Quaglino's

I too recently dined at Quaglino's, if that is what you can call dining. The menu was uninspired, but I thought to give it a chance, as 'classics' such as Lobster Thermidor or rib eye steak done well can still be a treat. Unfortunately nothing was done well - perhaps they misunderstood as a steak, ordered rare, was served well done. The lobster was dry and tasteless. Perhaps they thought "why bother" as the lobster was drowned in copious amounts of lumpy overly cheesy sauce. Presentation was woeful.

The wait staff were fawning....until a complaint was aired and then they treated us like children on their first trip to a "fancy" restaurant. In hindsight I am truly amazed that this restaurant remains open - and indeed it was fairly crowded the Thursday night we went. It obviously is surviving on its old (good) reputation, its location, and hoping for diners with more money than taste (and from what I saw last week there were plenty of those around).
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 1
Friday, March 14, 2008

Quaglino's -- what a disappointment. There was absolutely nothing I liked about the food or the drinks. We were a party of eight people. Drinks we had in the bar were either mixed improperly or they got the order wrong. Next, they could only offer us a table for eight which was so big and round that it was impossible to have conversation apart from the people sitting on your immediate right or left. The food was derisory - a goat's cheese tart that looked like it had just been carted in from Marks and Spencer; a rib-eyed steak which was fatty and over-cooked (I had order medium rare - the waiter tried to describe for me what was medium rare - as if I had never eaten a steak before - I would decribe I the steak I received as well done). I then asked the waiter if they had any fresh berries for dessert - I did stress the word fresh and said I was not bothered if they didn't have them. Well the waiter came to me a few minutes later and said they did - thus I ordered. Once again, seems as if someone sprinted to the nearest Marks and Spencer frozen food department and grabbed the berries. As if no one can tell the difference between fresh berries and frozen. Never again - there are too many good eating places in London to waste my time and money in a place like Quaglino's. Never again.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Friday, March 07, 2008

So so disappointed with our meal on saturday night. 1 person at our table had to wait until everyone else had finished their starters before he got his, the main courses did not get their potatoes or vegetable side orders until we had finished and one of the main courses was even cold. The food we did get & that was hot was very nice. The white wine was not chilled and everytime you wanted to order another drink there was no-one to be seen. Overall a real let down.
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Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, March 04, 2008

We visited Quaglinos on saturday night. Having eaten in many Conran restaurants i was extremely dissappointed by the meal. We ordered escargots and carpaccio. The snails were in a disgusting bitter sauce which were nearly inedible. We both ordered fish, which were overcooked. My halibut was supposed to be in a broth which was more like water and both were tasteless. We left the fish. My chocolate souffle was undercooked and my husband's apple pie was burnt. The meal cost £150 and was underwhelming. It is a real pity as i have had good meals there but standards are slipping.
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 2
Monday, March 03, 2008

My partner and I visited Quaglinos for the first time on Valentines day.

I was somewhat apprehensive dining here owing to the not-so-good reviews the restaurant had recently been receiving. However, both my partner and I were very pleasantly surprised as we had one of the most pleasurable dining experiences we've had in a long time. The service was perfect (helpful without pestering you by asking if the foods okay a million times) the food was delicious (the cocktails at the bar are pretty amazing too) and the atmosphere amazing.

I'd definitely thoroughly recommend this restauarant to anyone.
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Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

There seem to be two types of review for Quaglinos - very poor or very good.

The very poor reviews are generally made by people who have chosen the £20 3-course option, and the very good reviews made by people ordering from the a-la-carte menu.

I treated my fiancee to a birthday dinner on Saturday, and am glad to say the experience was great. Scallops, potted shrimp, fillet steak and mango souffle, with a bottle of champagne at the bar to start, and a bottle of Gigondas with the meal.

The staff were attentive but allowed us to dine at our own pace, and the atmosphere was perfect - buzzing but not too noisy. We rarely visit the same restuarant twice, but would definitely come back to Quaglinos. My strong recommendation - don't spend £20 on a 3-course meal in the West End expecting a £50 meal. It's not realistic!
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Tim
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Sunday, February 10, 2008

Went Friday the 1st February with my wife and 5 other couples. Quaglino's was ahaead of its time, 2 months in fact as it must have been April 1st!. We went with the £19:50 set menu to make it easier for them, however this option simply confused the hell out of them. The starters came out correctly with copius amounts of water, ten bottles (according to them will cover that later) with the one soup looking the best option. Nine Pate's were served with the unlucky couple (cover that later) having the oysters.

Then over a 15 minute period 12 steaks all cooked it seems by a bunson burner were delivered to the table without any veg but with some cold chips! One steak had a piece of paper in it with the letter B written on it. Obviously my party were starting to get annoyed especially with the drinks order being messed up! I must admitt the two staff serving the drinks were very helpful and polite. Two members of my party rightly asked to see the Manager to complain. The upshot was my group were threatened with the Police being called and money being debited from the credit card that was used to secure the booking. Also we were going to be charged an exhuberant price for these ten bottles of water when the waiter argreed we had only actually had five.

Also the free champagne with this deal was now being charged at £10 per glass. The Manager agreed not to charge us for some of the food and tried to explain why the foreign object was in one of the steaks!!! Surely this is unexplainable? Anyway we left after over an hours heated debate with Management that had obviously given their "Customer Care Course" a miss the past few years.
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Mr AC Mills
Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Monday, February 04, 2008

Having recently turned 36 years of age,Quaglinos was recommended to me as the venue to take 10 close friends to dinner.

The whole booking process was very friendly (although I did'nt receive any confirmation booking by email/phone) and I was advised to take the special group menu on offer which was £19.50pp incl a half bottle of wine each.

I was advised that this offer was quite popular and saw no reason why I should exclude this menu of choice from our evening at Quaglinos.

Arrival was fine - the hostess seemed casual about our timekeeping and we were allowed to "have a few drinks" before our late sitting downstairs.

Upon being seated,our waiter seemed confused over what menu we were booked on and afterwards preceded to ignore the table when it was quite clear that after a long wait we were eager to order our food and drink.

The waiter although friendly lacked the efficiency of one in charge of a table of 10 customers and eventually the starter arrived (barely warm) to our table,

We had to ask for everything to be done!!!! - the special menu appeared to graduate us to slop house formula and indeed judging by the standard of food and service I was beginning to think that we had been served yesterdays lunch leftovers - the food was simply appalling.

In hindsight a £19.50 special 3 course menu with wine seems extraordinarily cheap but I did'nt feel (judging by the menu choice and description on the website) that we would literally be served up slop - every one of my guests were shocked - the beef/pork dish looked like a Vera Duckworth hotpot and was full of grizzle- the parfait on the dessert course was so stodgy and grey it tasted of butter and simply did not melt - the starter of onion tart arrived as different sized portions and was cold and I had to keep reminding the waiter to top up the wine - perhaps this was'nt in his job description!!!! We also observed that the couple sitting in front of our table walked out and their cappucinos were still left untouched sitting on their table almost 15 min after they had left.

The wine offered with the menu was refreshing and at the appropriate temperature and the general buzz of the restaurant was quite pleasant.

However,My guests were aware of how unhappy I was and tried to make light of the situation - by joking about the origin of the food - I was'nt laughing and made a discreet complaint to Thomas the floor Manager whom appeared embarassed and helpful although he did'nt approach the table to apologise to my offended guests.

Quaglinos is simply a dated venture - its had its day and is simply in the best place possible for its currently poorly managed concept.----------

Down a side street and in a basement -
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Declan Long
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Monday, January 28, 2008

I have never before written a review but I feel that my experience in Quaglinos needed one. I had read lots of bad reviews about the restuarant, but thought that I would give it a chance. We arrived and the bar area was lovely with the piano player, however when we were moved into the eating area, it was like sitting in a canteen with very bad lighting. The service was good and everything came promptly. We did book with the £19.50 deal.....three course with half a bottle of wine, so we knew that we would be eating from a set menu that would be limited. What we didn't expect though was three courses of microwaved food. The onion tart was dry with no onions, a supermarket's own brand quiche would have been better. The main course of slow cooked beef, lamb and pork again looked like it had been put in the microwave and resembled a 'betty's hot pot', I couldn't face eating it. The pudding was marginally better and all plates were cleared. I know we had a deal so can not expect 5* food but we went with the intention that if we liked the food we would return and eat from the a la carte menu, however becasue the food was so bad I will not be returning here ever again.
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Laura
Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Thursday, January 24, 2008

My partner and I booked at this restaurant following a recommendation by a friend. On arrival the bar area was very alluring with piano player and comfortable seating area, a large selection of cocktails were available and good. However it all went downhill from there.

We moved to our table which was very impersonal, with bright lighting and very close proximity to the next table. Service was prompt and adequate, however the food was poor to say the least. The mushrooms on toast were distinctly average with the use of flat mushrooms alone, on a burnt toast. Crayfish tails were fresh but nothing more. We were hoping main courses would revive things, but sadly not. Poached halibut with a spinach, saffron and mussel broth, turned out to be halibut on spinach with cold drained spinach water, with no hint of saffron or any favour, with a few sorry mussels. I could have done a much much better job myself. My partners seabass was a little better but also terribly disappointing.

Despite the puddings sounding good, we decided not to risk further disappointment. We promptly moved back up to the much more pleasant bar area where we finished our bottle of wine.

Overall the standard of food at this restaurant was thoroughly disappointing. Not one on our list to return to or recommend.
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Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 1
Saturday, January 19, 2008