Cafe des Amis

Our advice, don't go there!

On Saturday 10th May we had booked a table for dinner. The wine we selected was a New Zealand pinot noir, the waiter brought a Chilean white. Our starters were ordinary and initially served to the table next to ours. The main meal of supposed Simmental beef was more like a sample than a serving and appeared to be cremated rather than cooked. The lamb dish was inedible, greasy, uncooked and poorly presented. During the meal no fewer than 5 different people attended our table. When we complained we were met by a sullen response, an offer of another dish whilst we awaited "the manager" we were served some sort of chocolate sweet which looked more like something a small animal had left behind. Upon leaving they had the audacity to charge us a discretionary service charge which we requested and were reimbursed. We paid our bill less the lamb dish served by two sullen individuals, there was no attempt to apologise.
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J Swift
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Me and a huge group were going to eat here, but after reading the reviews, including the obvious one from the owner ("joy indeed"!!) we not only decided to go elsewhere but have told the other huge groups of us in the "Eating out in London" Club to avoid if possible.

Well done everyone.xxxxx saved hundreds of us a disappointing meal
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snailporridge - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, April 16, 2008

We went to Cafe des Amis last week and thought it was so-so and definitely not worth the money we paid. The wine list was pretty good. The meat served for the main courses was nice but both had the same sauce on them (although one was duck and the other lamb), the servings of veg were very small and both had a handful of salad thrown on top - the same type of salad and the same type that we saw on other plates around the restaurant - not very imaginative. The orange cheesecake dessert was excellent, as was the coffee. Some good bits but overall very poor value for money.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 3
Saturday, March 08, 2008

i was eating with my friend (4 of us) last Friday1st February.We had the most worst experience in my life. Especially for the food point of view.

The service was very slow. We had to wait more than 45mns for our starters which were very poor quality.I don't want to discuss about the main courses.(that was even worse. I thing it's time to put your act together .I won't recommend your restaurant to anybody.
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, February 05, 2008

I had my second meal here recently and will not be returning. It is an OK place and the food is OK but, with the amazing choice around London now, nothing to write home about.

What was unforgiveable for any restaurant is to serve a dish of new potatoes that are undercooked then, when this is pointed out, to remove the dish and bring back the same one, not a fresh one, having blasted it in a microwave for 2 or 3 minutes. I know it was a microwave because the potatoes were dry, still hard and burnt my mouth in such a way as only a microwave can do. No way to treat new potatoes and no way to treat a customer. Needless to say, after one nasty bite, I left them.
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Dianne
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Friday, February 01, 2008

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

I had the best meal I have ever had and my wife broke down in tears at the joy of the food. And so cheap. And such attentive staff. The decor is sublime and all the other customers were clamouring to be admitted here again. Oh joy.
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Mr. Egypt
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, January 18, 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