Hibiscus

I visited Hibiscus recently on a Saturday to have the set lunch and was really disapointed.

The starter was a piece of ravioli filled with scallops and accompanied with cuttle fish; i would go as far as to say tastless and cold.

Main 4 out of 6 ordered the beef, which according to the menu is served pink; fine!. Unfortunately it was served up raw and blue; 2 were sent back the other 2 were being polite; the meat therefore had no taste, there was no sauce and a smidgen of vegetables served. also 2 main courses served when 2 people were not even present at the table; they should have checked and waited before they served the main course.

No pre starter, which is strange considering it is a 2 star restaurant, however the mouge bouge served as a pre starter was ok.

The dessert was a lemon cheescake which was tasty but ruined by a blob of ice cream on the top; no attention to detail at all.

The wine and bread was divine!

at £55 pounds each i left the restaurant disapointed and out of pocket.

unsure how this has maintained 2 star status, as compared to Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley this was not even fit for the quarter finals of Masterchef!!

Don't bother going as it is really poor!
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Helen Noonan
5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

It is nice to find a restaurant with well spaced tables and good noise suppression (carpets and textured walls) - makes for pleasant conversation!

The food was wonderful - a twist for each dish in terms of the spices which may not be for all - but we found worked very well.

We shared the starters Langoustine, Fois gras and ravioli - could not fault any of them. This is rich food. The mains were goose and the two course pork, Desserts came in the form of Rice Soufflé, chocolate tart, and parsnip tart. The parsnip cream start by itself was wrong, but when combined with the vanilla ice cream and caramel came together beautifully - was a delight. The pre dessert of granny smith jelly, with chestnut mouse and celeriac mousse was divine. The only thing that we all agreed did not work was one of the sweet treats with the coffee - a smoked fudge - tasted like eating the remnants of a piece of fudge that fell into the ash of a fire - too smokey!

This is a restaurant for meat eaters who like rich food - the focus of the plate is definitely the meat which was generous with very delicate and interesting sauces and artistic accompliments.

The restaurant manager, Azedine was very helpful, very knowledgeable with the wine and always on hand to help without being unobtrusive.

This is three star quality but some of the non standard spicing may just keep those traditional Michelin inspectors from going for the third -I hope not!
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colin b - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, December 17, 2009

We visited this restaurant on a Saturday night and arranged to have the table downstairs and the tasting menu for 10 people. We had to pay a deposit of £50 per head in advance and were asked to let the somelier choose wines for £75 a head - we elected to choose our own on the night . The food was good however the portions were very small and I was not impressed by the fact that all wines under £40 a bottle were conveniently unavailable. Overall a goodish experience but the wines were overpriced, the portions too small and the bill so huge we won't be rushing back.
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5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Monday, December 14, 2009

After much research I chose Hibiscus to celebrate my wife’s birthday. We left happy but not raving about the experience. In short, Hibiscus has rather the feel of a local, very upmarket restaurant with excellent food and a more relaxed vibe than a fine dining “destination” restaurant, some which tend to take themselves rather seriously. We liked it for that very reason so as long as that’s what you’re looking for, you should enjoy it!

FOOD. Excellent fois gras, and raviolis with Cevennes onion and cinnamon for starters. We both chose pork for main course, which came in 2 services. Neither of us liked the first (sorry, we cant remember what it was called exactly but it was pork fillet). We both had 2 mouthfuls and left the rest. It tasted and smelled of fish to me! The sausage roll on the other hand was fantastic and every mouthful a delight.

SERVICE. Excellent. My wife is pregnant and they gave her good advice on the various ingredients and what she could and couldn’t have. I ordered some wine by the glass and the sommelier found me a glass of superb Puligny Montrachet that is normally sold only by the bottle, and he even topped it up later.

DECOR AND ATMOSPHERE. Some reviews had noted that the decor lacked character but to my taste, it was unfussy if a little muted – lots of wood panelling and beige. It would help if they dimmed the lights a little as it was quite bright! Plenty of space between tables.

For us the atmosphere is crucial and I was glad that this was not one of those restaurants where you feel like you have to whisper. At least you can joke with the waiters!
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AK - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Visited Hibiscus on Saturday night and chose the eight course tasting menu. An interesting experience all round. The restaurant was chilly when we arrived but soon warmed up after the restaurant filled up. The staff were professional but not overbearing. All dishes were explained in brief when placed in front of the diners. All in all I enjoyed 6 out of the 8 dishes served. All courses were based on seasonal foods (cep's, apples, cinnimon, shell fish, grouse, etc). I would have loved to have eaten the optional cheese course but I was perfectly full after the eight courses served. Maybe the six course menu would have been a better option. The cost of the whole meal per person came in at £129 including wine, service charge, etc. At this cost it is not a cheap meal condsidering the wine we chose was around the £30 a bottle mark. However on reflection a pleasant experience with food cooked and presented to an excellent standard.
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m.knight
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, October 25, 2009

Hm. Interesting experience. I'd like to go back, but my wife wouldn't return, and I probably couldn't afford it anyway. It's not the food. Pretty much everyone thought the food was faultless, if a bit weird. The exception to this was the dark chocolate tart with miso ice cream. One person loved it, another person couldn't eat it at all. Aside from that, everyone enjoyed their meals. The winner was probably my pigeon with whispberry puree and peanut butter. For starters, the lobster raviolo took the ribbon. I thought the pork belly was lovely, but everyone who had it complained it was too small. On top of that, it was a £10 supplement to the prix fixe menu. Extra money for the lobster starter, everyone understood. But for pork belly? The only thing 'exotic' on the plate was eel, which is pretty cheap. Then there was also the fact they would not sit 8 of us together for lunch, when it looked like there was plenty of room, had they wanted to make the effort.

Service was fantastic. Smooth, effecient, but not stuffy at all. If a table joked with the waiters, they would joke back. But they were also extremely apologetic when they realized they brought someone Gordons instead of Tanqueray and immediately rectified it. However, the room itself seemed a bit lifeless. The decor was nice, but maybe missing some soul?

So all in all, I'm not sure what to say. I enjoyed the food and the experience, but there was a little something missing that kept our lunch from being truly special.
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Dan - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Monday, September 21, 2009

I walked away from my meal at Hibiscus on a Friday evening sorely, sorely disappointed. Even now, weeks later, I still cringe at the thought of our experience there, and I'm actually embarrassed for the highly-touted restaurant.

Yes, it was a fixed menu (we knew that going in) and yes, we knew the prices would be high, but the gap between execution of our meal and the value that we received was too high for me to even consider a second trip back to Hibiscus. The experience was bad enough for me to bother writing this review.

The presentation of the dishes were constructed, but pretty enough. This really was about the high note of our meal. None of the dishes were inspiring and there was just a lack of energy through out the dining room. That feeling was palpable. This just was not an exciting place to eat. All of us noticed that we barely cared about what would be coming up on the next course as our meal went on. At the end of our meal, we were presented with a Green tea & Raspberry "souffle" that was raspberries with baked green-tea infused cream. Not new and something that seemed to be more of an afterthought to the meal. The drinks were very expensive, at 10 - 15 pounds each, and on the small side. Plus, the service was at times intrusive. Including 1 bottle of wine, our meal for three came out to more than 125pounds a person.

Walking out of the restaurant (which was only at about 60%-70% seating capacity), all three of us immediately remarked on disappointing the experience was. We found it difficult to believe that this is no. 56 on S. Pellegrino's World's Best restaurants list. It's certainly got the prices, but not the credibility to back it up.
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5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Sunday, August 30, 2009

Brilliant, loved it.
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JJ
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Our first visit today, on a busy midweek lunchtime, resulted in a good meal and a view that we shall probably go again.

From the outside you could be forgiven for having low expectations. It looks like an office and there's little going on in this fairly nondescript area that gives the impression that there's a starred restaurant here. Indeed it so low -key that I walked past it twice . Inside the situation improves with a modern decor that whilst not over-endowed with character, is certainly comfortable and pleasant enough.

I found the food variable. My dessert of yellow lime pie, served as a hot creme brulee and toppred with clove icecream, was very good indeed, and my companion was equally effusive about hers. We enjoyed our main courses of veal faggot and pollock with an excellent pomme puree and rice respectively too, though I felt that there was insufficient sauce on the plate to add anything whatsoever to the experience. My starter was a strange mix of rough textured goat and smooth foie gras, which just about worked., though again the advertised octopus was cut so thin that it was esentially a taste free experience. I should mention that the bread and butter were very good indeed - better than I often get in restaurants twice the price. The amuses bouches seemed to be a mix of lightly poached egg and a veloute served in an eggshell. The first couple of mouthfuls were very impressive but when I came across some undercooked egg white, that was it for me. Lesson here, if you're going to serve up something before people are served what they'd paid for, better to get it right or else it works against you.

Service was perfectly pleasant and proficient throughout, perhaps if anything it might have been a little quick. Good value for money too. The £33.50 package includes 3 courses, a glass of decent wine, coffee and some very good chocolates masquerading as petits fours.

All told, not perfect cooking, but preety good we thought, and I'd certainly look forward to eating there again
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David Henderson - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 9
Thursday, February 19, 2009

We ate at Hibiscus last Sat. night (the first 'full' Sat. night service) and had what I would describe as a most interesting meal. Personally my meal experience is very affected by the dining room decor and atmosphere. For this, I give Hibiscus high marks. The dining room is beautiful, just the right amount of 'noise' and intimate without being stuffy or standoff-ish.

The menu offered only a choice of 4,6 or 8 courses. I am fine with this arrangement however, as I very much enjoy reading about what it is I am about to eat, I missed having the courses described in the menu. At least, a printed card or sheet of paper could be given to the table as the rapid fire description by the serving waiter was insufficient. Each course I had to ask the waiter to repeat multiple times what it was that he/she had just served. Annoying.

Service was mostly fine, if a bit hurried. Sensing that the pace was picking up we deliberately slowed down as I truly wanted to savour the food I was eating. High marks to the wine steward who ably helped us select a fine wine from the extensive wine list.

Now to the food, as said at the beginning, all was very interesting. Mostly from an ingredients point of view. We had a few standout courses, 1-2 mediocre courses and 1 bad course. Overall, I must agree with some of the other reviewers that the interesting ingredient combinations didn't produce deep, flavorsome mouthfuls. Presentation was always sublime, portions perfect...just a real lack of taste in too many of the dishes. Sorry.

Finally, my biggest 'complaint' is the fear of heat in the kitchen. I found all the dishes undercooked (and for the record, I like my steak and fish rare). Yes, I understand that this is food from a 2 starred Michelin chef, modern cuisine and all things rare are good however I genuinely believe that everything we had would have been improved by a minute longer in the pan/oven/stovetop.

In sum, a wonderful evening, a very special meal with ingredients I'm still talking about but a few niggles that made it an 8 out of 10 meal for me.
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9 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 8
Friday, February 13, 2009