Cafe des Amis

I have lived in various countries around the world and this was one of my worst restaurant experiences.

There were 4 of us at dinner, 2 of us received our starters very quickly whilst there was a 30min wait for the remaining 2 starters to arrive. This was followed by a 1 hour wait for the main course. My main course (rabbit) was dry and bland - it really didnt taste of anything.

I ordered the yoghurt sorbet for dessert. It was supposed to come with walnuts which were missing. Upon requesting the missing walnuts, I was presented with a small bowl of crushed biscuits, which on the outset, did look like nuts but were clearly not walnuts!

The waiter and waitress serving us, however, were friendly and nice and also appeared very frustrated themselves about the long delays. The manager, however, was unapologetic. We requested a discount and got the desserts (which were £2 each as we were on a set menu) and a bottle of water free - a huge compensation at £2.80 each. Very dissappointing experience especially when I read all the reviews before booking and they were all good.

All 4 of us agreed that we would not come back again, and would also not recommend this restaurant to anyone.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Sunday, January 27, 2008

This is one of the worst meals I have ever had. In ten years living in London, this was the first time I was actually unable to eat a main course.

My husband fared only slightly better, in that he was able to eat the main course he was given, however he commented that it was not a pleasant experience.

I will not be returning, and will be advising everyone I know to stay away.

I simply cannot understand how a place like this has had a high number of good reviews, there is absolutely no way that they are merited.

Both food and atmosphere were poor. And unfortunately this was a meal for my birthday....
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 14, 2008

We went there on saturday evening. It was a surprise birthday dinner for my BF and we were a mixed group of 21 people. We had a set dinner and a large table on the first floor. I had arranged the reservation and menu selection and found the staff was very uncomplicated, helpful and flexible with the party preparations. I had to change number of guests and the menus a few times and it wasn't a problem. We could also bring our own birthday cake to the restaurant. Only thing was the lady responsible for the booking was really hard to reach.

The evening itself was great, they played along with the whole surprise-game and didn't mind as we came a bit late. Service was neutral and quite descret and the food was great too. Best course was the beef with red wine sauce, delicious. They even served the birthday cake with candles for us!

It was quite a busy time just before christmas but I didn't feel service was slow and we could take our time although we had a booking until 9pm and stayed over an hour longer.

Overall this was a great evening for all and I' ll definately return there next year.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Sunday, December 23, 2007

We had a great meal in good surroundings served by pleasant staff. I hope anyone who goes on the strength of my review enjoys it as much as we did!!!
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Bill Sharp
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Sunday, December 02, 2007

I ate here on saturday lunchtime and although the timing could have affected the atmosphere I'm sure it didn't the food. Its not so much that it was bad more just not the quality I expected or the choice on the set menu. There are other restaurants within 10mins walking from here that are far better and I will be using them instead from now on. I won't be returning here.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, November 15, 2007

I had high hopes of Cafe des Amis, having read the reviews on this website and having been a frequent visitor to the bar there. I wasn't entirely disappointed but a couple of incidents did make me question whether I would return here.

The food is very good - just what you would expect from a restaurant of this nature within this price bracket. The decor is charming. I think the staff let the place down. While he was not actively rude, our waiter demonstrated spectacular incompetence at virtually every stage of the meal. The two events that really annoyed me were: (1) he started to clear starter plates before one of our party had finished her starter; and (2) the main course arrived immediately the last starter had been cleared.

This, I find, is sufficiently irritating to put me on edge for an evening. If it hadn't been for these two things, I would be recommending this restaurant.
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Liz
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Friday, October 26, 2007

After a number of disappointments at recommended London restaurants, Cafe des Amis is the first one we would happily return to. Excellent food, efficient service, relaxed atmosphere and value for money. Couldn't ask for more.
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Tony & Dawn James, Buckinghamshire
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Monday, October 22, 2007

Came here for my birthday dinner on the recommendation from a friend. I had never actually heard of the place before and must have walked past Hanover place a million times. On arrival we were informed by the receptionist that my party would be seated in the new private dining room rather in the 1st floor main restaurant which was such a lucky touch as I think a minimum spend usually applies. The private 'Long Acre Room' was sooo perfect it was totally seperate from the main part of the restaurtant and so intimate. Really made my night special. We had our own waitress, who was amazing, attentive and lots of fun too! Food was divine, was a little apprehensive at first as I had to pre-arrange a set menu but wasn't let down. I had seared scallops to start followed by a very lean duck breast, honey & soy with a delicious red cabbage fondue. Desserts where out of this world my hot chocolate and raspberry fondue came out on a beautiful birthday dessert plate. All 20 of us really enjoyed the meal, which is usually rare as we had a few picky ones with us. We all had such a fun night. Thank you Cafe Des Amis for such a memorable evening!
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jada
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Friday, October 12, 2007

After reading some controversial reviews I started having doubts about the dinner I booked at Café Des Amis the week before. However, even though I occasionally enjoy picking on little things, both me and my boyfriend have enjoyed the dinner very much and were impressed by personal and efficient service.

The food was great, especially the crab salad and red mullet as my main course, which were cooked and presented just the way they should be. It’s a pity we did not have any room for dessert, probably because we kept snacking on luscious olives throughout the meal.

The service was excellent too, very friendly and professional at the same time. Every request was attended to promptly. We were seated immediately and they even found us another table when we asked in an almost full restaurant.

Overall, this has been a very enjoyable experience and I would be happy to go back.
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Karina
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, October 05, 2007

Me & my boyfriend had a meal last Saturday. It was my boyfriend 28th B-day. We are both big 'food lovers'. The plan was to go see Tour de France in morning and at the evenig go for a meal. My responsiblity was to choose the restaurant (as a supprise). Unfortunatley we are living in Ascot, in Berkshire and I had really big problem to decided where and which kind of cousine to choose on this special occasion, because I don't know any restaurants in London. I found Cafe des Amis on the Covent Garden Life web and I booked via this web site. I mentioned as well on the booking that my boyfriend have a b-day.

The restaurant looked very nice. Dinner was very tasty. Complement to the chef. Food was full of flavours. Only thing to complaine is: my main course: brest of duck, roast fig and marineted roast peppers - a little bit overpowered by peppers. I think it would be better idea to use roast peppers (home made, roast in oven) but not marinated. And my boyfriend main course: seafood stew was full of diffrend flavours but maby good idea will be not to use smoked fish (headdock) because again is overpowering the tast of whole dish. But anyway we finished with beatifull dessert - trio of chocolates . Fantastic!

Thank You very much as well for very proffesional service. Staff was very attentive & chatty at the same time. The bill was a bit supprise but very positive supprise. From the tottal of our bill was dedacted 20%, which I later found out was because I booked via web. Nice touch! My boyfriend and me had a wonderfull time. Thanks again. I am sure we will recomend You for our friends.

Just to let You know, we both working for years in hospitallity buisness and it is very difficult to execed our expectations, which You deffinetley did.
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Marta Wielgosz
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Sunday, July 08, 2007