Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

Exquisite service and an amazingly plush decor.

Having eaten at most of the michelin starred restaurants in London, including the pair of 3 michelin starred restaurants in Bray I must agree with a previous comment left here - namely that one should manage their expectations carefully before venturing to this restaurant. The food was distinctly mediocre.

The Michelin stars on this occassion have clearly been awarded to Mr Ducasse and not to the restaurants food.

Go for the experience and to say that you have been if you are that way inclined otherwise worth giving this one a wide berth.
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KB - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Friday, July 08, 2011

I wish I had the typing skills and / or time to write a proper review but I don't so all I will say is that we had a wonderful lunch at Alain Ducasse today, me, my wife and my daughter.

It more than lived up to our expectations in every respect. I would wholeheartedly recommend it for a special experience. The whole experience from the moment you arrive at the Dorchester is special. We will go back for sure!
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David Moed
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, May 26, 2011

The best advice I can give to anyone considering dining at Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester is decide in advance what exactly you're looking for in the experience. This might sound odd but a trip to a very expensive French restaurant, awarded with 3 Michelin Stars, means the diner is likely to arrive with a certain amount of expectations and the only way to get the most out of this is to decide why you're really going there.

Service - it's faultless. It is amazing and the best we've ever experienced. The staff will do ANYTHING to ensure your experience is wonderful. Examples of this include... seating us an hour after our booking, to let us enjoy a drink at the Dorchester Bar first... complimentary champagne... letting us change tables according to our preference (despite it being a busy Friday night)... giving us a second amuse bouche simply because really enjoy the first one... the list goes on.

Food - it's undeniably very good, but not the very best we've had. The cooking at Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, or the Ledbury in Notting Hill, and even Claridges with only 1 Michelin Star seemed to be better. That's not to say it's NOT good but it's hard to see why it deserves the third Michelin star when others do not. Perhaps it's the service. The biggest frustration is the steep £10 supplement that is applied to a dish like beef for the main courses - you can understand it perhaps with something like lobster, but beef? Additionally, Ducasse's meat and fish signature main courses are only available at the supplemented cost. It gives the sense of "yes - you can try his best cooking, but you'll pay for it". Not quite right when you're already paying £78 for a 3 course meal. The biggest frustration before is the limitation of the meat options, of which there were only 4; one option was pigeon, another was pork with pig's ear, black pudding and tongue; another was veal (which you probably wouldn't opt for if you knew how it was produced...); and finally, the beef - which you must pay £10 more for. No poultry, no lamb, no game - it seemed surprising.

Value - whilst the service includes amuse bouches, delightful cheese puffs, home baked macaroons and so on, the price is expensive versus the ingredients used. £78 for 3 courses is in iself understandable at this type of restaurant, but not with additional £10 supplements. The wine list is ludicrous. 1 bottle of red wine at £25, a few at £35 or £45 - and then the rest is generally over £80, £90 or even £100. Bottles at £450 or perhaps £3,500 are commonplace on the menu. It really defies belief.

Ambience - it's very pleasant, but perhaps an odd location within the Dorchester itself. On the Park Lane side, the blue flashing lights are frequent on a Friday night, as is the sight of traffic if you're dining during the daytime. I would've thought the Grill at the Dorchester should occupy this space and Alain Ducasse's restaurant should occupy the Grill's area.

So to sum up, it's a mixed bag. If you're looking for service above anything else - you won't be disappointed it. If you're looking for the best cooking in London, the 3 Michelin stars sadly doesn't guarantee that. If you're looking for diversity with the pricing of the wine line - that just doesn't existp; similarly, if you're looking for a restaurant with innovative and creative decor, you might be disappointed. Therefore, it's best to be fully informed and aware of the shortcomings... and if you don't mind the downsides, you'll have a wonderful and truly memorable experience.
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Dom
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Monday, May 23, 2011

This was my third visit to this restaurant and my birthday. I was so pleased to find the food improved from my last visit.. On my first visit the restaruant had only just opened and the food was exquisite and nothing I have tasted since has been a good.

I am difficult to please in that I cannot eat eggs, milk and cheese. They made a chocolate and cream cake that I could eat - and the overall meal was extremely delicious, all four of us on the table having chosen the menu "degustation" rather than the a la carte. The service was attentive (except for the seving of water, which ran out early in the meal) and our table was not in an ideal location - up on the platform in the corner and I was facing the wall as only two of us were able to see the restaurant and naturally these chairs went to our guests. A table more central would have been preferable on my birthday. The restaurant, however, was full, but whoever aranges the seating needs to give the allocation of tables more thought.

My only serious complaint was that the red wine list was ridiculously ovepriced and the quality, for the most part, mediocre, so we changed back to pink champagne, which was infinitely preferable through lack of sensible choice.

I shall visit again this year - we were regular clients when it was The Terrace, although the overall atmospher was better then than now.
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Chrissie090
8 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, March 09, 2011

I was unsure about going here, but it seemed the right place for a celebratory lunch. In short, it was. Food was incredible. Possibly the best example of classic cooking I've eaten. Service was perfect. The table settings more than made up for the beige-ness of the room. And £50 for 3 courses of brilliant food with interesting wines is an absolute steal. I don't normally give 10/10, but it is well deserved here.
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Dan - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, February 16, 2011

We had the set lunch for two that is really super value for money. The food is obviously good, nice selection of different flavours. Staff very attentive and nice and some nice wines. But the big question is how it competes with Hospital Road...... and it doesn't, Ramsay is just more stylish, tastier and the food superior, but this is a good second option.
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dnw
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, January 05, 2011

This is to me unfortunately not worth 3*. The food is, as the service, extremely solid and almost predictably correct. Of course the meat (venison) and the fish (halibut) were both well cooked. But it misses creativity in design and misses excitement in taste. It is traditional French cooking, served by French waiters and you can accompany the dishes with French wines as there are hardly other wines available.

There were no amuses before the menu started, which normally are kind of signatures from the cook.

For 3* you should do a lot more. I disagree with the michelin guide, 1* maximum.
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Waterman
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 6
Thursday, December 16, 2010

I am neither a restaurant critic nor a journalist, however I have a grasp of the English language and I eat everyday. In fact I have been doing so for 41 years and in the last 20 of those have learnt to cook to a reasonable standard, identify various ingredients, and deliver 3 courses with confidence to friends and family alike. I lead a life style where eating out is a regular activity and the occasional foray into the hallowed halls of the over priced pomp and circumstance of Michelin starred eateries is a treat rather than a formality. I do however have to pay for these experiences and most of the time handsomely. I have a small collection of wines from mainly France and Italy good enough to warrant correct storage and thoughtful serving.

So armed with this menial knowledge and a nervous wallet, I visited the 'Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester' at the bequest of a good friend to celebrate his 40th Birthday along with my wife and 3 other guests.

After a very attentive and warm welcome we were shown to our exclusive table (though not exclusive enough to have a B&Q Xmas curtain encasing us) but a pleasant wall covered in randomly positioned green buttons which apparently mimic the exterior view of whatever park it was across the road. It was dark so it mimicked instead the speeding and frequent blue flashing lights that streaked past at this time on a Saturday evening.

I felt the table was better suited to 8 as the distance between guests was a little more than just comfortable but to complain would have been too picky, so I will just say that it was VERY accommodating. In all a pleasant and relaxing setting. Menu's and lists of all sorts arrived from several directions and so we perused the offerings. Now the detail is not noted as to every dish, but we all opted to go for the set taster menu with one vegatarian diner (but eats fish because they have no feelings) menu.

The wine list was expectantly heaving with massively marked up fare and the great en premiers. Many of the lesser labels though can be purchased very reasonably from high street retailers for a quarter of the price so far as I looked, so again we chose to have the matched wine menu, a glass per course, which I think was 7 for £95. So ahead lay £210 worth of the finest 3 star food and matched wine available today.

Were only that the case. First course a small bowl of luke warm Crab foam, admittedly accompanied by many different breads and butter that tasted a little like it had been left out too long, 3 of us had crab shell in our dish, an issue that was ungraciously brushed aside by the waiter with a simple apology (michel roux apparently would have sacked the chef if T'V is anything to go but for this crime), and I had a 'crystal' of what I was told was rock salt when I mentioned it to the help. Hmmm, Rock salt that 1, doesn't dissolve, and 2, when bitten down on defeated my teeth in the crunching department, so 'rock' I think would be more accurate. The message was simple, I was stupid and the kitchen new better, no further mention of the crab shell in 3 of the dishes though and so on we went.

I am not going to comment on each wine individually as I am getting bored now of typing, not being used to such excersion, so....None of the accompanying wines stood out as special, in fact they were all very recent vintages and mostly too sweet and white. I think £95 would have easily purchased a dozen or so bottles of any of them, let alone £95 per head for 7 glasses (£13.57 a glass). We all agreed on this summary.

As for the rest of the courses, I enjoyed the Fois Gras and pheasant terrine, but I love Fois gras so easily pleased I am. The lobster, rolled pasta, what I presume were Giroles mushrooms and chicken quenelles with black truffle was very good, but only together. The sauce was a little bland and I think if you had tasted the quenelles alone you would not have known what is was. Somewhere along the line was Venison with a scattering (small scattering) of root veg. The Venison was cooked nicely and was suitably gamey, chocolate sauce accompanied and was uninspiring but okay. I finished 3 other peoples out of 5 as I was craving substantial red meat by this point. The highlight I think was the Halibut with celeriac, cockles, and razor clams, very tasty again the sauce lacked the extraordinary depth you always hope for and pay for in these establishments but it was still very good.

Dessert, or at least the first dessert was a chocolate tart of sort, beautifully rich but too big accompanied by reduced milk ice cream flavoured with Salt. Now I liked this on it's own and so did others, however I left most of the tart, and so did others.

The apparently famous Rum BABA, made an entrance, and was as good a rum based sponge pudding as I have tasted. and some pink grapefruit sorbet which was as described. I was now feeling full so the final flurry of desserts etc was largely lost on me, perhaps a little more lobster earlier on would have been a better trade off.

So highlights / lowlights... Service was in general very attentive and from all sides though in this instance and throughout the meal the customer was most definitely never right. My wife was ignored when disagreeing with a wine choice to the point where the waiter turned and walked away. (my wife regularly visits Tuscany and Beaune to buy wine so is not an idiot when it comes to this element) It was topped when they served a wine for the fois gras dish and fish turned up, they refused to acknowledge this to start with. They later apologised for the mistake and re-served the wine but boys, boys, get of your horse, you only work in a restaurtant. They constantly throughout the meal replenished water glasses, it didn't matter if it was still or sparkling, they never asked after 1st serving so just mixed all the way through, Hysterical!

My 'Rock salt' and the crab shell was never mentioned again and swept heftily under the rug. The wine was poor, and I mean poor. But when faced with £90 plus for a bottle of average bordeaux I can buy for £25 in Laithwaites you take your chances elsewhere, we lost.

Amongst other things the real 'Special' moment apart from and enormous bill well north of £1000 for 6 people, was one of the 'signature dishes my friend had read about and so ordered specially because he wanted to taste it. I trust his judgement, or at least used to.... I don't know what it was but what arrived were to china pots with a pastry top baked on. As the lid was lifted another diner let out an involuntary but uncontrollable laugh. Inside the pot was a layer of root veg, sweet pots, parsnip etc baked in nothing really discernable to taste and as the lid was taken away it left a ring of largely uncooked pastry around the rim, If my friend's 4 year old daughter had cooked it I would have sent her back to start again.

On the up side, there were some nice dishes peppered in the mix, the evening was leisurely and even at nearly 1 am we were not being moved along with any haste, but would I go back or recommend to others a visit. No, not even close. I am glad my friend enjoyed the evening, but after many bottles of champagne before we even arrived, His judgement may have been skewed somewhat. If it had been £100 per head including the wine then maybe, but I now £450 lighter feel somewhat numb at the experience.
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6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 2
Monday, November 15, 2010

I went here for lunch and the place was almost deserted. The food was nice but I suppose it's saying something that the highlight were the freshly baked macaroons! The seats were comfy and there was plenty of light with the service being quick and efficient.

Unfortunately I cannot recommend going here as Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley and Roussillon are far more superior places to eat.
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Mr CM - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I ate dinner at the Alain Ducasse last night (8 Sept 2010) for a birthday treat, and this was by the far the best meal I have ever eaten in my life - every course was better than the one before, and I swear I almost died when I tasted the milk fed lamb, followed by the rum baba - it was all a little peice of heaven.

On top of the three course menu, there was all the little added extras that we didn't expect, including an amuse bouche at the beginnging, the delightful cheese puffs, and macaroons and chocolates before dessert. Plus they left us with a little goody bag of biscuits and orange cake to take home with us for breakfast!

And to top it all off, the service was unbelievable - the waiters were friendly and thoughtful. Not at all pretentious, which can often be a real let-down at expensive establishments. And we were invited back to the kitchen to meet the chef at the end of a meal, which was a real treat.

I could not recommend this restaurant enough - everyone should eat here at least once in their life!! It really was worth every penny we spent there. I literally can't stop thinking about it - yum!
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Jackie
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, September 09, 2010