The Landau
special offer
Special Offer only available online - please book above
3 courses & a glass of Champagne: £27.50
Offer Details: ...from a set menu. Includes Vat, excludes service.
Available: Sunday to Friday 17:30 to 22:00
Maximum people: 6
Terms: Expires 7th August 08
Lunch: 2 courses & a glass of wine: £22.50
Offer Details: ...from a set menu (three courses for £26) Includes Vat, excludes service.
Available: Monday to Saturday 12:30 to 14:00
Maximum people: 4
Terms: Expires 7th August 08
our review
To the Landau and up the smart flight of steps that is the preferred way in to the restaurant. This bypasses the reception and takes you into the wine corridor, a smart way to get you all psyched up for the main room, a gorgeous oval space with enormous windows looking out onto the BBC’s historic building. In this hotel, possibly even in this (ex) ballroom, that grand old chap Churchill may have topped up his hangover and had a little dance before a stirring broadcast to the nation.
I wouldn’t call Andrew Turner a grand old man but he is certainly one of the country’s leading chefs. Not a person to call attention to himself he lets the cooking do the talking and it’s good to see that cooking back in London. With all the hype about simple food done simply (i.e. like you make at home) there’s still a place for The Big Meal, the one you go to for a special occasion and The Landau is one of those places. Andrew Collins’ design studio has created a luxury destination where everything is just so, even the crockery cost a fortune and in the kitchen each style has the price next to it, a reminder to waiters to be very careful indeed.
Turner was a big promoter of the grazing concept into London, an idea which has been around so long now very few people still make the ‘Am I eating grass?” joke, although a recent evening paper review of Landau still managed to resurrect it to zero comic effect. So the Landau offers set grazing menus of five, six seven and eight courses which can be supplemented by wines by the glass to accompany each course. It’s a very relaxed way to eat, a simple choice to be made and you both get the same dishes, which makes conversation about them more interesting. Of course there is an a la carte should you wish, plus a well-priced theatre menu too.
I can’t detail every dish we had or I’d be here all day. None disappointed that’s for sure and some were stunning. The Rabbit velouté, frogs’ legs, onion and bacon was packed with flavour and contrasting textures and had me inelegantly scraping the bowl out. Sea bass with confit tomatoes and smoked olive oil was intense; the tomatoes almost pure tomato essence and nothing else and really making the seared bass fillet sing as, after five glasses of wine by that time, was I. We loved the foie gras parfait with apple and toasted brioche, particularly the pipette of liquidised apple skin (Granny Smith I think) that you squirted directly into your mouth to antidote the rich foie gras. A bit of an El Bulli type conceit and fun with it. Cornish crab and avocado, lemon verbena and a pickled apple puree was another dish that was unexpected in structure. Diving down through the billowing avocado you hit an ocean floor of parmesan biscuit, which cracked to give access to the pure crab beneath.
All the time the genial sommelier was doing what a good sommelier should; presenting interesting and unexpected choices for each dish and introducing each with the minimum of pedantry, but with great enthusiasm. His choices worked for us every time. Of course there is a large wine list to be explored by those with oenophilic tendencies, but with dishes like these I think it’s best to put yourself in the hands of a man who knows his cellar and his chef better than you do.
Go and enjoy. Thoroughly recommended.
Nick Harman - January 2008
your comments review this restaurant and win a bottle of champagne
My wife and I love our food and have no hesitation paying higher end prices (although it was not as much as we expected) if what you get receive is something special and this place is just that, its special !
The number of wow's in a night was ridiculous from the entrance, the wine area, the private room, the views through those amazing windows, the main restaurant, the service and then of course the food. All of it was exceptional, a different class. The room itself is quite stunning and although you'd not look out of place in jeans i was glad that we dressed up as it deserved the effort. The service was excellent, the guys there were chatty but not excessive, enthusiastic but not overly and invisible until you needed them.
The food was quite amazing. we chose not to go down the tasting menu as i tend to get lost in too many flavours and i'm glad we did as the rabbit/frog legs starter and then the steak were so smooth in flavour and my wife's choices were equally as impressive.
I cannot recommend this restaurant enough for special occassions, romantic dinners or for something....well.........special !
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Mario
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Friday, July 04, 2008
We went for lunch today i must admit the decor is superb, the food was also of the highest standard and the service was brill.
My only complaints are that you can feel the room shake when a train passes under the building and also that they charged me £10 for 2 LEMONADES!
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Beejal Desour
Overall rating 
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 5
Sunday, June 29, 2008
We went into the bar on the right first and ordered cocktails. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but delivered with a smile and tray of yummy nibbles, including little open "bouchees" on pumpernickel bread.
Then into the Restaurant,,,
Have never had such a terrific meal!
Found this on your website and decided to cancel the reservation I had made for another restaurant and try this one instead. We were dining with a couple who had come all the way from the other side of Kent and I wanted it to be a very special evening.. AND IT WAS!
The staff were tremendous (Franco, in particular, came over to our table and introduced himself and made us feel very "at home") and the service was impeccable - we were even allowed a JUG of water without feeling we had done something wrong! THE FOOD WAS THE BEST EVER!
The wine list was extensive, and although not cheap, we had a bottle of delicious white and then a bottle of even more delicious red.
The desserts were sublime.
Then back to the bar for drinks and coffee. The decaffeinated coffee was very disappointing: was in instant? That was the only criticism: basically the best meal ever, ever, ever and WE WILL BE BACK SOON!
Thank you Franco and Co.
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Lesley-Anne Malnick
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, April 10, 2008
I took my wife to the Landau for a special event . It was a truly memorable occasion . The food was outstanding , and stands up to the michelin restaurants in London . Try the Lamb dish , with the lime mousse . the balance to the richness was an experience . The chocolate fondant desert was out of this world .
I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who wants a memorable night out .
The service , ambience and decor were also excellent
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Graham Lambdon
Overall rating 
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, March 06, 2008
I've been last night at Landau for the first time. The design is great, the entrance is basically a well presented wine cave, with some of the most astonishing bottles you can imagine on show. This is the first time I felt I didn't waste my money (£85 per head) in a top London restaurant. Franco, the MaitreD, Elisabetta and Davide treat you with kind and great experience, almost like you are part of the family. The floor is stylish, unpretentious with a great view on the Bbc historical building. Try the lobster salad, beautifully served with celery sorbet, tomato confit and cheese straws. Also the scallops with bacon or the magnificent dessert: poached pear with maple sorbet. The kitchen swings between classic choices and innovative experiments. This place won't disappoint expectations, is also run but true and experienced people, with no fuss and great effort.
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Marco Cristaldi
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, February 07, 2008
This is an excellent restaurant in every way. The old 'colonial' style room has been transformed by David Collins and his team into a really stylish interior with leather clad banquettes and superb natural life photographs.
The service from Franco and his team (ex Savoy, ex Browns) is exemplary. Andrew Turner has really hit the mark here, his food is better than ever., the evening I was here he was off ! - but the food was interesting and well executed.
The prices are steep for this part of London so I mark them down a little for that.
Overall I think this is one of the best additions to the London restaurant scene in a long time.
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Brian Clivaz
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, January 17, 2008
fantastic food, service and atmosphere. I really enjoyed the grazing menus and hoping to come back very soon.
Well done!
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claire
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Saturday, December 29, 2007
