Sketch Lecture Room and Library

Dinner is too expensive. But lunch is excellent value for money. It includes an Amuse Bouche, 4 starts, 1 main, and 3 desserts and Petits-Fours! All for just 35 pound!
Comment on this reader review

Fine Dining Explorer - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Thursday, May 15, 2008

oooooooooooh fantastic!!!

what a great treat for a work lunch, they have this great inexpensive lunch time menu which didnt break my bank account. cant wait to go back!

i'd make a reservation as it is really hard to get into!
Comment on this reader review

m.roberts
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, April 25, 2008

great rapid lunch menu. would highly recommend for those with hunger pangs and on a tight budget. the wife felt like royalty in such plush surroundings and the high standard of service. really impressed all round.
Comment on this reader review

graham
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, April 02, 2008

If you’re lucky enough to dine here then you should savour every diminutive detail. My experience was nothing short of extravagance at its peak – with an extensive and well thought-out wine list which compliments a menu which would amuse even the aperture of a stone. The only displeasing factor of the entire night was the part where I had to leave.

The menu is incredible – a complete joy to all the senses.

In regards with the review below, it is quite disheartening when substandard people with subpar tastes give substandard reviews.

Out-of-towners with a penchant for the frozen food section at their local Morrison’s should tread carefully around Michelin Star restaurants. The concept of dining with cutlery may be completely out of reach for those too eager to spend a whole £150 on their ever so beloved wife.

The concept of dining within a silver service restaurant where the food is masterminded by a molecular gastronomic genius is obviously a step too far for those completely devoid of the ever so important; culinary palate.

The words ‘fine’ and ‘dining’ are not a mirage, they are not an oxymoron either – but I suppose you’d have to be a moron to assume such a meagre amount would suffice of an evening.
Comment on this reader review

Pearl A. Sylraque
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, March 27, 2008

I'm sorry to be writing another negative review on this site. However, I really feel I should about our Sketch experience.

I bought a gift voucher for my wife as a Birthday present. I thought 150 pounds should cover it, or at least get close. When we arrived, we were professionally greeted, a little bizarrely we thought - kind of a tour you might expect of a very fine stately home by its proud owner.

We sat down and a champagne trolley appeared (driver less) next to our table. This made it impossible not to order champagne, even though we probably would've anyway.

We decided to order a la carte, rather than the tasting menu. This seemed to be met with surprise. In fact, it turned out that there were lots of little chefs surprises between the food we were ordering. Nothing wrong with that though, it should have been a nice touch. We ordered wine without the assistance of the sommelier, which seemed to peeve him a little. Never mind, he confirmed that our choice was well made!

Anyway, on to the food. We of course had high expectations. Well, it was lousy. Not all of it - but much of it. Some of the surprises were nice but the majority really didn't taste all that good. There were bizarre combinations of barely detectable flavours. The beef main, for example, was quite tough and not at all tasty.

There was nothing that we ate that we loved, nothing that had any sparkle or zing. As the meal had been so average, we didn't order pudding. Then, just as we were paying our bill, some truly spectacular dainties arrived. This time it had everything that the rest of the meal lacked. Really superbly tasty pastries.

How much did it cost? Very nearly 300 pounds for two courses and one bottle of wine at the cheap end of the list. I was stunned. That's top dollar for ordinary food and passable service. We were asked by the sommelier what we thought on our way out. We said we'd found the food to be disappointing. He promised he would feed our comments back to the kitchen but didn't seem to do so while we were there. Not sure how that was supposed to help us. Not sure I care whether it helps them. We felt well and truly ripped off.
Comment on this reader review

Felix Marks
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Saturday, February 23, 2008

I got engage last week at the Lecture Room & Library at Lunch time. I where really scared, but the over welcoming staff as been taking care of us so well that my Demand as gone very smoothly. We had an excellent time, the food where superb and the service faultless. The bill was according to me a very good value for money "£35 set Lunch, witch was including: a combination of four starters, a choice of three main courses (Monkfish or a Chicken or a Vegetarian option) and three deserts or Cheeses + Coffee & Petit Fours", they even offer us some a glass of Champagne at the end in order to congratulate us, witch we did find so sweet of them. We will be back there soon and will bring some friends...
Comment on this reader review

Dimitri Thomas
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, December 16, 2007

We dined at Sketch Lecture Room, on a Friday night (16.11.07) for my first year wedding anniversary and the experience was amazing. My husband i are from New Zealand we don't get to spoil ourselves this much ever. Previously we had only had one other fine dining experience in Australia so we didnt have much to compare but it was amazing.

The decor was incredible throughout all the restaurants and bars. The toilets decorated with Swarovski crystals was so posh.

At first the waiters were a little to attentive but i think this was just due to boredom and us eating relatively early compared to most londoners. Once the restaurant started to fill up the service relaxed a little and they were less intrusive. The Sommelier was informative and his choices for wines to match my meals were spot on.

The food was incredible, my husband is a Chef and he has always been very interested in Fusion so eating in the god father of Fusions restaurant was a treat indeed. I had the Autumn to start and hubby had the Scallops and Veal. The food was brilliantly presented and very tasty. For the main hubby had the Lamb and I had the Suckling Pig both were delicious and lent themselves to the delicate flavours of those meats.

It was very very very expensive, well in our standards it was about NZD$1000 so i would only recommend it if you had the money or for a very special occasion.

Overall we loved it!
Comment on this reader review

Kandace Smiler
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Monday, November 19, 2007

19 June 2007 - Gourmet Rapide lunch

If one has to epitomise Sketch, all you have to do is to stick your head into the toilet. Yes, just in enough to activate the motion sensor that sets off the flush for the latrine (in the guy's toilet at least). Just take in that psychedelic headrush then proceed up the stairs with the maitre 'd and enter grandly into the lecture room and library.

The lunch menu today was in the usual order - canapes: cumin sticks with creamed tuna sauce followed by an assortment of four starters to be eaten in a clockwise direction. Then, a choice of three mains and then a final menage a trois of dessert then ending with a petit fours flourish.

What then is sketch about? As some other reviews below point out, a weird combination of tastes. But then (remember the toilets) , that is exactly what I feel gives sketch its character - electicism, some jarring mixture of tastes yet some sort of unity. If you go to sketch with high hopes of a carravagio or monet, your expectations might be dashed by a full frontal exhibition of Dali or Hirst.

Look at the starters for example - Carrot puree and salmon tortelloni (what I would call the western version of the wonton), pigeon dumpling with grapefruit(woefully small I have to add), custard of rhubarb with broccoli and cauliflower vinaigrette sauce, cucumber and apple jelly with slices of apple and what I think should be gruyere cheese. Not exactly what I would call classic french dishes.

Then mains - skate on a couscous-like mixture (believed to be boulgour cereal) with figs and apricots or shredded braised beef with bak choy, potato dumpling, leek ad reduced wine sauce - once again, a mish-mash of tastes.

Last example, the petite fours and canapes - guiness jelly, and summer fruit jelly among other things

What's the verdict on such a mixture of food? An assault on the tastebuds surely. Absolutely nothing to do with harmony. If one desires harmony, a pret-a-manger BLT should do the trick. Sketch is more of fusion than french. If one needs a further analogy . metaphor, please do visit their rather user-unfriendly website.

That was the blurp on the food, what about service? Well, my partner's and my poor-student look was not lost on the waiters. "Don't worry, the coffee and tea is inclusive" *earnest look* + "Uhm, would you want wine with your lunch? *unsure look*. Well, I have to admit we didn't have the wine but the sparkling water did not come cheap either (most expensive at 10 pound a bottle). But the thing I appreciate was that there was no condescension, only understanding that gourmet rapides inevitably attracts the "creme moindre" of society. Other that that, service was the usual attentive sort you would expect at a place like this.

A short note on the atmosphere - the decor I particularly appreciated, not too overdone but rather stylish. However, it would have been good to have soft music in the background. Just a personal preference

In closing, probably what sketch did well was that it got the real basics of fine dining right (ironically, not achieved sometimes even by the most starry of fine dining establishments). Prompt, attentive and unobtrusive service + dishes out on time + clean, warm and well-presented dishes. A major sticking point? The gourmet rapide is obviously cooked according to available ingredients, half of the dishes did not match the menu description (I did request to keep a copy of the menu which did causes some uncomfortable shuffling). Other than that, if you desire traditional french, go to Le Gavroche. But if you want something other than sainsbury's and got some spare change, you might want to head to sketch, just for that afternoon of pampering.
Comment on this reader review

fuzwuzzle - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, June 19, 2007

We’ve been there for Lunch and it as been a pleasure to have a real meal for £35, with three courses with: a starter, a choice in between three main courses (including a vegetarian option that my girlfriend had) and cheese or deserts. We had a great time there with some friendly but not familiar staff and an amazing surrounding…

Will be back!
Comment on this reader review

Christopher Kent
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, June 16, 2007

Oh wow! I lunch out a lot at a variety of different restaurants, and I just love this. Food was outstanding, service unbeatable. I'm looking forward to my next visit already.
Comment on this reader review

Peebee - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 7
Monday, June 11, 2007