Lamberts

Haven't been to Lamberts for over two years and it was as good as I remembered. The service is great, perfectly combining friendliness with professionalism. The food is superb - not cheap (£90 for 2) but decent value for the standard of cooking - and it's a nicely buzzing atmosphere. Can't wait to go back.
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Dave
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Monday, February 12, 2007

It was with some anxiety that I returned to Lamberts last night after a year long absence; having read the most recent review which suggested that it may have gone downhill and I am very happy to report that this is not the case.

I started with the Cuttlefish and Cockle Saffron Stew, which was a delight on an icy February evening and followed this up with one of my favourite cuts - slow roasted pork belly with green lentils and creamed leeks. Delicious!!

To accompany the meal we had a bottle of the Mitchells Peppertree Shiraz which literally washed all my anxieties away.

There really is no finer place to eat in Balham and I will continue to evangelise about Lamberts to everyone I meet.
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AdamH
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, February 08, 2007

Husband took me here for my birthday on the 6th of January. Highly recommended.

Everything was of the highest quality. Very impressed. Well worth a second visit.
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CJ - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Saturday, February 03, 2007

I went to Lamberts with a group of 4. I was very disappointed after reading earlier reviews. The fois gras and pheseant terrine to start was very pleasent. The lamb dish for main was nice but not £17 worth of nice. And Raseberry souflee for desert which was ok, a little bland perhaps. This seemed to sum up the meal 'hmm nice' 'pleasent'. There was nothing terrible about it but it was far from fantastic. I thought it was poor value for money and I love the £8.00 cheese board, I imagine they must use surgical impliments to cut the cheese so thinly. Oh and if you insist on going dont have the cheese cake for pudding, 2 members of my party had it and it was so dry they were choking on it. I would not go back, distinctly average.
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Alex
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

I booked a table for Sunday Roast after reading that the Lamberts had recently been awarded the 2007 Observer best for Sunday Roasts and for families.

The environment is warm and pleasant, lots of open space and nicely decorated. For kids there's enough space for little ones to wonder around, there's plenty of child seats and they also provide a box of toys which is a nice touch.

The food was pretty good, but not great. I had the roast veal with all the trimmings which was nicely presented and about the right size. The roast potatoes were a tad under cooked though.

The service was what let the whole dinning experience down. It felt like ages before we were served and had to flag the attention of the waiters to be served. We also had to wait around 40 mins between starters and main course and when the mains arrived it came without the gravy so we had to wait a while longer.

Overall, I think the restaurant is pleasantly nice, good location, good ingredients, good atmosphere and food. I reckon if we were serviced slightly better then the whole dinning experience would have registered mucher higher.
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ken
Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Lambert's is fantastic and easily the best restaurant in Balham - went for a meal just before Christmas with my boyfriend and had a great evening. Food as ever was really good (gravadlax and tempura rock oyster for starter was not overdone on the dill and the tempura batter was light and crisp; main course of venison with onions and colcannon was very tasty and you definitely notice the quality of the meat (maybe slightly dry on this occasion); cheeses were served with a fig and strawberry compote which worked perfectly)

Aside from the food the atmosphere is great - Joe (the owner) is happy to talk about the dishes and advise without being intrusive and the restaurant has a good level of activity without disturbing your own conversation.

In a sense I prefer Lamberts to Chez Bruce as the food is of a really high standard but the atmosphere seems much more relaxed and lively.

Everyone in Balham/Clapham/Wandsworth should try Lamberts out if they haven't already - and its definitely worth a trip from further afield
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Sam
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, January 10, 2007

We went last night having read such positive reviews and being quite excited that there might be a quality place to eat near us in South London. We were not in the slightest disappointed. The space is elegant, unfussy and comfortable, and you sit at a good distance from those you are eating with - it makes chatting easy and the service works effortlessly (and charmingly) around the tables. The menu included many of the dishes we have read in these reviews, but our starters of a foie gras ballantine and the gravadlax set us on our way to a brilliant meal. The pork belly was as well presented and tasty as any we'd seen of late (including Chez Bruce) and delighted an ex-vegetarian who is more fussy than most about her meat. The trio of lamb, wether and rack of mutton was amazing - the range of taste a real education, and the quality of the meat was indisputable. Both dishes were nicely complemented with potatoes or vegetables and the sauces enhanced real flavours of beautifully prepared meat. The service and atmosphere made it relaxing and fun. The desserts were similarly carefully presented and intense in flavour. The timing of the courses seemed just right and the team seemed to share a sense of real enjoyment and pride in the place.

Our bill for 2 3-courses, coffee and two bottles of wine came in at just over £110 - great value, and we're going again. Soon. (Apparently the wine tasting evenings and the Sunday lunches are fun, so we'll just have to try them out...)

Andy and Beth
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Skins
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, January 06, 2007

I Went to Lamberts on Saturday night on the back of so many good reviews and had a decent meal at a fair price. It was by no means perfect and it's definitely got quite a long way to go before it's Balham's answer to Chez Bruce but I would certainly return to try some of their other dishes.

The starters we had were only fair - the Gravadlax was nice but I can't be more positive than that and the Tempura Oyster it came with had some soggy batter inside and was tasteless. The shrimp cocktail was good but not outstanding.

The Pheasant main was slightly overcooked and a bit tough but it's accompaniments were very well thought out and very nice - althought the gratin dauphinoise could've had a bit more oomph! The mixed sheep (lamb, whether & mutton) main was superb though - probably the best lamb dish I've ever had - again the accompanying gratin dauphinoise was a little bland but otherwise little short of perfect.

The bread & butter pudding was not the best though - quite bland and soggy, however the rhubarb cobbler was an outstanding desert - the calvados ice cream with it was brilliant!

The service was erring on the slow side although it stopped short of being irritatingly so - we did neglect to order coffee for fear that it might take too long to get to us though...

Some of their other dishes - starters especially - looked and smelt really good though, so I suspect our choices weren't necessarily their speciality dishes - I think if you stick to their meat dishes in particular you'd have a much better experience!

The bill for two three-course meals, two glasses of champagne and a glass of (very good) Argentinian malbec was nearly £100 inc. service which was about as much as I'd have been prepared to pay for what we had, however I suspect if we'd ordered some different dishes I'd have thought it better value.
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Jules
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Monday, December 18, 2006

Having read all the reviews on this site, we decided to give Lamberts a try for Sunday lunch. And for £20 a head, we had an absolutely delightful afternoon.

We were greeted promptly and efficiently by a member of the service team, and having been relieved of our coats we were shown to our table, which was the only vacant one in the place (and that, I suspect, only because we had booked it the day before!). The Sunday lunch menu was reasonably extensive, with four starters, five mains and four desserts, and at £20 for three courses was a steal!

A decent wine list, from which we took the 2005 Chardonnay-Viognier for a reasonable £22. A (very) minor gripe might be the lack of wine buckets - since we weren't in a rush and intended to have three courses, it would have been nice if we could've kept the wine cool for a little longer.

Then the starters: excellent Gravadlax for me, and similarly superb venison for my fiancee. Those were followed by, in my case, roast lamb, and for Alison the guinea fowl. Both very good, and although they weren't perhaps exquisite as the starters, we were still very impressed.

Dessert of sticky toffee pudding (which was divine) and bread & butter pudding rounded off a delicious meal in a happy, cheerful atmosphere. Highly recommended, and at £75 total (including wine & service), perhaps the best value meal I've had in London.
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Stuart & Alison
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Monday, November 20, 2006

I took my boyfriend here for his birthday on a Friday night. I had tried to book Chez Bruce but thankfully they were fully booked. Lamberts is a wonderful find. The restaurant has a nice ambiance and the tables are a nice distance from each other, It’s not stuffy or pretentious. The staff go out of their way to make you feel welcome and will happily talk through the menu with you. Once you have a table, that’s it for the evening, you’re not rushed so you can really enjoy the evening and the food. My starter of stilton cheesecake was yummy as well as my main of sea bream with fennel. All wonderfully cooked and good sized portions. My boyfriends lamb was cooked beautifully too. Wine was well recommended. Our bill came to £120 for 2 courses, 2 bottles of wine, cheese and port plus service. Considering we were in there for over 3 hours and the food was excellent – this was a steal. Do go, you won’t be disappointed!
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Rachel - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, November 09, 2006