Hibiscus

A very mixed experience for our group at Hibiscus last night. We had the 8 course tasting menu with matched wines. High points: The food was good. Some dishes were outstanding, and even those that were not entirely successful were interesting. The female sommelier was excellent. Friendly and informative and she matched the level of her input to her guests with skill and charm. Other aspects of the service were extremely poor. The Maitre D lacked any interest in his guests and certainly did not show any interest in standards of service. We sat for over 20 minutes waiting for payment to be taken from our card. When we reminded the waitress a second time we overheard her ask a colleague if he would remind the MD that we were still waiting - it was clear she was afraid of his response if she did so herself a second time. His arrogant manner has obviously set the tone for some of the other service staff who are downright unfriendly (rather than professional or formal), while others are doing their best in difficult circumstances. It took over 40 minutes from the time we asked for the bill (credit card at the ready on the table and obviously keen to get home on a school night) to the time we walked out of the door. At £200 a head I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a complete service from the whole team, and would far rather spend my money at The Square, Marcus Wareing or GR Royal Hospital Road where you are effortlessly given the impression that you are a valued guest being hosted, rather than an inconvenience.
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5 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The food and service was exquisite. The somellier's suggestion of wines was perfect. Price was what it was - you don't go to a two star michelin place and moan about cost. Was still a bit underwhelmed though which I think was down to the room - it's an uninteresting box and it kills any sort of atmosphere.
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Ricky - View all reviews by this user
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, August 02, 2011

I had dinner at Hibiscus this evening and was truly disappointed, the food lacked inventiveness and some of the flavours were truly awful.. in partcular the foie gras ice cream was just a disgusting plate of slop which I could not finish; and the matched wine menu was truly awful - a cheap, sweet sparkling rose I ask you? Two Michelin stars and one of the 50 best restaurants in the world??? Someone somewhere is laughing at us all...
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2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Saturday, July 30, 2011

The cooking at Hibiscus is technically very assured, but we found our lunch too protein-heavy. The emphasis is on doing clever things to meat, eggs and fish, often involving the currently fashionable 'foam'. Vegetables and salad don't really figure in the concept, and even if they are mentioned in the description of a particular dish, they may turn out to be tiny dollops of puree, or mere flavourings. We had a pork dish which was certainly the most unusual pork I've had - very slowly cooked, if 'cooked' is the word, and still very soft, very pale pink and fresh. It was almost like cutting into raw pork, and I wasn't sure I could bring myself to eat a whole slab of it. I would have enjoyed a substantial dish of accompanying vegetables, but such is not the style of the restaurant. Desserts were delicious, though the portions were small. The young staff were charming, alert and well-mannered. Hibiscus is an expensive treat best suited to carnivores.
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8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, July 23, 2011

Had dinner in private dining room - great foie grois ice cream starter - very imaginative - chicken was best i have tasted and chocolate tart v good, not too rich but could of done with a bit more ice cream beside it.. staff very good, helpful and polite - people who go to these types of places really should not moan about the price of things on the menu - if you do then this kind of place is not for you. lovely butter too!
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Stephen
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Friday, June 10, 2011

Probably best to avoid Hibiscus.

I had dinner in the private dining room with 6 friends just before Christmas. Whilst the food was great, the service from the sommelier was the worst I have experienced.

The minor issue was the water that was provided - 7 people were charged for 19 bottles of water. I doubt that we drank nearly 3 bottles each on top of 13 bottles of wine.

However, my main gripe is what I consider to be a flagrant breach of the trust that exists between the sommelier and the host.

The wines chosen for the dinner were all priced between £74 and £90, i.e. less than £100 (with the exception of the a dessert wine at £140). Later in the evening, I asked the sommelier for some additional wines and suggested he recommended some new world wine based on the sort of wines we had been drinking so far (i.e. style and price point). I was shocked when I checked the bill and discovered the resulting wines poured for us were £160, £175 and £325. Clearly, I acknowledge that I should have asked the price before agreeing to any of the wines, but in my years in restaurants of this calibre, the sommelier has always picked up on the subtle cues around what style of wine the guest would prefer, and most importantly the amount he would like to pay.

So a good restaurant spoiled by poor management.
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Stuart Deignan
4 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 24, 2011

Lunch at Hibiscus was an elegant experience. I opted for Foie Gras then skate from the a la carte selection, other guests chose a combination of other dishes from the same menu. After a highly original amuse-bouche offering we had mixed feedback. GOOD: Everyone found the quality of the food faultless, staff attentive, service smooth and flavours fantastic. DISAPOINTING: Service was a little slow (an hour before the bread arrived). Irrespective of the high end prices, all portions were considered a little too small which detracted from our experience.
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Nik Nak
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Thursday, December 09, 2010

Ate here last night. Stupendous. Bold, delicious and satisfyingly seasonal. These were gutsy, pungent combinations of flavours which surprised and delighted in equal measure. Above all, every dish worked as a combination of flavours - taken separately, scallop, hazelnuts, pink grapefruit jelly and pork pie sauce don't work. Together, each shuffles over a little in the line up to create a perfect ensemble. Ingredients were fantastic and their cooking immaculate. This is not cuisine for the faint hearted however. I saw several dishes returned to the kitchen from neighbouring tables and my own companion couldn't stomach her saddle of hare with fondant onion and coffee, young leek, chestnuts and black truffles. Me, I thought it was the most satisfying dish i'd eaten this year. That's until I laid into the chocolate tart with Indonesian basil ice cream and star anise tuile.

An observation and two criticisms. Menu descriptions don't do justice to this kind of cooking - the pleasure is in the dish as a whole, not in the list of ingredients. There was no mention of the restricted menu when we booked. In December there's only a tasting menu - choose how many courses you want and take pot luck. This makes for a slightly anxious dining experience and can be a little hit and miss. It would have been nice to know what we were in for. Service was a bit slow. Surprising given the numbers of staff, the restricted menu and the small dining room.

If you like an adventurous, unpredictable edge to your food, this is definitely worth a try.
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Rosyrose
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Sunday, December 05, 2010

Just enjoyed a phenomenal lunch at this restaurant.

Wonderfully bonkers (amuse-bouche of hibiscus soda topped with pineapple foam) with an exceptionally high standard of food. The bread and butter are worth the trip alone! The mutton and fois gras terrine was out of this world. Roast partridge for the main was perfectly cooked and served - the dash of smoked butter was a wonderful touch, and the fig pudding was something else. I cannot find one fault with the whole experience - and it was an expereince.

Excellent value too by going off the set lunch menu, a 2* Michelin lunch of 3 courses plus an amuse-bouche and petit fours for 2 people with change from £100. Brilliant!
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JR
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, October 19, 2010

We ate at Hibiscus on Saturday 1st May and arrived with high hopes having read excellent reviews and respectful of what was promised by their two Michelin stars. The actual experience was extremely disappointing: the food was good, but not superb, with a number of overly elaborate combinations where flavours clashed rather than complimented each other. Textures were amateur rather than refined and the attention to the provenance of everything from the butter to the asparagus in the dessert seemed overworked as did the false double act regarding the “secret ingredient” that the waiter and maitre d’ pretended to forget.

While it could be that the food was just not to our taste, there was no excuse for the front of house staff. Left sitting for 20 minutes without a menu or drinks, unimaginative wine parings from the sommelier, and patronising service from the maitre ‘d made the overall experience something to forget rather than to recommend. Dining at this level (£160 per head) should leave one feeling pampered and enriched in experience; this did not. Mayfair abounds in great restaurants – skip Hibiscus and head to The Square where everything that is wrong in Hibiscus is set right by a wonderful front of house team, and an accomplished and imaginative chef.
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5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Monday, May 03, 2010