauce, which was declared to be very good.
My main course was corn-fed chicken with aubergine caviar and potato; the chicken was wonderfully tender and complimented by the aubergine. However, it would have been improved with more aubergine and sauce to balance it - there was a surprisingly generous portion of chicken in the dish.
The vegetarian main course was a mushroom pappardelle, which was deemed creamy and very nice. However, my husband felt that it didn't offer much of an alternative to his starter dish. Number Twelve certainly has an Italian flavour - and successfully so - but could have planned the vegetarian set menu somewhat better.
My pudding was a créme anglais with honeycomb and pistachio - it was absolutely divine. My husband opted for a filter coffee and was pleasantly surprised when it was priced at £3.05 on the bill, as it was a very good coffee that would have cost just as much in an ordinary café with a lower ground rent. The coffee was served with 8 complimentary, varied biscuits, which was an appreciated touch beyond the expected.
Number Twelve is definitely worth a visit, with generally very good food, superb waiting staff and slick, attractive bathrooms. The meal deal made it superb value - just under £60 in total for two really good meals and drinks. I hope to return, and soon.
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dawnage - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Friday, January 18, 2008
A friend and were just walking by(in the rain...)and wanted to find somewhere nice to try...and to seek cover from the weather. WOW what a find in Bloomsbury! I normally go to Pied De Terre for lunch but this restaurant was really very good.We were somewhat pressed for time so just a had a main course.I ordered the seared yellow fin tuna in a salt crust with a warm Sicillian fennel salad which was divine...perfect flavours.My friend enjoyed a poached monkfish in red wine with a parma ham crisp,lentils and crushed violet potatoes.
The staff were excellent with the front of house and sommelier being extra nice...given we were in such a hurry.We'll go back next week for a longer session as the menu has some other tempting dishes...and we didn't even try the starters or deserts.They do a two or three course lunch special which seemed excellent value.
Comment on this reader review
Anon
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Friday, September 28, 2007
