Frere Jacques

Overpriced and low quantity food. We paid £64 for an express menu. I had fried mushrooms as a starter - the whole two of them - really filled me up - NOT!!! Both my partner and I had the trout as a main course which we were served on a bed of leeks - more leeks than anything else. The trout was no bigger than a minnow and four little potatoes. So in all I paid £32 for two mushrooms, 4 potatoes a bed of leeks and the smallest piece of trout ever. What a rip-off. Oh, and they don't accept Amex which the head whatever had great delight in telling me. Avoid like the plague.
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Andrew
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Saturday, September 17, 2011

Disappointing food and surprising bill!

My husband and I stopped here for lunch after a walk by the river. The restaurant was full so we thought it would be good. My husband went for lamb and I ordered mussels and chips. The lamb was under cooked and it tasted very string. My mussels were edible but the sauce was watery, no parsley, celery.... just water, salt and cream... My husband had a beer (bottle) and I had tap water, no starters, no desserts. We paid £40.Very nice view by the river and nice enough service but we won't be going back!
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Laura - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Monday, April 18, 2011

I have eaten lunch here and found the food good value and a pleasant environment. I was sure dinner would be just as good and I was very disappointed. The a la carte menus is over priced for the quality and quantity of food provided. The room was really cold, when we asked the waiter if he could shut the door he gave a long explanation regarding air vents and in the end nothing changed.

In conclusion this is an expensive dinner venue.
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4 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 3
Friday, March 25, 2011

Went to Frere Jacques last week Tuesday for lunch.

I had the braised veal shin with celeriac croquettes and calvados jus. I was in heaven. My wife had the corn fed chicken supreme with potato roesti and girolls. One of the best meal i had for years. The waitress very friendly and helpfull. I will be back very soon to try more of the lovely dishes.

Kepp up the good work.

On Tuesday it was raining and i did not go there for the location i went there for the food and was not dissapointed.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 10
Sunday, October 11, 2009

Without wishing to be boastful, I am used to fine dining and prepared to pay top dollar for good food and ambience. I stay at five star hotels and cruise on five star ships, so hopefully, my critique has some value. Le Gavroche in Mayfair is my favourite French Restaurant run by Michel Roux (junior) - a Michelin Star Restaurant.

However, I still believe in value for money and I struggle to understand why Frere Jacques has received such bad reviews. I think it gives EXCELLENT value for money and the food is really good for the price. Where else can you sit by the river, be given excellent service by the staff and enjoy a good meal?

Just sit there and see how many customers Rene Renault (The Maitre d'H) knows as regular customers and you will understand why people return so frequently.

I vsited today (9 October) and the snails, the french onion soup, the filet steak and the cod (not eaten just be me) were as good as you would get anywhere at a fraction of the price.

Deep down and being a suspicious old chap, I just wonder whether the previous complaints are false - made by competing restaurants in Kingston!

I cannot think of a good reason to pass this wonderful place by. I look forward to my next visit.
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Keith Savidge
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Friday, October 09, 2009

Perhaps because of the perfect Thames side setting & the lack of any decent lunch venues in Kingston, I find that I have been making excuses for Frere Jacques for the last 18 months or so. Yes I really have wanted the food here to be better than the average at best I have experienced on all but my first visit !

Yes they can grill a piece of salmon as well as the next man, but consistently vegetables are reheated & so end up being extremely overcooked as are new potatoes boiled to an inch of disintegrating or sautéed potatoes arriving soggy & after sitting around for how ever long in an oily tray. My impression is always certain lack of care and/or pride &/or skill from the Kitchen. Unlike the previous reviewer, I quite liked the ham hock terrine but last time around had the worst steak ever, despite all of the hype on the menu, which was so tough & fatty that unusually for me I had no option other than to refuse to pay.

I have lived in France - Paris & the Nice - on & off for a number of years & would really love to have a little bit of France here in Kingston. Regrettably however - & I do wish it were otherwise – in its current incarnation that just isn’t going to happen. Apparently depending on passing trade rather than building up a regular clientele with quality & care, I know that if Frere Jacques were transported across the channel they would probably struggle as a 2nd rate tourist destination.

Oh & no complaints about the staff who were all helpful prompt & courteous !
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5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Thursday, September 10, 2009

I went for the dinner rapide menu, whilst not hugely expensive I found the the starter - Ham hock terrine - to have the kind of combination of flavours one would put together with 'whatever's left in the fridge'. Very disappointed. In fact it was probably one of the worst tasting dishes I have ever had at a restaurant. Other reviewers have enjoyed this dish so maybe it just struck a nerve with me, but would like to add that I am probably the most unfussy eater ever (once ate a cheese and teabag sandwich -as a bet- but that was still better than the terrine). The minute steak main was well cooked and tasty if a little on the small side. The lemon glaze pot, likewise, tasty but small. It was also badly presented, it had kind of sunk and looked a bit sad and pathetic on my plate. Obviously I didn't eat from the more expensive a la carte menu but I don't think I'll be going back as its not the cheapest place to eat and there are much better restaurants around. Maybe they think the location is enough to get the punters in!

Would also like to add that the service wasn't great either. And when the bill arrived it already had the 12.5% service charge on it. There was only the two of us eating and that REEEAAAALLLYYY annoys me. I'll decide whether or not the service is good enough for a tip.

Of course I didn't mention any of this at the time, wimped out and instead moaned online. God bless the internet.
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NJ
5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 3
Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Went to Frere Jacques for my partner's birthday on 16th June, our third visit to date. I fear Frere Jacques is taking its clientele for grranted. It needs to buck up its ideas. I desperately want it to be good as the food is pretty good and Kingston really doesn't offer much in the way of culinary delights! We noticed a real difference in the way we were treated to the way some of the other older customers were greeted. Waited ages to be served, but waitress was extremely apologetic when we asked for menu and she realised we were still waiting, but the 'front of house' seemed to think it beneath him to offer us one, despite having shown us our table (table was just pointed to, we were not shown to our seats) and then walking past our table several times. We felt that some of the staff offered rather lacklustre service, which really lets it down. Please take heed and show your customers you actually care about them. We want you to stay open and you cannot take your idyllic Thameside location for granted. If you disappointed us, I can guarantee that others will have been treated the same.
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Stephanie
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 5
Friday, June 19, 2009