L'Autre Pied

I've been reading reviews on this restaurant with interest, having taken advantage of the recent Groupon offer. L'Autre Pied has been on my list of places to eat for sometime - and the half-price offer on the tasting menu was an offer not to miss. In the past I have been to 10 Michelin star restaurants. So I knew what to expect and what to look out for

Generally, the food, service and atmosphere was good. I, too had wondered if the Groupon offer would somehow diminish the experience. But this was not the case.

Bread - good selection, warm - a thumbs up.

1 - Amuse bouche - pleasant pumpkin mousse with crispy bits on top - OK

Had better more interesting ones in the past. (Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley for example)

2 - Jerusalem Artichoke Velouté - basically a posh soup witn hazelnuts, crispy onions, rocket oil and of course artichoke - excellent - very tasty.

3 - Sea Bass - straightforward, well cooked fish with flavoursome sauces

4 - Pheasant - Best course of the meal - Excellent

5 - Cheese course - now this I thought was a little cheeky. Cheese is not really a "course" - a nice way to end a meal maybe - but should not be included as a separate course - my only real criticism. A strong Brie with wafer thin biscuit - nothing special.

6 - pre-desert - Coconut rice pudding - Good (however many restaurants would not include a pre-desert as an actual course in its own right)

7 - Dessert - Cheesecake with passion fruit sorbet - Good

Overall - a good meal. I've have had better meals, but this was nonetheless very enjoyable.

Don't be put off by negative reviews. The Groupon offer is certainly value for money.

PS - I'd be interested to compare the normal 8 course tasting menu to this half-price 7 course meal.
Comment on this reader review

keith young - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Two us went to L'autre Pied on the Groupon deal. Being a Groupon Groupie, I have in the past experienced the feeling of being a second-class citizen in fine restaurants. No way was this the case last night!

The seven-course taster menu was nothing less than stunning. The service top-class without being intrusive. And to have a fab chat, with the owner, David Moore, who was front of house for the duration of our stay, was the icing on the cake.

The food was out of this world. Without doubt, the best French food I have ever tasted in London, and having lived here for over 25 years, I can say this would be in my top five restaurants in the Capital.

We will certainly be revisiting - Groupon or no Groupon. Had we have paid full price for this meal, even then I would consider it top class value given the standard of both cuisine and service.

Simply ab-fab!
Comment on this reader review

Michelle Field
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Friday, December 16, 2011

We were a group of 4 who had lunch at this restaurant and WOULD NOT recommend it to anyone looking for Michelin star food or service.

I made the rather unwise decision to take up my first Groupon offer to try out the restaurant and wish I hadn't. I say “unwise” because the first person to receive us at reception demonstrated genuine distain when she read my name and realised it was associated with the Groupon half price deal. This set the tone for the whole experience and served to be very embarrassing for me in front of my guests.

Of the three waiters who served us, one didn’t speak English sufficiently to understand the difference between still water and tap, one failed to establish any rapport whatsoever and appeared to struggle to smile sincerely or make eye contact, and the other appeared to be a more senior member of staff who showed courtesy but not much interest in our enjoyment of the food or the experience. Considering how quiet the restaurant was until around 1.30pm – shortly before we left - I can’t even find anything to excuse this level of service.

The person I would like to recognise as showing a fantastic level of professional knowledge and service was our sommelier who provided us with some excellent wines and made a real effort to ensure we were enjoying ourselves. Unfortunately I didn’t note his name but he was a very pleasant and chatty French chap who showed genuine interest in the details of our experience. He was the only person to show anything approaching a Michelin star level of skills and professionalism.

The tasting menu was very disappointing and was clearly not a standard tasting menu, but rather one designed to reflect the half price deal we paid. It was a cheaper version of the existing menus and devoid of a seafood dish and offered just one meat dish. The raclette course was truly vile, being dry, congealed and tacky in the mouth, but upon reporting this to the (more senior) waitress she appeared disinterested and mumbled that she would let the chef know.

We ended up finding our coats and showing ourselves out the front door, without any attention from the staff to help or thank us for coming! I did end up paying the service charge, only for the benefit of our sommelier, because he was the real deal. I pity anyone going there expecting Michelin Star food or service, when they could be eating at any number of London’s great restaurants. We eat out a lot with friends, family and clients in quality restaurants but honestly can't see how this place has received the Michelin star rating.
Comment on this reader review

2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Friday, November 11, 2011

We went to this restaurant for my husband's birthday, following fantastic reviews on the net.

Service was good, the sommelier knew what he was doing and advised us well.

Otherwise, it was OK, but not amazing, a bit too "chichi" for us. Portions were not that great either.
Comment on this reader review

6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 5
Monday, November 07, 2011

Just had a meal here for our 10th wedding anniversary. Had the summer taster menu and it was magnificent. Fantastic food, great ambience and wonderful service. We didn't want the full 6 glasses of wine matched to the taster menu as had had a couple of aperitifs before we arrived, but the excellent sommelier picked us a couple of wines by the glass to match the food that were perfect. Only fly in the ointment was the cab company who the restaurant booked to take us home. Massively overcharged us and short changed us, which spoiled what had been a perfect evening. L 'Autre pied, please take note and don't use this cab company any more.
Comment on this reader review

Alison Wren
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Having long fancied checking out their lunch menu, a visit from visiting winemaking friends seemed like the perfect opportunity to have lunch. Overall the service was excellent; we joked with each member of staff who at least pretended to laugh at our gags (!), attention to detail about order of service, very helpful sommelier who was very smiley too. A lovely delicate amuse bouche of a crispy coated quail's egg in a celeriac foam was followed by a smoked duck and parsnip starter, surrounded by a beautifully textured soup. The main of saddle of lamb was also beautifully cooked. All for 19 quid!

The wine chosen was an excellent Bourgeil, all fresh fruit and a touch of herbs. Oh, and the bread was also great.

All in all, very impressed by the relaxed yet professional service and value for money. As one previous poster has noted, one could drop far more cash over lunch in a gastro-pub and receive none of the experience. My Dutch/Spanish friends were equally impressed.
Comment on this reader review

Olly Bartlett
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I had the taster menu and the wine accompaniments and it was delicious and a real joy. An 8 course culinary spectacular.

Each course was well judged and the quality and taste was superb. The wines were brilliantly chosen.

The service was excellent, you might say they tried a little too hard, but I got from that a feeling of being reassured they wanted to ensure I was happy.

Two small criticisms: 1) I felt i had to keep up the pace a little. As there was quite a lot to eat and drink the latter courses felt a bit backed up. So maybe the service could be slowed down for the 8 courses.

2) In the final stages I was slightly overwhelmed, as the cheeses, desserts and dessert wine where superb but quite rich. So maybe try the smaller seasonal menu or stick to a conventional 3 course meal.

Expensive night out but worth it as a treat.
Comment on this reader review

8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Dinner for two on a busy Friday night. Overall impression was of a very smooth operation that delivers pretty much what it claims to set out to do; offering high end cuisine in an (almost) informal, certainly relaxing environment.

The meal was very good. Olive bread was freshly baked; a buttery, pastry, rolly thing that became a danger to the rest of the meal! A starter of pan fried fois gras was forgivingly small given it's richness, monk fish cheeks with carrots and star anise was a little odd but not unpleasant; black leg chicken was back to a more classic palette with a light jus and delicious little fondant potato and braised endive, while duck came with sweet sticky sauce and various little accompanying purees, rich and full of flavour. With a couple of extra helpings of bread, an amouse bouche and petit fours, no space left for dessert. Portions are small but for us, were perfect.

The food was good but our French waiter was really the highlight here. He seemed to genuinely want us to feel princely for the evening, was extremely attentive and yet never loitering, very funny at times as well. It was a shame he clocked off at 10pm so we didn't have a chance to say thank you.

Not cheap at around £60/head with one glass of wine each, but good value for money when compared with other establishments (some gastro-pubs in Kensington spring particularly to mind here!).
Comment on this reader review

Foodie - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Friday, February 25, 2011

A colleague and I went for lunch at L'Autre Pied a few days before Christmas and it was a lovely experience. Something I immediately liked was the relaxed atmosphere - no pretension, with a nice hum of conversation from the diners.

The three course lunch menu is priced at £23. The meal started with a nice amuse bouche of cod croquette, I then had a pumpkin risotto which was incredibly flavourful and rich, followed by the roasted pheasant with mushrooms, potato, and a beautiful sauce, and finally a unique pain d'epice emulsion with banana ice cream and shards of toffee. With a nice glass of wine and service charge, the total was £37 per person.

On the walk back to the office we wondered what makes a restaurant deserving of a Michelin star. I think food that delights you in flavour and creativity, with every course being delicious, and something you couldn't achieve at home differentiates between Michelin star worthy restaurants and the all the others. In my opinion, L'Autre Pied earned its star on this occasion.
Comment on this reader review

Bluenoser - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 8
Sunday, December 26, 2010

A bit boring, small portions...can restaurants really get away with that on an a la carte menu these days?
Comment on this reader review

Pottedmeat - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Thursday, December 16, 2010