Hix Soho

Incredibly disappointed by the service (or lack of it) last night. We were seated at 8.30 and despite asking 3 times for someone to take our order it wasn't until 9.30!!!

An hour to wait to order some food is not on, especially when the floor manager walked past our table no less than 6 times and glanced at our menus.....a free round of Prosecco doesn't really cut it and I would've expected service to not be included!

When the food eventually arrived, my starter of beetroot was lacking in any flavour & the main course of Pollock was tasteless.

On a Tuesday evening & not a full restaurant, I expect much more.
Comment on this reader review

anon - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, February 01, 2012

We have been to Hix many times. I'll tell you about it in a minute. In a nutshell it's a gem.

BUT why do they employ someone to take reservations who gets her kicks from humbling the caller? This week we tried, albeit somewhat optimistically, to get a table for Saturday night. We were told there was nothing available before 10pm, but we would be put on the waiting list. When we came to Mark's Bar on Thursday for a quick drink, we asked for an update and were told there was a good chance of us getting our Saturday table. This afternoon when we called to find out whether a table had become free, the woman answering the phone claimed to know nothing about us. Haughty, supercilious, patronising, all ever so faintly. She told us we could wait in the bar for a table to come free, if we wanted, but that the bar was "completely full" (this at 5pm).

Such a shame. They need to take a leaf out of the Wolseley/Delaunay stable of restuarants, who make the common man feel like a celebrity - and I'm sure make celebrities feel even more so.

All that said, if you can get past Cerberus and they deign to give you a table, the food is top notch, the service impeccable and the atmosphere buzzing. One of the great eateries in London today.
Comment on this reader review

7 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Saturday, January 21, 2012

went there last night and the food was very average i'm afraid. complicated menu (trying too hard really) with disappointing delivery. side dishes are miniscule. and the service is simply appalling. terribly slow and casual. took half an hour to get dessert, 20 minutes for the bill and another 15 for the card terminal. i didn't feel like a customer but more like in the way. a lot to improve but anyway i will not go back.
Comment on this reader review

marc
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Thursday, January 19, 2012

We found the waiter service to be excellent, but the food very disappointing. We ordered two very overpriced sirloin steaks and were shocked to find out that it came with nothing more than a trio of sauces, two of which we didn't even like. We ordered a side of chips that, to be honest, could have just come from Mcdonalds. We didn't stick around for dessert as we felt we had been ripped off enough. Two poor steaks with chips, a bottle of wine and water cost us £90. The next day we had a three course meal, two glasses of wine and coffee at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at Claridges for just £6 more than we had spent on one course at Hix. The quality of the meal and service at Claridges was exceptional. Don't waste your money at Hix, go to Claridges!
Comment on this reader review

3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Monday, January 16, 2012

I rarely feel compelled to bad mouth a restaurant but my meal last night at Hix was so disappointing I feel I have to.

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when they bought out the dreaded meat board, a tool used by many restaurants to tempt you into trading up but mostly consists of you being patronised for 5 minutes. I mean, who doesn’t know what a pork chop looks like?

Service was slack from the beginning, taking ages to bring drinks or worse still spilling them over the table. There was a 20-25 minute gap between the starter and the main, not great when they give you a 2 hour slot for a table. Plates were carelessly tossed down on the table by harassed looking waiters. Thank God we got them to leave the wine on the table as we may never have seen it again. The meat was tough, overcooked and not a patch on Goodmans and I think it’s a bit much to call something a main course then ask if you want sides to go with it?

The restaurants acoustics are appalling and much of the evening was spent shouting across the table to my guest who was a mere 2 feet away but drowned out by the din of a hundred other diners struggling to be heard.

Finally, we fell victim to the 2 hour turnaround and were unceremoniously booted off at the allotted time, something I shouldn’t really moan about as I was advised about it on making the booking but it still never goes down well.

The place was rammed so I’m sure they couldn’t care less what I think but I wouldn’t recommend this place in a million years. The place isn't buzzy it it's anarchic.
Comment on this reader review

4 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 3
Thursday, December 15, 2011

Really disappointing. Dry, under-seasoned fish which would be better in a gastropub. Nice surroundings, but just not good enough for the price tag.
Comment on this reader review

5 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Monday, November 14, 2011

Last night I shared the 1kg Porterhouse. I am used to great steaks cooked to perfection in the likes of Hawksmoor and Goodman. As a few of us could not get a table at Hawksmoor Seven Dials we decided to go to Hix. Unfortunately it was a huge disappointment. Ordered medium rare, it was medium at best and so dry I nearly choked. The chips are also not a patch on the selections at Hawksmoor or Goodman.

Nice surroundings but afraid the food I had was not good. I won't be returning which is a shame as I really wanted to like this place.
Comment on this reader review

HOLDEN - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 2
Friday, October 14, 2011

Was looking forward to this, however the whole experience did not meet expectations. Primarily unjust costs. I don't mind paying for a meal that's justified in it's execution, however what we received can only be desribed as mediocre.

And the mark up on wine was astronomic. Typically west end; style over substance.
Comment on this reader review

Kevin C
5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Monday, August 15, 2011

Not good - my wife's fillet steak was one of the most miserable little overcooked pieces of meat I've seen. It was sent back but a replacement hangar took about 25 mins to arrive (bit odd for medium rare).
Comment on this reader review

Peter, Fitzrovia - View all reviews by this user
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Friday, August 05, 2011

Surprised at the slightly low marks here.

We went on Easter Fri and had the whole place to ourselves which in a way was lovely obviously although clearly it's a place that thrives on buzz. Especially downstairs in the bar.

I suppose the decor isn't really my cup of tea but that's totally subjective. I'm just not mad about the hanging mobiles. But the tables are comfy and well spaced.

Food's great though. Good menu full of firm favourites and the odd mad one.

We ordered some gulls' eggs with celery salt and mayo as a sort of amuse buche. They came in a silver bowl, still in the shell, beautiful blue things with spots. it looked lovely. You could pick what you wanted (obviously you paid for each one!) and dab the celery salt and very well made mayo. So many places get mayo wrong. Not here. We stopped at one each so as not to ruin the rest of the meal. But the menu had lots of fun bits and bobs we could have got stuck into. Pork crackling was one. The eggs. Oysters. Peas in their pod. All good fun and simple and rather tasty if sourced well.

Asparagus came plentiful, perfectly done and with a spot on hollandaise. great stuff.

I had braun with picallilli. Delicious. I sensed real confidence in the place because of the stuff on the menu and how it was cooked and presented.

Fish and chips came with a perfect tartare. And my gurnard was expertly cooked and well presented. Not memorable but satisfying nonetheless. We couldn't do pudding.

Not cheap by any stretch but high standard stuff and good value for money in our opinion.

Great place to go for a night out. Friendly relaxed confident staff who know their stuff and dont fawn.

Yup, a really smart place and as I said, a little surprised by the marks so far.
Comment on this reader review

benjamin163 - View all reviews by this user
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Saturday, May 14, 2011