Fifteen London (Restaurant)

We ate in the Trattoria a couple of weeks ago as we were invited by some friends. My partner had always wanted to go to this place as she is a great fan of Jamie Oliver. In my opinion think this is one of the worst restaurants I have been to - the food is really bland and over priced. The starters all cost at least £7 and were miniscule. I got a blob of Mozzarella with smashed green peas on Bruschetta for £8 - it was small and hardly tasted of anything.

The thing that made me really annoyed was the rib-eye steak. Despite me asking for the steak to be medium-well done it came very red. I sent it back but only for it to come back slightly less red. I did not want to embarrass my friends so did not opt to send the dish back again and instead grudgingly ate it. The sides were really insipid as well and cost £22.50. I have just come back from Chicago and went to two typical restaurants that served steaks - these were done perfectly and did not cost as much as what I paid. This begs the question: if they do not know how to cook steak properly (as in knowing the difference between rare and med-well done), why bother to offer it on the menu ? Perhaps Jamie could take some time to teach his apprentices instead of trying to sort out school dinners on both sides of the Atlantic.

I won't be coming here again.
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3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, May 17, 2011

My parents visited me in London for the day so I thought it would be a treat to go to Fifteen in Shoreditch as I really like Jamie's style of cooking. Our waiter was polite and friendly. The wine list was extensive, and we had some really good bottles, though they were perhaps overpriced and the way the wine menu is presented is ridiculous and needs simplifying.

They now have a pre-fixe meal deal that lasts over the weekend so we really thought we were going to get value for money. Complimentary bread and oil were lovely, starters of crab and orzo balls with lemon aioli were underwhelming to say the least. There was not even a hint of crab. It was basically a tasteless ball of batter. The aioli was nice but I couldn't detect the promised chilli kick. The pasta courses were mixed, the puttanesca was lovely but the gorgonzola and walnut gnocci, though generously sized, barely tasted of anything. It had about one crushed walnut , was hugely under seasoned and hardly any cheese.

The mains were the best courses of the bunch. My dad had salmon and really enjoyed it and my mum and I had duck with lentils. The lentils were really tasty as was the duck but the skin was flabby as opposed to crisp.

We didn't try any dessert as nothing overly appealed and we had been rather underwhelmed by the rest of the food so didn't feel it was worth the extra money.

Overall pleasant enough surroundings and atmosphere. Our waiter was friendly though no one seemed to go out of their way for you. What was striking was the flaws in basic cooking and flavours. Nothing was inedible but you could barely identify what you were eating it was so lacking in taste and seasoning, and worryingly often - the supposed star ingredient!! And flabby skin on duck??!! Surely that's covered in the first few weeks of cookery school!

Ended up paying about £200 for the three of us, far, far too much for something so tasteless and uninspiring. I think Jamie needs to stop trying to save the world and worry about the quality of things he puts his name to. He's a chef and this is his restaurant, but you would never know it.
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6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 5
Friday, May 13, 2011

Very disappointing. Had to send the main meals back- pasta was crunchy and tasteless, gnochhi was sloppy and tasteless, spinach side dish had a ton of salt on it, inedible. So heavily salted we were up half the night glugging water. I've never complained or sent food baxck before but i literally couldnt eat it. Don't eat here!
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3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Thursday, April 21, 2011

My wife and I celebrated our 40th anniversary at Fifteen in London on the 7th of March 2012 and it was a wonderful experience. The welcome and service was suberb.

Our starters were on the large side well executed and good value. The mains were well cooked and full of flavour. The dessert came with a nice "touch" " Happy 40th Anniversary" !!

We were very well looked after by all the staff.

Having traveled all around the World , eaten in many restaurants we would rate Fifteen very highly.

What Jamie and his team are doing should be celebrated with an open mind for what it is.
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Michael Jackson
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, March 09, 2011

I feel compelled to write a review to agree with the negative comments about this restaurant. We were excited and looking forward to our dinner. It was soooooo disappointing. We couldn't be seated in the downstairs restaurant until 8.45pm. Consequently the place was empty by the time we finished our mains and we were being pressured to leave. The price was outrageous even without dessert....I don't know what prices they are quoting when you read their web site. Obviously no one tastes anything in the kitchen. Some of our meals were inedible they were so salty and yet other reviewers say they had to add salt. The staff were offhand and inattentive. The food is suitable for people with no teeth...not one bit of crunch, no salad or vegetables and just a feeling of stingyness. One slice of doughy bread each and the smallest amount of olive oil for dipping. Fish stew with a couple of the smallest mussels I've ever seen, some pippies, and a small piece of overcooked fish swimming in salty 'soup'. A few weeks later I went to De Kas in Amsterdam and had the best restaurant experience of my life. The chefs at 15 need to get out and about and find out what real food is. Same with the management....they are obviously not on the ball if they think the experience for diners at 15 is acceptable.
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Denise
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, February 21, 2011

I have previously eaten at Fifteen Cornwall. Staff, food, atmosphere were all fantastic. On my recent return trip to London I thought it would be nice to dine at Fifteen London. Unfortunately that was a big mistake. The combination of very poor service and meals that were well below standard made for a very disappointing evening. Our entire party was disappointed and I personally believe that the staff need to be retrained in even the most basic customer service and the meals need a total over haul. I intend to go to Fifteen Melbourne to see what that is like. I can only presume it would be miles ahead of Fifteen London because a restaurant like Fifteen London would not last a week in Melbourne. I would not recommend Fifteen London to anyone.
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1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Thursday, February 03, 2011

We arrived early, excited to have a cocktail before dinner. We were directed to some seats, we had to slump our winter coats onto the table, as we were told by the maitre d' that as we were dining downstairs he couldn't take our coats! 20mins passed & no one had come to take an order for drinks, I had to go & ask someone to come over. We were then seated at our table & the waitress came over & asked if we were "ready to order our meals?" We hadn't even ordered wine yet! The waitress took only 2 drink orders from a table of 6 & then began walking off. A member of our party asked the waitress "where the scallops were from?" To which she replied "Scotland..I think.? I don't really know". She didn't even offer to go and find out, the service was absolutely appalling! The entrees were ok, the mains awful! The artichoke purée with the scallops was so salty, it completely over powered everything else on the plate! The fish stew was also too salty, advice to the chef's, learn to season food correctly before charging outrageous prices! The Lamb was served with spinach, 4 leaves! It was just a bowl of shredded lamb, hard to stomach even by a carnivore! I though Jamie was always trying to get us to eat healthier but to serve our dishes without vegetables was disgraceful. If Jamie had himself been given the service & food we had he would be embarrassed, and he should be. We expressed our disappointment in the meals to the waiter & were met with a rude response. Regarding the lack of vegetables with our meals the answer we got was "here is the menu, what you see is what you get, there is no secrets" and "upstairs is where they serve side dishes & this should have been explain when we booked" . We were then handed the bill without asking for it, they clearly wanted us to leave. The bill came to over £400! £50 of which was a 'discretionary service charge'. We left feeling incredibly disappointed & with no incentive to EVER return.
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0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, January 29, 2011

I had always wanted to visit Fifteen and finally decided to book albeit only for breakfast and was surprised to get a booking so quickly! Anyway all 7 of us attended early on Sunday 23 January 2011 and ordered from the breakfast menu which was nothing out of the ordinary but breakfast is breakfast! I had already read the reviews and one stuck in my mind about the food being cold and true to form mine was cold as was the plate! The food was okay and I ate it but just be warned!
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Lesley
7 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 6
Monday, January 24, 2011

Being in London for a few days we had the chance to have a meal at Fifteen on the 20th of December. And it was a fantastic experience: good food, good atmosphere, wonderful evening at an acceptable price. Even the two 15-year old girls that accompanied us, said it was great. Love from Holland.
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9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, December 23, 2010

I went for lunch with my partner as a Christmas treat.

We were very pleased with all aspects of our lunch including service, wine and price.

I couldn't fault anything...even though I had read some of the negative reviews before I went and was keeping my eye out for obvious faults!

Well done to everyone at the restaurant, and thanks for making us so welcome - Merry Christmas!!
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Val Masson
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, December 21, 2010