Quaglino's

I went to Quaglino's last night Saturday 13th February. The place was packed and not having been for ages was looking forward to an enjoyable evening. However it proved to be a very disappointing night with extremely mediocre food at high prices, appalling service as there didn't seem to be enough staff (it was a Saturday night!) and it seemed that the restaurant is all about low quality food at high prices for maximum profit. It really ia a shame as I used to frequent Quaglino's all the time and combined with the great setting, the meal was always reliable and delicious. I remembered why I hadn't been for over a year as the last time I went there I was also disappointed. It seems since the new restaurant owners have taken over, the standard of food and service has considerably declined and the customer is lucky if they get a meal that is edible and of a standard that one would expect in a well known London restaurant! I have noticed that this has also happened at the Bluebird restaurant on the Kings Road.......
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Marie OHara
5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 4
Sunday, February 14, 2010

I went on a saturday night with 4 friends to this restaurant under the standard evening offer, and was really happy of the experience.

I came before and again this time was amazed by the quality of the food and the service.

We never felt treated differently from other fully paying customers.

Definitely I will recommend this place for all occasions.
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Pascal
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

I took a party there on the 23rd Jan 2010 and it was without our worst restaurant experience ever. There were insufficient staff and the service was terrible. Watched our food stand in the prep area for 25 minutes before they brought it to us and that was only because we complained several times. The food was cold, dried out and shriveled. The manager explained that there were not sufficient staff and he understood my annoyance. These people just want our money and have no interest in service or quality.
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1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 24, 2010

Went to Quaglino's for the first time in ages last Friday

The place was absolutely packed and after we had eaten our meal (the special '£24.50 offer') I could see why. Fantastic food, brilliant live music and I would strongly recommend it . . . so much so that I am going back there again tomorrow nigh with another group of friends . . . can't waitt!
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Niki
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Last week we had a Christmas party at this restaurant. It was the biggest dissapointment ever. The food was not great, steak was cold and desserts was not tasty. The service was even worst. We had a private room with a waitress who did not speak any english and did not know what Jack Daniels is. She had to call her colleague to take our orders. I would never, never recommend this restaurant again.
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Marlena
0 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, December 07, 2009

This is clearly a restaurant that has well passed its peak. The owners are now focused on reducing costs, thus offering mediocre service, but they still want to charge high prices.

Overall the food was ok but the lack of good service spoiled the experience. I could not recommend this restaurant as there are plenty of other restaurants in London that offer better service and quality of food for the same cost.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Monday, November 16, 2009

Easily the most disappointing meal I have ever had in London. Such a pity as the setting is great. The food was a disgrace. One guest had to send a steak back TWICE as it was overcooked and another had liver that would have been better suited on the sole of your shoes. Service was appallingly slow. We had to wait over 30 minutes for one desert that arrived cremated. The extremely average live music drowned out the bar and most of the restaurant. This establishment obviously lives on its’ past reputation which must surely evaporate sooner rather than later. Do not embarrass yourself or your friends by patronizing this restaurant.
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1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I went here as a cheap but hopefully gorgeous farewell dinner with my sister before i went on a round the world trip, using the evening standard £10 offer.

Service was excellent, i was early so had a lovely cocktail in the bar. We were seated...fine so far. We ordered. She had the asparagus and spaghetti and i had the smoked salmon and burger.

Starters - delicious, just what you would expect from a restaurant of this type.

Mains - her spaghetti looked great and was very nice. My burger arrived. I asked for it medium rare. It came in a cheap supermarket sesame seed bun twice the size of the overcooked dried out inedible burger. It looked very odd to say the least to have twice as much bread as burger. Nevertheless, i tried it. It was horrible, like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for 10 minutes after being overcooked.

For once in my life - i had to send it back (very very rare for me to do this!) when i commented on the size of the burger to the waiter he said it was because of the evening standard offer we were dining on. I was not impressed. He asked if I wanted a fresh one and I said yes - you asked me how i liked it cooked and its totally overdone apart from anything else and quite inedible. (i would even struggle to eat it had i overcooked it at home!).

Luckily the fresh one didn't take too long to come out - and it was a TOTALLY different burger. Gorgeous proper bread bun nicely caramalised in colour, A burger the right size inside and lovely accompanients. The burger was a lovely pink colour. Delicious.

Next we shared the apple tart for dessert - it was ok - but rather flat looking and again like it had been sitting under the heat lamp for a good 10 or 20 minutes.

It seemed that as we were on the offer, particularly because of the comments i made about the burger, we were treated like 3rd class diners not worthy of proper quaglino food. I feel that these offers are supposed to entice diners in who otherwise would not go with the intention of bringing them back for a meal another time, particularly as they do a good value £17.50 2 course meal.

I won't be going again as I don't like the policy they seem to have towards customers dining on an offer they agree to do.
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Caroline
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I have read many reviews on the web before booking Quaglinos, some were excellent and some were shockingly bad. This led me into a real dichotomy, do I cancel and go for a safer option, or take advantage of the Evening Standard deal and give it a try?

I am very pleased to report my girlfriend and I had a great experience from start to end. From the receptionist to the bar, were there were ES cocktails on offer - to the waiter who was extremely polite and prompt with the service.

We ate the hamburger with fries which was perfect, and the lemon tart and apple tart were also very good.

We really enjoyed the experience, and all for under £40. I will definitely be recommending to friends and will forward as a venue for a work event.

Don't believe what you read all the time!
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Simon Gellibrand
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, September 10, 2009

I recently took my mother and my aunt, who are twins, to celebrate their 60th birthday for what I thought would be a very special meal. It was the single most miserable experience I've been through for a long while. The service was so poor. We waited 8 minutes to be seated, when our food arrived was cold. The waiter went out of his way to make no eye contact, which his colleagues leaped around doing anything but tend to diners. I complained but got no real show of emotion or care from the waiter. This place is a disgrace. I wouldn't recommend eating here to anyone.
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Anthea
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, August 26, 2009